ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The BYU Cougars men's and women's cross country teams captured their third straight Mountain West Conference Championship today at the Paradise Hills Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Cougar women, currently ranked second in the nation, finished strong to claim the team title, finishing four of their runners in the top five, and compiling a score of 17 points. "We did run well and that's no surprise because we have been running well all year," said head coach Patrick Shane. "This is a nice segway into the next two races- the district meet at home and the national championships."

Senior Tara Northcutt paced the women's field with a time of 21:00 on her way to claiming the individual title "It was perfect weather, perfect course, perfect day," she said. "I think the biggest part of our success today was our teamwork. It's always great to run in a pack. It's unbelievable how much it helps."

Sophomore Michaela Manova was the second Cougar to finish the race and second runner overall with a time of 21:03. BYU concluded the team scoring with last year's individual winner junior Lindsey Thomsen crossing the finish line in third place (21:04), junior Sarah Taylor in fifth (21:11) and junior Jessie Kindschie in sixth (21:13).

No. 22 Colorado State was next on the women's side with 45 points. The Rams were led by junior Marget Larson, the only non-Cougar to finish in the top five (4th place, 21:09). Junior Katie Yemm was the next Ram to finish, turning in a time of 21:23 (eighth place overall). Freshman Colleen Blair finished tenth overall (21:34) on her way to earning the Freshman of the Year award. The Air Force women finished third with 113 points (Brandess Pardue, 17th, 22:17), followed by Utah with 124 points (Elise Greenwood, 20th, 22:39), New Mexico at 139 points (Sarah Gonzales, 16th, 22:16), Wyoming at 168 points (Ashley Mecham, 25th, 23:02), San Diego State at 172 points (Alicia Stewart, 32nd, 23:24), and UNLV at 214 points (Jessica Zarndt, 15th, 22:09).

The BYU men finished with a score of 47, on their way to winning the men's team title. "The conditions were ideal," said head coach Ed Eyestone. "It was a beautiful course and New Mexico did a wonderful job of hosting the event" "We knew it was going to be a tight race with Air Force and CSU and to a man it ended up being very tight. We don't have a superstar on the team, but cross country is all about running as a team."

The Air Force Academy followed up with 54 points and a second place finish (David Romero, 3rd, 24:29). Utah claimed the third position with 63 points (Teren Jameson, 1st, 23:54), followed by Colorado State in fourth (Bill Michel, 11th, 24:48), New Mexico in fifth (Matt Gonzales, 2nd, 24:19) and Wyoming in sixth (Chris Jons, 37th, 26:27).

Senior John Hedengren paced the Cougar men, finishing in fourth place overall in 24:32. Junior Lewis Jones was second BYU runner to cross the finish line (6th, 24:36), followed by sophomore Andy Carman (8th, 24:41) and junior Ammon Larsen (12th, 24:56). Junior Steve Barrus (17th, 25:08) rounded out the team scoring for the Cougars. BYU freshman Mark Nevers garnered 2001 MWC Freshman of the Year honors for his 18th place finish (25:08).

           *********** 8K MEN'S TEAM FINISH RANKINGS **********

  1. BYU
            4    6    8   12   17  (18) (28) =    47
          JOHN HEDENGREN, LEWIS JONES, ANDY CARMAN, AMMON LARSEN,
          STEVE BARRUS, MARK NEVERS, TYLER BUSHNELL
  2. AIR FORCE
            3    5    9   13   24  (31) (32) =    54
          DAVID ROMERO, BEN PAYNE, CHRIS ACS, BRIAN CARPENTER,
          ALBERT KELLY, JIM BLECH, RUDY TAUTE
  3. UTAH
            1    7   15   19   21  (29) (37) =    63
          TEREN JAMESON, COLBY FRAZIER, NEPHI TYLER, LION GALLEGOS,
          BJ CHRISTENSEN, ROMNEY STEVENS, ADAM PARKER
  4. CSU
           11   14   16   20   25  (26) (27) =    86
          BILL MICHEL, DYLAN OLCHIN, JOSH LYBARGER, RAEGAN ROBB,
          MIKE NICKS, PAUL MICHEL, PAUL DIGRAPPA
  5. UNM
            2   10   22   23   30  (33) (35) =    87
          MATT GONZALES, BEN ORTEGA, CHRIS ORRELL, CAMERON CLARKE,
          CHAD DAWSON, TRAVIS CLARK, SEAN FLAHERTY
  6. WYOMING
           34   36   38   39   40  (41) (42) =   187
          CHRIS JONS, JASON DELANEY, JOEL HESS, ARTE HUHN,
          JEREMY THOMPSON, MATT HUDSON, NICK SMITH

