Harriers Advance to NCAA Finals

FT. COLLINS -- Several BYU Cougars from the cross country teams will travel to Terre Haute, Ind. for the NCAA Championships after earning their ticket at the NCAA Mountain Regionals on Saturday.

The Cougar men will have to wait until Monday to learn for sure whether they officially advance as a team, while BYU's women have an outside chance for an at-large entry.

From the BYU cross country team, Jacob Gustafsson, Rich Nelson, Kyle Perry, Stephan Shay and Angela Wagner all earned all-region honors and likely have secured places at the NCAA National Championships Nov. 24 in Indiana.

“We ran a controlled race today,” said BYU men’s cross country head coach Ed Eyestone. “We ran hard enough to get a good performance and make it to Nationals, but we will still be rested enough to give it our all in Indiana.”

The men’s team placed third overall with 70 points in the 10K, falling to Colorado (42 points) and Northern Arizona (65 points).

Perry was second overall and first for the Cougars with a time of 29.29. He was followed by Shay, seventh overall, with 29:57, Nelson, 20th in 30:14, Jacob Gustafsson, 25th in 30:23 and Ryan Merriman finishing up the top five in 27th with a time of 30:26.

Also running for the men were Nate Ogden, placing 29th overall in 30:36 and Thomas Gruenewald in 31st with a final time of 30:38.

Unfortunately, the women’s team fell to Texas Tech (42 points), New Mexico (70 points), Northern Arizona (92 points) and Colorado (133 points), therefore unable to secure a team placement at Nationals.

Wagner will, however, be traveling to Nationals and representing BYU due to her placement in the women’s 6K.

With 152 points, the women’s team came in fifth. Placing first for BYU and fourth overall was Wagner with a time of 20:43. She was followed by Katy Andrews, 27th, in 21:23.4, Cecily Lemmon, 28th, in 21:23.8, Anna Sperry, 46th, in 21:45 and Stacy Slight closing in the top five in 47th with a time of 21:46.

Finishing up the remaining BYU team were Stephany Jensen, 49th, in 21:49 and Rachel Lange, 52nd, in 21:52.

“Angela ran a fantastic race, probably her best race of the year,” said BYU women’s cross country head coach Patrick Shane. “We didn’t have a great race overall today. We did our best, but we weren’t at our best. Some of the girls weren’t feeling well this week, but we ran our best with where we were mentally and physically.”

The NCAA National Championships will be held Nov. 24 at Terre Haute, Ind. The women’s race will begin at 12:08 p.m. and the men’s 10K will begin at 12:48 p.m. both EST.

NCAA Mountain Regionals
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Fort Collins, Colo Collindale Golf Course
Women’s 6KTeam Results 
1. Texas Tech, 42
2. New Mexico, 70
3. Northern Arizona, 92
4. Colorado, 133
5. BYU, 152
6. Utah, 188
7. Colorado State, 212
8. Utah State, 218
Women’s 6K Individual Results
1. Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, 19:31
2. Lillian Badaru, Texas Tech, 20:12
3. Veronica Pohl, Northern Arizona, 20:25
4. Angela Wagner, BYU, 20:43
5. Michelle Corrigan, New Mexico, 20:44
6. Asia Diaz, Texas Tech, 20:49
7. Astrid Leutert, Northern Arizona, 20:50.3
8. Gladys Kipsang, Texas Tech, 20:50.7
9. Alyssa Abbott, Utah, 20:52
10. Natalie Haws, Weber State, 20:53
Men’s 10K Team Results
1. Colorado, 42
2. Northern Arizona, 65
3. BYU, 70
4. New Mexico, 93
5. Air Force, 173
6. Wyoming, 182
7. Colorado State, 211
8. Weber State, 226
Men’s 10K Individual Results
1. David MecNeill, Northern Arizona, 29:18
2. Kyle Perry, BYU, 29:29
3. Mark Korir, Wyoming, 29:33
4. Jordan Kyle, Colorado, 29:52
5. Stephan Shay, BYU, 29:57
6. Richard Medina, Colorado, 29:57
7. Chris Pannone, Colorado, 29:58
8. Ben Ashkettle, Northern Arizona, 29:59
9. Morten Bostrom, Northern Arizona, 30:00
10. Kenyon Neuman, Colorado, 30:04