Minnesota, Minn. (Sept. 28, 2002) -- The men's cross country team finished fourth at the Griak Invitational on Saturday, improving on last year's 10th place finish. BYU runner Kip Kangogo, a transer from Lethbridge Commumnity College in Canada, won the 8K race with a time of 24:48.6.

Kangogo edged out last years's NCAA Cross Country Champion Boaz Cheboiywo from Eastern Michigan. Kip said he used his 1,500m kick to win the race. After trailing Chebioywo for the first half of the race, Kangogo began to make his move in the last few kilometers. "Everyone was cheering for me to get him, so I got him," Kangogo said.

BYU Head Coach Ed Eyestone said Kangogo is no longer a well kept secret, now he is the top runner in the nation.

Eyestone said his team had a solid performance, but the good news is there is room to improve. He said their third, fourth and fifth runners could have ran better. "If our three through seven runners run better we can be on of the top four or five teams in the nation," Eystone said.

Also running a strong race for BYU was Lewis Jones, with an 11th place finish. "Lewis ran a strong race," Eyestone said. "He kept his eyes on the chase pack and encourages his teamates. He had an All-American type performance."

"Now we just need to put in together for the big race - Nationals," Eyestone said.

GRIAK INVITATIONAL GOLD MEN'S 8000M (8K)
 Les Bolstad Golf Course, St. Paul
 Sept. 28, 2002
 53, cloudy, wind under 4 mph
 Results by Apple Raceberry JaM
PLACE  TEAM               POINTS  PLACES OF FINISHERS         AVG. TIME    SPREAD
1   Oregon             96    8   16   19   21   32   88  125   24:48.6      13.9
2   Eastern Michigan  105    2    3   17   20   63   74   76   24:34.8    1:32.6
3   Weber State       166   22   29   30   41   44   48   99   24:56.7      14.7
4   Brigham Young     173    1   11   42   51   68   72   80   24:47.6    1:42.6
5   Minnesota         195   10   26   28   65   66   85  129   25:01.6      36.9
6   Providence College 220    4   25   38   53  100  121        25:00.0    1:12.9
7   Central Michigan  230   27   39   49   57   58  107  114   25:06.7      26.4
8   Wisconsin         268    7   13   52   73  123  139  149   25:10.5    1:11.5
9   Arizona State     280   12   24   59   92   93  112  122   25:11.5      47.7
10   Texas            284   18   23   31  104  108  131  145   25:10.2      52.6
11   Iowa             300   14   40   77   83   86   89  106   25:14.7      42.5
12   Ohio State       314   35   45   64   75   95  105  143   25:16.2      36.3
13   Miami (Ohio)     362   37   62   69   81  113  164  170   25:22.6      42.9
14   Michigan State   368    5   56   78  111  118  136  147   25:21.2    1:16.4
15   Nebraska         372    9   67   70   82  144  165  171   25:24.9    1:27.5
16   Illinois         393   15   36   84  120  138  151  155   25:26.1    1:18.5
17   Utah             403   43   60   97  101  102  103  158   25:25.6      32.0
18   Texas A&M        446   34   50  116  119  127  128  142   25:31.9    1:01.2
19   U S Naval Academy 466   47   61  109  117  132  141  153   25:34.8      54.2
20   Wake Forest      508   79   91   98  110  130  133  162   25:38.8      32.4
21   Washington State 552   46   94  115  134  163  166  178   25:49.9    1:38.7
22   Kansas State     595    6   71  160  177  181             26:16.8    3:00.7
23   Iowa State       603   33  126  140  148  156  157  169   25:57.4    1:34.9
24*   Wichita State   660   55   96  159  174  176             26:18.1    1:54.1
24*   Arizona         660   54  124  154  161  167  172  175   26:11.9    1:37.0
26   Georgia          672   87  137  146  150  152  168  173   26:06.7      57.6
27   Missouri-Kansas City 766   90  135  179  180  182  183  184   26:51.8    2:10.2
PLACE SCORE   FINISHER               TIME        TEAM
1     1  Kip Kangogo, So             23:38.9    Brigham Young
2     2  Boaz Cheboiywo, Sr          23:47.3    Eastern Michigan
3     3  Gavin Thompson, Jr          24:09.2    Eastern Michigan
4     4  Adam Sutton, Sr             24:22.4    Providence College
5     5  Christopher Toloff, So      24:33.1    Michigan State
6     6  Mathew Chesang, So          24:39.6    Kansas State
7     7  Bobby Lockhart, Fr          24:40.7    Wisconsin
8     8  Ryan Andrus, So             24:41.3    Oregon
9     9  James Bowler, Sr            24:43.1    Nebraska
10    10 Andrew Carlson, Jr          24:44.0    Minnesota
11    11 Lewis Jones, Sr             24:44.6    Brigham Young
OTHER BYU FINISHERS:
                             42  Steve Barrus, Jr            25:03.8  
                             51  Nathan Robison, So          25:09.4  
                             68  Chad Durham, So             25:21.5  
                             72  Matt Adams, So              25:24.0  
                             80  Bryan Lindsay, So           25:26.9  
                          Time = 2:03:58.1     Places = 173

PROVO -- BYU men's and women's cross country teams are both on the road this weekend. The women's team will travel to Charlotte, N.C., to compete in the Great American Cross Country Festival, and the men's team will compete in the Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn.

The women's team is coming off a strong win at the BYU Autumn Classic and will run the 5K course Friday at 7:05 p.m. Eastern time. BYU will race an A Team and a B Team; each team includes seven athletes. The A Team will include All-Americans Nan Kennard and Michaela Mannova. Also racing with the A Team will be Kassi Andersen, Lisa Antonelli, Angela Benson, Amy Bair and Autumn Classic winner Breanne Sandberg. The B Team will consist of Jamie Cottle, Suzanna Larsen, Emily Mars, Katie Martin, Katie Moon, Kristen Ogden and Tiffany Rust.

The men's team will race Saturday at noon local time in the 8K Gold Race. The Division I men's race will include about 300 runners and is one of the largest meets the team will run in this year. Athletes running for the men will be Matt Adams, Steve Barrus, Andy Carman, Chad Durham, Dan Hinkley,Jeff Hopkinson, Lewis Jones, Autumn Classic winner Kip Kangogo, Lars Kjerengtreon, Bryan Lindsay, Kyle Perry and Nathan Robison.

Both the men's and women's races will count toward at large bids to the NCAA Championships.