Utah State's men's and women's cross country teams will head to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to compete for a national championship bid at the NCAA Mountain Regionals on Friday, Nov. 13, according to a Nov. 12 statement from Utah State University Athletics.
The women's 6k race is scheduled for 11 a.m., followed by the men's 10k at noon.
The NCAA Mountain Regionals serve as a primary qualifier for the NCAA National Championships. The top two teams from each region will receive automatic bids, while 14 at-large bids will be selected by the NCAA DI Cross Country Subcommittee to complete a 32-team field. Additionally, the top four individual finishers on non-qualifying teams and two at-large selections will also advance to the national championships, which are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 21, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
The Mountain Region is noted for its competitiveness, featuring the No. 1-ranked team in both the men's and women's USTFCCCA Coaches polls. The Aggie men currently rank seventh in the region, while the women's team is ranked eighth. Nineteen teams are expected to compete in the men's 10k, while 20 teams are scheduled to line up for the women's race, including the University of Utah.
The Aggie men's squad enters the meet with five runners returning from the 2025 roster, led by junior Joshua Armstrong and senior Logan Garnica. In 2024, the men earned an at-large bid to the national championship after tying the program's best finish with a fourth-place result.
The women's team returns four runners from their 2025 regionals roster, including seniors Natalie Swain and Sarah Ellis. The women's squad achieved a seventh-place finish at the 2025 Mountain Regionals in Taylorsville, Utah, and a nationals berth would mark their first since 2021.
During the regular season, Utah State achieved five team victories across six race weekends, including title sweeps at both home meets. On the men's side, Joshua Armstrong set a season-best 8k time of 23:52.4 at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational. For the women, Natalie Swain recorded a season-best 6k time of 20:07.8 at Missouri's Gans Creek Classic.
The NCAA Mountain Regionals will be held at the University of New Mexico North Golf Course.
