Tickets Punched For Nationals

OGDEN -- Both the women's and men's BYU cross country teams qualified for nationals with solid team performances at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships on Saturday.

A ninth-place finish by freshman Angela Wagner, and an 11th-place finish by senior Chandler Goodwin, helped punch the tickets to nationals for their respective teams. The women finished third and the men finished fourth. Both teams will receive at-large bids into the NCAA Championships at Terre Haute, Ind, on Nov. 19.

For the men, it was more than just another race at regionals. Junior transfer Stephan Shay, the Cougars' top runner, suffered a number of setbacks before the race, inspiring all of the BYU runners. Last weekend, Shay's older brother collapsed and passed away at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. In memory of Shay's brother, the team wore wristbands with the words 'believe in yourself' inscribed on them, the last words uttered by Shay's older brother. Then on Friday night, the night before regionals, Shay came down with food poisoning, keeping him on the sidelines for the race.

"There were times in this race when I looked down at the band and that inspired me," Goodwin said. "This week has really been an emotional one, and I think we ran inspired today."

BYU coach Ed Eyestone was impressed with how his team rallied around a teammate.

"I think we did what we needed to do to qualify for nationals and give Stephan a chance to run again this year," Eyestone said.

Colorado (47), UTEP (56) and Northern Arizona (84), all ranked in the top five nationally, took the top three spots with BYU (113) not far behind.

Goodwin led a pack of runners behind a few of the leaders for most of the race with sophomore Brandon Hebbert bringing up the back of the small pack. After the 1K mark Goodwin was in 11th place, a spot he would keep all the way to the finish line. The team rallied behind Goodwin and Hebbert's consistent running, notching a trip to nationals.

"One through seven this probably isn't the most talented team, but they've fought as hard as any team I've coached," Eyestone said.

Mountain West Conference foe Colorado State took home the women's title with 75 points, followed by Northern Arizona (81), BYU (90), Colorado (105) and Texas Tech (113).

"We ran a real strong team race today," said BYU women's coach Patrick Shane. "I was really impressed with the race that Cecily Lemmon ran today. She really stepped it up today and ran the race of her life."

Lemmon, a redshirt freshman from Vacaville, Calif., finished the 6K race with a time of 21:16.5, good for second place for the Cougars and 12th overall. Sophomore Katie Bowen, who has been alternating with Wagner at the No. 1 spot all year, didn't have the race she wanted.

Bowen and Wagner shuffled between sixth and 10th place through the first half of the race, but Lemmon came on strong in the final 3K.

"Katie Bowen, one of our top runners, really struggled today," Shane said. "We have a week to get her back to her normal self."

The BYU women have won four national championships, in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002 (Terre Haute). Last year at the NCAA National Championships, the BYU women finished 22nd.

2007 Men's NCAA Mountain Region Championships
Schneiter's Riverside Golf Course
Ogden, Utah
November 10, 2007
1.Colorado            47
2.UTEP                56
3.Northern Arizona    84
4.BYU                113
5.New Mexico         125
6.Air Force          158
7.Weber State        170
8.Utah State         253
9.Wyoming            259
10.Montana State      278
11.Texas Tech         287
12.Southern Utah      305
13.Colorado St.       315
14.Idaho State        326
15.Montana            384
1. Lopez Lomong, Northern Arizona    29:52.1
2. Stephen Samoei, UTEP              29:54.5
3. Jeremy Johnson, New Mexico        29:57.0
4. Patrick Mutai, UTEP               30:14.3
5. Mark Korir, Wyoming               30:15.8
6. Stephen Pifer, Colorado           30:28.3
7. Brent Vaughn, Colorado            30:29.2
8. Kenyon Neuman, Colorado           30:29.9
9. Jon Cardenas, Northern Arizona    30:34.2
10. Morten Bostrom, Northern Arizona 30:40.9
11. Chandler Goodwin, BYU            30:45.2
12. Bradley Harkrader, Colorado      30:48.0
13. Seth Pilkington, Weber State     30:49.8
14. Chris Pannone, Colorado          30:53.3
15. Nicodemus Ng'etich, UTEP         30:55.8
16. Brandon Hebbert, BYU             30:56.8
2007 Women's NCAA Mountain Region Championships
1.Colorado St.          75
2.Northern Arizona      81
3.BYU                   90
4.Colorado             105
5.Texas Tech           113
6.New Mexico           202
7.Weber State          251
8.Utah State           260
9.Wyoming              261
10.Nevada               265
11.Utah                 269
12.Montana              298
13.Montana State        308
14.Southern Utah        334
15.UTEP                 380
16.Air Force            389
17.Idaho State          447
1. Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech           19:29.4
2. Jenny Barringer, Colorado           19:43.9
3. Ilsa Paulson, Northern Arizona      20:34.8
4. Irene Kimaiyo, Texas Tech           20:57.2
5. April Thomas, Colorado St.          21:00.0
6. Sara Vaughn, Colorado               21:00.2
7. Sariah Long, Weber State            21:06.2
8. Gladys Kipsang, Texas Tech          21:10.7
9. Angela Wagner, BYU                  21:12.1
10. Gretchen Fagley-Johnson, Wyoming   21:13.3
11. Lesley Van Miert, Northern Arizona 21:13.8
12. Cecily Lemmon, BYU                 21:16.5
13. Erin Marston, Colorado             21:17.4
14. Amanda Griggs, Northern Arizona    21:20.5
15. Kirsten Anthony, Colorado St.      21:21.5