PROVO — The BYU men's and women's cross country teams are on the home stretch this week, preparing for the NCAA Championship meet on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.

The women earned an automatic bid to the meet after their second-place finish at the Mountain Regional on Saturday in Provo, while the men had little difficulty securing an at-large bid after they finished third.

Runners are in a delicate position this week, trying to balance recovery and practice in the small, nine-day window between the regional meet and the national one.

"This week we just kind of stay loose, drop the miles way down, and do a couple things to get our legs going, some fast stuff maybe on the track," men's runner Josh Rohatinsky said. "Basically, we just do all we can to stay healthy; that's all it is from here on out."

Shortly after the men finished their run on Saturday afternoon, coach Ed Eyestone was already focusing on helping them to prepare physically for Monday's meet.

"It's all about recovery" Eyestone said Saturday. "We're forcing the carbs down the guys right now, we made up a double batch of glucose and they're trying to choke that stuff down."

Women's coach Patrick Shane said the teams engaged in light workouts Tuesday and Wednesday, before leaving today for Indiana.

He said he had a pretty good idea of how his team will stack up against national competition.

"We're certainly a Top 10 team, maybe closer to fifth than 10th," he said. "I'm not sure — that's what we're going to find out."

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: BYU will end its regular-season schedule on the road this weekend, where games at San Diego State on Friday and UNLV on Saturday will determine the Mountain West regular season championship.

BYU (21-2, 12-2 MWC) holds a two-game lead over Utah and UNLV, tied for second with 10-4 records. Colorado State is also in the mix with a 9-4 record. The Cougars can wrap up the regular-season title and secure the No.1 seed for next week's MWC Tournament in Las Vegas with a win in either game this week.

The team ran its record to a perfect 20-0 before suffering back-to-back losses to conference opponents Utah and Colorado State. The Cougars bounced back in convincing fashion, however, with a 3-0 win over Wyoming on Saturday night at the Marriott Center.

SWIMMING/DIVING: The men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened conference competition with important wins over defending MWC champion UNLV on Friday at the Richards Building pool.

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The men overcame a slow start and won the final two events to secure a come-from-behind, 132-109 victory, while the women dominated from start to finish in a 141-102 win.

The women's team also defeated San Diego State on Saturday afternoon, 125-103.

The swimmers will be in Long Beach, Calif., this weekend to compete in the Speedo Cup Invitational, while the diving teams will stay home to host the BYU Diving Invitational on Friday and Saturday.


E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com

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