          *********** 6K WOMEN'S TEAM FINISH RANKINGS **********

  1. BYU
            1    2    3    5    6   (7)  (9) =    17
          TARA NORTHCUTT, MICHAELA MANOVA, LINDSEY THOMSEN, SARAH TAYLOR,
          JESSIE KINDSCHIE, NAN EVANS, AMY BAIR
  2. CSU
            4    8   10   11   12  (16) (19) =    45
          MARGET LARSON, KATIE YEMM, COLLEEN BLAIR, KIM LEAL,
          CHRISTY VIRGIN, KELLY SCHUMACHER, LAURA KWIATKOWSKI
  3. AIR FORCE
           15   20   23   26   29  (33) (34) =   113
          BRANDESS PARDUE, ELISSA BALLAS, JEAN TAYLOR, LARA COPPINGER,
          ANNE CHUMLEA, KELLY MCPHERSON, CINDY DAWSON
  4. UTAH
           18   21   24   25   36  (41) (45) =   124
          ELISE GREENWOOD, TRINA BATEMAN, TARA HALL, JULIE OSGUTHORPE,
          JEN OSGUTHORPE, ASHLEY LAWRENCE, DAISY FREEDMAN
  5. UNM
           14   17   31   38   39  (40) (42) =   139
          SARAH GONZALES, JACQUELYNE GALLEGOS, KIM BACA, VENAASA FUNSTON,
          AMANDA WOODS, LAURA MARQUIS, RACQUEL RICCI
  6. WYOMING
           22   27   32   43   44  (49) (51) =   168
          ASHLEY MECHAM, JENNIFER THOMPSON, STEPHANIE HANKS, JENNIFER MANSELL,
          LEANN FORBES, LESLIE JACKSON, SHAY ROMINE
  7. SDSU
           28   30   35   37   47  (48)      =   177
          ALICIA STEWART, JENNIFER STAKIW, ALLISON BROWN, AMANDA VIELBAUM,
          TINA FODOR, LAURA PRESTON
  8. UNLV
           13   46   50   52   53            =   214
          JESSICA ZARNDT, KELLEY WRIGHT, JENNIFER TURK, TIFFANY SIMS McCRAY,
          NICKEISHA CHARLES

2001 Mountain West Conference Women's All Conference Teams

First Team
Tara Northcutt, Sr. BYU
Michaela Manova, So., BYU
Lindsey Thomsen, Jr., BYU
Marget Larson, Jr., CSU
Sarah Taylor, Jr., BYU
Jessie Kindschie, Jr., BYU
Nan Evans, So., BYU

Second Team
Katie Yemm, Jr., CSU
Amy Lynn Bair, So., BYU
Colleen Blair, Fr., CSU
Katie Martin, So., BYU
Jill Rencher, Sr., BYU
Kim Leal, Jr., CSU
Christy Virgin, Sr., CSU

2001 Mountain West Conference Women's Award Winners

Runner of the Year
Tara Northcutt, Sr., BYU

Freshman of the Year
Colleen Blair, CSU

Coach of the Year
Patrick Shane, BYU

2001 Mountain West Conference Men's All-Conference Teams

First Team
Teren Jameson, Sr., Utah
Matt Gonzales, So., New Mexico
David Romero, Sr., Air Force
John Hedengren, Sr., BYU
Ben Payne, So., Air Force
Lewis Jones, Jr., BYU
Colby Frazier, So., Utah

Second Team
Andy Carman, So., BYU
Chris Acs, So., Air Force
Ben Ortega, So., New Mexico
Bill Michel, So., CSU
Ammon Larson, Jr., BYU
Brian Carpenter, Sr., Air Force
Dylan Olchin, Jr., CSU

2001 Mountain West Conference Men's Award Winners

Runner of the Year
Teren Jameson, Sr., Utah

Freshman of the Year
Mark Nevers, BYU

Coach of the Year
Brian Appell, Utah