FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- BYU's women cross country team is are going back to the NCAA Championships for the 11th consecutive time after winning the Mountain Regional qualifying meet with a near-perfect score of 20 Saturday, and the unranked Southern Utah University men's team took first on the men's side with 57 points.
The men are also probable NCAA qualifiers, as they look to appear in the team finals for the first time since 1995.Although their third-place showing did not earn them one of 18 automatic spots up for grabs this weekend, their No. 12 ranking should earn them one of 12 at-large bids to be distributed by the selection committee Monday.
After scoring a perfect 15 in the Mountain West Conference Championships two weeks ago, the women destroyed the field again, with runners finishing second through sixth. Colorado finished in second with 55 points, led by NCAA favorite Kara Wheeler, who won the race in 16 minutes 39 seconds. Sharolyn Shields finished first for the Cougars in 17:03 to take second place.
Elizabeth Jackson (17:05), Susan Taylor (17:05), Tara Rohatinsky (17:07) and Kara Ormond (17:07) rounded out the scoring for the tightly packed Cougars.
On the men's side, John Hedengren led BYU with a fourth-place finish (30:24). Randon Richards finished in 12th (31:12), Dula Parkinson in 21st (31:35), Marc Lawson in 24th (31:40) and David Danley in 30th (31:48) for BYU.
Behind SUU, Colorado finished in second (61) followed by BYU (91).
Utah's Chris Merkley qualified by placing seventh in the 10K with a time of 30:32