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2005 BYU Women's Cross Country Season Review
Jan. 3, 2006 PROVO, Utah - For the second season in a row, the women's team placed eighth at the NCAA Championships to finish their season. The eighth-place finish marked the 11th consecutive year the women have finished the season in the top ten. Newcomer Chelsea Smith McKell, a transfer from BYU-Hawaii and two-time NCAA Div. I AA cross country champion, made her presence felt early. She was joined by teammate Heidi Magill half way through the year, and the duo led BYU throughout the season. As a team, the Cougars picked up three first-place finishes. In addition to their eighth-place finish at Nationals they also placed second at the NCAA Mt. Regional and won their 18th consecutive conference title. Individually, several runners were honored throughout the season. With her performance at the NCAA Championship, McKell was honored as All-American. Magill, McKell, Breanne Sandberg, Amy Fowler and Anne Heiner received Mt. Region Honors. Magill, McKell, Sandberg and Heiner were honored as First Team All-MWC and Fowler and Ann Marie Thomas received Second Team All-MWC honors. Magill was named MWC Runner of the year and Fowler was honored as MWC Freshman of the Year.
2005 BYU ALUMNI INVITATIONAL - PROVO, UTAH - SEPTEMBER 2 Other standouts for the women were McKell, who placed third. Fourth place was true freshman Jocelyn Gardner, while last year's Alumni Invitational winner Heiner came in fifth and newly returned missionary Sandberg crossed the finish line sixth.
2005 BYU AUTUMN CLASSIC - PROVO, UTAH - SEPTEMBER 10 The Cougars whre led by a host of runners, including McKell who won the race. Rounding out the top five for the women were Heiner (4), true freshman Jocelyn Gardner (5), Sandberg (7) and Fowler (8).
2005 BIG WAVE INVITATIONAL - MANOA, HAWAII - SEPTEMBER 17 "We had a great race," coach Patrick Shane said. "I am pleased with how they ran. I did not expect to run a perfect score. I am really pleased with the effort by these young women." BYU won the seven-team event with the perfect sore, 15 points. Posting a perfect score requires solid running from more than just your top runner and McKell had that support as she was followed by Sarah Ingebretsen, Thomas, Jenna Taylor and Allison Passey coming in second through fifth, respectively.
2005 GREAT AMERICA - CARY, N.C. - SEPTEMBER 24 The women's A-team, who ran in the Nike Race of Champions, were led by McKell. McKell ran the 5K race in a time of 17:15 placing fourth. Magill, in her first race of the season, followed McKell with a fifth place finish. Heiner (20), Gardner (25) and Fowler (29) rounded out the top five for the women's A-team. Overall the A-team came in second place with 68 points. No. 1 Duke won the event with 20 points. "We knew Duke was going to be very good this year, there is a reason they are No. 1," Shane said. "I really think we are on track. We're still training really hard. I feel like we ran well. We never peak early so we're a long ways from where we want to be at the end of the year, but I feel satisfied that we are in the right place." The B-team, which ran in the University Seeded Race, was led by Ingebretsen who came in 12th place with a time of 18:34. Amber Duffin (17), Thomas (21), Carolyn Quebe (24) and Passey (43) followed Ingebretsen to give the team a second place finish out of a 14-team field.
2005 NCAA PRE-NATIONAL - TERRE HAUTE, IND. - OCTOBER 15 "I am pleased with some of the race but I realize we have some work to do to be ready for nationals," Shane said. "I think we'll be alright. We just have to sit down as a team and refocus, and make our minds up that we want to be better then we are right now." The Cougars where led once again by senior McKell, who placed 11th with a time of 20:37. She was followed by Magill (32-21:00), Sandberg (49-21:23), Fowler (53-21:26) and Gardner (64-21:35). The women's team was also represented in the Women's Open Race with four runners. Anne Marie Thomas was the top finisher with a seventh place finish and a time of 21:53. Kristen Ogden was close behind placing 10th.
2005 MWC CHAMPIONSHIP - FORT COLLINS, COLO. - OCTOBER 29 "Overall we had a fantastic effort," Shane said. "We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish." Magill led the Cougars to the title by picking up the individual MWC crown. The women's first-place finish came with all five of their scoring runners placing in the top-10, giving them a solid score of 23. Magill's victory came with an all-time MWC Championship record 6K time of 20:42.4. McKell (20:59.2, second), Sandberg (21:11.1, fourth), Heiner (21:25.8, seventh) and Fowler (21:28.8, ninth) completed the scoring for the Cougars. Colorado State finished third with 75 points, followed by Wyoming in fourth (121 points), San Diego State in fifth (134), Air Force sixth (138) and Utah seventh (189). TCU (192) and UNLV (274) finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
2005 NCAA MT. REGION CHAMPIONSHIP - PROVO, UTAH - NOVEMBER 12 With their second-place finish, the women received an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. "We're pleased to be going to nationals," Shane said. "I'm quite proud of the way our team ran." Magill's fourth-place finish came with a time of 21:03.3. McKell finished with a time of 21:07.4, while Sandberg was BYU's third runner placing 12th with a time of 21:41.1. Cougar freshman Fowler had a time of 21:47.4 and a 14th-place finish and Heiner finshed the scoring for the women with a 24th-place finish and a time of 22:16.4.
2005 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP - TERRE HAUTE, IND. - NOVEMBER 21 "It was a tough race out there with great competition," Shane said. "It was the strongest field that I can ever remember in terms of competition. I'm proud of our eighth-place finish. I think the girls had a great year, and it's a real honor to be in the top 10 at nationals." McKell's 24th-place finish came with a time of 20:24.0, which earned her All-America honors. "I did what I expected to do," McKell said. "I knew I could do it if I prepared well. I have no regrets. I went as hard as I could and I tried my very best. I feel great because we can go home happy." McKell was followed closely by teammate Magill, who finished 39th with
a time of 20:32.8. The Cougars' third runner was Sandberg, who came in
83rd with a time of 20:59.8, followed by Fowler, placing 99th
(21:10.1), and Heiner, who finished the scoring for BYU with a
139th-place finish (21:26.2).
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