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BYU Women Victorious at 2002 Division I Cross Country Championships
Shane named NCAA Coach of the Year.
Nov. 25, 2002
Men's Results: Team | Individual
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Just like its team cheer says, the BYU women's cross country team ran "as fast as Cougars" to win the 2002 NCAA 6K Cross Country Championships hosted by Indiana State University on Monday. BYU successfully defended its 2001 NCAA Title with a total of 85 points, while Stanford finished second with 113 points. "It will make Thanksgiving turkey taste really good," said women's head coach Patrick Shane. "The girls ran a great race, they really ran their hearts out. It is always a thrill to win a national championship, and it is really exciting to win back-to-back championships." Just minutes after the race ended, the announcer declared Stanford the winner, based on the unofficial results. However, during the review process NCAA officials found a BYU runner had not been counted properly. Twenty minutes after the race ended, the announcer declared BYU the official winner. "I've been coaching a long time and when it is close you just can't be sure, but I was pretty confident we won so I questioned the unofficial results," Shane said. "It is unfortunate it had to happen like that. I really feel sorry for Stanford." Michaela Mannova, a junior from Kralov, Czech Republic, was the top finisher for BYU and fifth overall with a time of 19:49.5. "I could not have had a better race," Mannova said. As for the chilly Indiana weather, the Cougars were well prepared. "We were ready for a snowstorm, so a sunny day was like heaven," Mannova said. "It was perfect."
Kassi Andersen, a redshirt freshman from Provo, Utah, finished her dream season with a seventh-place finish overall and a second-place finish for the Cougars. "We did all we could, and fortunately for us it was enough," Andersen said.
Also scoring for BYU was Katie Martin of Freemont, Calif. (20th); Breanne Sandberg of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. (41st); and Jaime Cottle of Howell, Mich. (46th). Nan Kennard of Bountiful, Utah, and Jessie Kindschi of Bismarck, N.D., finished sixth (76th) and seventh (83rd) for BYU. Coach Patrick Shane was named NCAA Coach of the Year, his third such honor in his 22-year BYU career. "You can't be named Coach of the Year without great athletes and a great support staff," Shane remarked. "It's really a tribute to our team." Shane was also named NCAA Coach of the Year following winning the national championships in 1997 and 1999. The BYU women's cross country team has now won four of the last six NCAA Cross Country titles. The Cougars won the championship in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002. In 1998 and again in 2000, BYU finished second. Since the 1995 season, the Cougars have not finished lower than fourth-place at the NCAA Championships. Stanford dominated the men's 10k cross country race scoring 47 points to runner-up Wisconsin's 107, while BYU finished 16th with 443 points. Hampered by a couple of mild injuries and sickness, the Cougars did not run as well as they had hoped. BYU's top runner, Kip Kangogo, a sophomore from Kabarnet, Kenya, finished 33rd with a time of 30:29.4, but struggled with a hip injury during the last 5K. Lewis Jones of Kingwood, Texas, finished second for the Cougars in 53th place. He was followed by Andy Carman of Veneta, Ore. (105th), Chad Durham of Long Beach, Calif. (122nd) and Steve Barrus of Clovis, Calif. (134th). "It just wasn't our day," said the men's head coach Ed Eyestone. "The positive thing is that we can still finish 16th, and yet we ran our worst team race of the season. We were capable of doing better, but today we were flat. This will give us the motivation to come back and do better next year." |
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