Cougars Prepare for Mountain Region Championships

The BYU cross country teams will make a short trip north to Ogden, Utah, to compete in the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. The women's team will be defending their Region title from a year ago, while the men's team looks to improve on last year's third-place finish.

At the 1999 Mountain Regional, the BYU women scored 20 points to win the race. After Colorado's Kara Wheeler crossed the line in first place, the Cougar pride came through the chute, with all five scorers finishing in a four second spread, taking the 2nd through 6th places.

This year, the Cougar women enter the race with the No. 1 ranking in the country, a spot they claimed two weeks ago after winning the Pre-national Invitational. Looking to challenge BYU will be fifth-ranked Colorado, No. 15 Colorado State and No. 17 Weber State. At the Pre-national meet, the Buffaloes finished fifth, while the Rams and the Wildcats finished in 10th and 11th place, respectively.

The BYU men's team finished third last year in a race that sent three at-large qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, in addition to the two automatic qualifying teams. John Hedengren finished fourth to lead the way for the Cougars.

Coming into the 2000 Regional meet, Colorado holds the No. 1 spot in the national poll. Northern Arizona is ranked No. 5, and BYU is close behind in the No. 7 spot. Other top-25 teams in the Mountain Region include No. 14 Weber State and No. 22 Colorado State.

The Mountain Region Championships will be held Saturday at the Riverside Golf Course in Riverdale, Utah. The women's 6K race is set for an 11:00 am start, with the men's 10K race to follow at 12:00 noon.

For more information on the meet, go to:

catsis.weber.edu/athletics/mXC/2000MountainRegion/Default.asp