BYU Opens 2003 Season with a Strong Win

Cougar men and women capture BYU Alumni Invitational.

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Sept. 5, 2003

PROVO, Utah - BYU women and men's cross country teams opened their seasons with impressive first place wins in the BYU Alumni Invitational Friday at the BYU West Intermural Fields.

The BYU women's team dominated the 5K race, filling the first five spots and launched a good start to their season as the defending National Champions. The women ran as a pact with the top six BYU runners finishing within 32.1 seconds of each other. Lisa Antonelli, a senior at BYU took first place with a time of 15:42.1, followed by junior Suzanna Larsen at 15:42.3.

BYU women's head coach, Patrick Shane, was extremely pleased with the race. "We didn't have many of out top runners out there tonight but we still finished very strong," Shane said. "This meet told me where different people are at. I feel like this was a good dress rehearsal for what is to come."

Shane said his top five or six runners did not even run in the meet because he does not want to wear out all his athletes too early.

Larsen attributed her strong finish to her hard workouts and strong summer training. Coming off a season of injuries she said she never felt better running at BYU. "I can tell that there is a bright future ahead,"Larsen said.

For the men's four-mile race, Bryan Lindsay, a BYU junior, finished first with a time of 20.13.3 in his first race after some recent injuries. BYU runners took the first ten places with strong finishes by freshman Josh Rohatinsky and Richard Nelson.

"I felt like our team did a lot of work this summer," Men's Head Coach Ed Eyestone said. "This meet shows me that we have the depth to defend last years No. 16th national ranking."

Lindsay said he felt good running the race after a hard summer of training. "I spent some more time in the hills this summer and I guess it is paying off" Lindsay said. "This is a confidence builder for the team and I expect good things to come of us this year."

The Cougars will gear up to run again next Saturday, September 13th, as they host the BYU Autumn Classic at Cascade Springs Golf Course in Orem, Utah.