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BYU Men and Women, Colorado State Women Qualify for 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships
Wyoming's Mark Korir and New Mexico's Timmie Murphy qualify individually.
Nov. 13, 2006 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The BYU men's and women's cross country teams and the Colorado State women's cross country team, along with Wyoming sophomore Mark Korir and New Mexico senior Timmie Murphy will represent the Mountain West Conference at the 2006 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The championships will be hosted by Indiana State University, on Monday, November 20, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at The Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The 12th-ranked Cougar men brought home a second-place finish at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. Two-time MWC Runner of the Year Josh Rohatinsky led the Cougar charge in the regionals, winning the individual title in a time of 29:51.60. Sophomore Kyle Perry followed with a 10th place finish (30:38.60), while sophomore Jacob Gustafsson finished 17th (31:21.90). Juniors Dustin Bybee and Chandler Goodwin rounded out the scoring for BYU, finishing 18th (31:23.20) and 21st (31:29.60), respectively. BYU is headed to its eighth straight NCAA Championship as members of the MWC, where it finished 13th last season. Wyoming's Mark Korir qualified for his first men's championship, also becoming the first Wyoming runner since the inception of the conference in 1999 to qualify for the championship. Korir finished third overall in the regional with a time of 29:56.70. For the women, No. 14 BYU and Colorado State both earned at-large invitations to the NCAA Championships based on a third and fourth place finish in the NCAA Mountain Regional, respectively. MWC Women's Runner of the Year Kassi Andersen paced the Cougar scoring runners with a third-place finish (20:41.60). Sophomore Amber Duffin was the next BYU finisher (seventh overall, 21:05.40), followed by senior Breanne Sandberg (21st, 21:30.60), sophomore Jenna Jensen (31st, 21:52.70) and sophomore Tawny Bybee (32nd, 21:55.60). The BYU women, winners of the 1999, 2001 and 2002 national championships, will be making their eighth straight championship appearance. Junior April Thomas was the first Colorado State runner to cross the finish line in 21:16.10 (12th), while senior Nicole Feest (15th, 21:22.80), sophomore Kirsten Anthony (16th, 21:25.60), senior Danielle Korb (23rd, 21:38.70) and junior Heather Loseke (30th, 21:52.00) rounded out the scoring for the Rams. The Colorado State women will be making their fifth NCAA Championship appearance as members of the conference. New Mexico's Timmie Murphy finished fifth overall out of 119 runners to earn her first-ever berth in the championship. The NCAA Cross Country Championships will feature 31 men's and women's teams and 38 individuals on each side. The women's race will begin at noon Eastern time followed by the men's race at 1:15 p.m.
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