MWC Harriers of the Week

New Mexico's Matt Gonzales and BYU's Laura Turner honored

New Mexico's Matt Gonzales won the men's Blue Team Race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals Meet in Terre Haute, Ind.
Cross Country Home HEADLINES 2009 All-Mountain West Conference Cross Country Teams Announced New Mexico Wins Mountain West Conference Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships BYU to Host 2009 MWC Cross Country Championships RELATED LINKS • Follow all of the college cross country action at CollegeSports.com • Email this to a friend

Oct. 20, 2004

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - New Mexico senior Matt Gonzales and BYU senior Laura Turner have been selected as the Mountain West Conference men's and women's cross country athletes of the week, respectively.

Gonzales, a Santa Fe, N.M., native, brought home the individual crown in the Blue Team Race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals Meet on Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind., clocking a career-best 23:47.2 in the 8K event. Competing in only his second race of the season due to a knee injury, Gonzales edged Colorado's Brent Vaughn at the finish line by less than a second to claim his first cross country victory since the 2001 season, leading the No. 23 UNM men's team to a 10th place finish in the process. His time bested his previous career effort by eight seconds.

Turner, from Clifton, Va., crossed the finish line fourth overall (out of 252 runners) in the women's portion of the Blue Team Race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Her MWC season-best time of 20:30.7 in the 6K paced the 12th-ranked Cougars to a fifth-place team finish.