For the first time since 1985, BYU's men's cross-country team will be running in the NCAA Championships.
The Cougars are one of 22 teams in the men's competition, and their seven runners are among the 184 harriers in Monday morning's 10,000-meter race at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. The men's race will begin at 11 a.m.Making the trip for the Cougars are Paul Rosser, Doug Hobbs, David Spence, Mark Johansen, Carl Hansen, David Baca and Bryan Whitesides.
"We have a solid seven runners who are mature and have close grouping in their times, so it's conceivable we could finish in the top 12," says BYU Coach Sherald James of the Cougars, who have been ranked in the top 20 at times this season. "Everyone on our team is at full strength. Six of our runners have the potential to finish in the top 35, but no one is clearly ahead of another. It's unusual to have freshmen for the core of our team."
Those freshmen are Johansen, who finished as BYU's number two runner at last week's Western Athletic Conference/District Seven Championships in Salt Lake City, and Spence, who finished in the Cougars' third position.
"We may have a slight advantage in going from this altitude to sea level, which could give us a psychological and physiological boost," James said.
James and the Cougars left last Friday to become familiar with the course, which he says is similar to one the team experienced at Arkansas earlier this year.
Hobbs was a member of the 1985 BYU team which placed 18th in the NCAA Championships at Wisconsin.