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2005 BYU Men's Cross Country Season Review
Jan. 3, 2006 PROVO, Utah - For the fifth consecutive season the BYU men's cross country team came away with a top-20 finish at the NCAA National Championship placing 13th. Two runners were also honored as All-Americans at the meet. Junior Josh Rohatinsky, who earned his second consecutive All-America honor, and sophomore Chandler Goodwin. "If we want to end up where we want to be, which is challenging for a national championship year in and year out, we've got to have multiple All-Americans," coach Ed Eyestone said. "The fact that we had two guys earn All-American is great." In addition to the two All-America runners and the 13th-place finish at Nationals, the Cougars managed to pull in their eighth Mountain West Conference title in nine seasons. Rohatinsky recorded a time of 24:12.9, the second fastest clocking in MWC Championship history. By picking up the individual victory, Rohatinsky was also cronwed as MWC Runner of the Year and named to the All-MWC First Team. Also earning first-team honors were Goodwin, Dustin Bybee and Josh McAdams. Second-team honorees were Tyrel Jensen and Jacob Gustoffson. Gustoffson was also honored as Freshman of the Year. Coach Eyestone was awarded with his third MWC Coach of the Year award. Earning the award marked the third time he has received the honor in the last four seasons. Rohatinsky was the frontrunner for the Cougar pack all season long and picked up three individual victories. In doing so he also helped BYU grab three team wins. 2005 BYU ALUMNI INVITATIONAL - PROVO, UTAH - SEPTEMBER 2 Rohatinsky was followed by Goodwin, Bybee, Jensen and McAdams.
2005 BYU AUTUMN CLASSIC - PROVO, UTAH - SEPTEMBER 10 "I knew I wanted to go out and stick with the lead pack," Bybee said. "It felt really smooth through the first two miles. I knew at some point there would be someone who would break off, and I was just hoping I would have the most energy."
2005 GRIAK - MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. - SEPTEMBER 24 "Wisconsin got out really well but we ran a smart race and ended up beating them," Eyestone said. "It was a very strong team effort. We came to do the best we can and the guys ran well."
2005 NCAA PRE-NATIONAL - TERRE HAUTE, IND. - OCTOBER 15 "Josh ran incredibly well," Eyestone said. "He showed a lot of race savvy. The pace felt easy for him, and then when he need to, he made the move to steal the victory." Rohatinsky set the course record with a time of 23:31. The record only stood for about 35 minutes when the men's White Race winner, Josh Mcdougal from Liberty, set a new record with a time of 23:12. Bybee was the second BYU runner to cross the finish line with a 33rd place finish and a time of 24:22. He was followed by McCombs (40-24:28), Goodwin (45-24:31) and McAdams (55-24:38). In addition to the Blue Race, the men were represented in the Men's Open Race where the team captured another second place finish. Jason Dorais led the way with a seventh place finish and a time of 24:58.
2005 MWC CHAMPIONSHIP - FORT COLLINS, COLO. - OCTOBER 29 Rohatinsky paced the field with a time of 24:12.9. By way of scoring for the Cougars, Rohatinsky was followed by Goodwin (24:38.7, fourth), Bybee (24:39.9, fifth), McAdams (24:47.1, seventh) and Jensen (24:56.6, tenth).
2005 NCAA MT. REGION CHAMPIONSHIP - PROVO, UTAH - NOVEMBER 12 "I thought we did exactly what we needed to do," Eyestone said. "We knew Colorado was going to be a very strong team and we knew that UTEP had a great group of young men from Kenya. We did exactly what we needed to do. This was an advancement procedure and we did that." Scoring for BYU came from Rohatinsky's third-place finish with a time of 30:33.1, followed by Goodwin in 13th place with a time of 31:12.1, Bybee in 20th (31:27.9), McAdams in 24th (31:35.1) and McCombs in 26th (31:36.7). Rohatinsky, Goodwin, Bybee and McAdams were all awarded Mt. Region honors for their performances.
2005 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP - TERRE HAUTE, IND. - NOVEMBER 21 "The main thing is just getting out good and I was surprised I got out as well as I did," Rohatinsky said. "That was key in how I raced today. Some of the other guys didn't race as well today, but this is one race. Those guys have proven themselves all season. You can't base a season on this one race." Finishing second was Goodwin, who ran what men's head coach Eyestone termed "the race of his young life." Goodwin got out fast and held on well to finish 36th with a time of 30:16.9, just enough to pick up his first cross country All-America honor. McAdams was the Cougars' third runner finishing 131st with a time of 31:17.5, followed by McCombs finishing 172nd (31:39.0) and MWC Freshman of the Year Gustafsson, who finished 177th (31:42.3). "I thought it was a great team effort, particularly for Josh," Eyestone said. "Josh put himself out in the hunt, and he ran like a big dog. He ran with the pack and then when things started stretching out, he had the courage to break ahead. As a team, this was not our best race, but the bottom line is everybody tried their best. We're a strong team.
We'll reload and get `er done next year."
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