Cross Country Teams Seek to Defend Conference Crowns

The No. 2 BYU women's and No. 16 BYU men's cross country teams look to continue their conference dominance this weekend in Albuquerque, N.M. at the Mountain West Conference championships.

Since the Mountain West Conference was organized in 1999, the Cougars have won every team title and have had three of the four individual conference champions as well.

Led by head coach Patrick Shane, the BYU women's team has won 11 conference titles in the MWC and WAC combined.

"The conference meet is an important race for us and we are hoping that we will run well," Shane said. "If we do that we anticipate winning the championship. I'm also hoping one of our young women can be the individual winner as well."

Last year, BYU athlete Lindsey Thomsen was crowned individual conference champion, helping the team to an impressive score of 16 points. She looks to defend her title as well this year.

On the men's side, John Hedengren leads a hungry Cougar squad against the rest of the Mountain West Conference, which includes No. 9 Air Force and No. 22 Colorado State.

"Air Force and Colorado State are running well but we've beaten both teams at some point this year," men's head coach Ed Eyestone said. "I'm confident that our guys will rise to the occasion and get the job done."

Hedengren was the MWC individual champion in 1999 and looks to reclaim the title he lost to Colorado State's Bryan Berryhill at last year's conference championships.

After this weekend's races both teams will be out of action until Nov. 10 when BYU hosts the NCAA Mountain Regional at Eastbay Golf Course in Provo.