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Cougars Dominate Autumn Classic
The No. 1 BYU women's team dominated the 5K race.
Sept. 13, 2003
PROVO, Utah - Besides hosting the largest cross country meet in Utah, BYU men's and women's cross country teams took first in the BYU Autumn Classic Saturday at Cascade Golf Course in Orem. The No. 1 BYU women's team dominated the 5K race, placing first, second, fifth, sixth, ninth and tenth to take first place in the overall competiton. In a repeat of last years Autumn Classic, Breanne Sandberg placed first in the women's 5K finishing with a time of 17:39, three minutes faster than last years winning time. "I didn't have any expectations to win again," Sandberg said. "Every race is a new race. I just try to block out the pressure. Instead I just used my kick the last fouth of the third mile to pust ahead." Other top finishers in the 5K for the Cougars were redshirt freshman Suzanna Larsen who came in second with 17:47.7, junior Rena Williams who placed fifth at 18:11.0 and sixth place Lisa Antonelli in 18:20.1. BYU women's head coach, Patrick Shane, was extremely pleased with the race. "Today we had perfect weather, a couple hundred people out to watch and a great race schedule," Shane said. "It was perfect race day conditions and I was very pleased with many of our runners. It was nice to see them finally perform well and be healthy." For the men's four-mile race, Kip Kangogo placed first overall in a well expected win. Like Sandberg, Kangogo also won last years Autumn Classic and improved his time from last year by 20 seconds to win the race in 19:33.4. "I felt much more comfortable this year than last," Kangogo said. "Last week I was scared of what kind of shape I would be in, but I think that this race is a good start to a great season. I want to be on top by nationals. I want to be an All-American this year."
Coach Eyestone said he was pleased with his teams performance and win over Weber State who they lost to last year. "Nothing prepares you better than a race. I am glad that these guys can handle the pressure of a big meet and took charge when they needed to."
Other top finishers for the Cougars were second place sophmore Nathan Robison in 19:55.9, fourth place Bryan Lindsay at 20:05, and seventh place freshman Rich Nelson in 20:15.4. Also participating in the Autumn Classic was second place team Weber State, in both the men's and women's races, University of Minnestoa, Utah State Univesity, University of Utah, Utah Valley State College and Northwest Nazarene University. In addition, participating in the days events with the collegiate races were 22 high schools running in girls and boys junior varsity and varstiy races. Full race results can be viewed at www.runnercard.com. The BYU men's team will spend a week resting until they head to Minnesota for the Griak Invitational, while the women's team will head to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Hawaii Invitational Sept. 20. |
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