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Cougar Men Win Close Battles; BYU Grabs Individual, Team Firsts By Dorothy Knoell, Provo Daily Herald
Nov. 1, 1999
PROVO -- It was supposed to be close, both individually and in the team race. And it was. But it was the Air Force Falcons who surprised everyone, including their coach, in making the final team score in the Mountain West Conference men's cross country championships close. The 13th-ranked BYU men pulled out both the individual and the team championship, with sophomore John Hedengren outdueling favorite Chris Merkley of Utah and Colorado State's dangerous Bryan Berryhill for individual honors. "John ran just a great race," BYU coach Sherald James said. "He just did everything right." The team battle between BYU and 15th-ranked Utah failed to materialize as expected. The Utes did grab two of the top five spots, but managed only 16th, 26th and 31st place after that. Meanwhile, Air Force, led by Jim Nelson's seventh-place finish, went 7-8-11-15-17 to put some heat on BYU. But not near enough, as Randon Richards and Marc Lawson also finished in the top 10 for BYU, with last year's Class 3A champion, David Danley of Wasatch, 10th, and Nathan Harrison, who didn't even run in the Pre-National meet a couple of weeks ago because he hadn't earned a spot, 12th. BYU scored 34 points to win, but Air Force was a strong second at 58, with Utah third at 70. "I'm so very pleased," ecstatic Air Force coach Mark Stanforth said. "Our goal is always to be in the top three. "But to be honest -- and I never told my team this -- a couple of months ago, I thought, 'We really suck.' In a meet at the beginning of the year, Utah and Colorado State put five runners across the line before we even got one. Both of them. "I've never seen a team come so far in eight weeks. They ran smart and as well as they could. They were unbelievable." BYU was pretty unbelievable, too. Merkley and teammate Travis Hildebrand set the early pace, with Hedengren, Richards and Berryhill staying with them in a pack of five. Merkley, a former American Fork and Southern Utah star who is having a great year, eventually took a narrow lead, but Hedengren moved out with him as they opened some distance between themselves and the rest of the front pack. In the final stretch, Hedengren started to pull away -- until Berryhill, who is known for his great finishes, kicked into high gear. "I could feel him coming," Hedengren said with a smile. "And I could hear the crowd. So I just gave it everything I had." It was enough, as Hedengren crossed the finish line in 24:38.3. Berryhill managed to catch and pass Merkley, but couldn't catch Hedengren. He finished in 24:39.4. Merkley finished just behind in 24:41.8 "I was coming," Berryhill told Hedengren with a grin as they stood together after the race. "I'd have got you, but the finish line came too soon." "This was a pretty consistent race for me," Hedengren said. "The Ute runners (Merkley and Hildebrand) paced it pretty well, and broke the win for us. "I wanted to make my move with about a mile to go, because I wanted to get a little distance between myself and Berryhill and Merkley, because they're both great sprinters at the end." James admitting to doing a little calculating as he watched the race, trying to decide if his team would edge Utah. "You get really involved in the race, but I always keep track of all the runners, even the last guy," he said. "I was watching them all, and they all ran really well today."
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