NCAA regional meet beckons Utah runners

PROVO — The Mountain West Conference champion BYU men's and women's cross country teams, along with Utah, Utah State, Southern Utah and Weber State, will compete in the NCAA Mountain Regionals in Fort Collins, Colo., on Saturday at the Collindale Golf Course. The teams will vie for a spot in the NCAA championships Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind.

"It's all about qualifying for the NCAA championships," said BYU women's coach Patrick Shane, whose teams have won four national titles in the past seven years.

Laura Turner, the MWC women's athlete of the year, will lead a talented group of Cougar runners pursuing their fourth consecutive district title.

"We've had some really good workouts the last couple of weeks," Shane said. "The team is coming together and I expect some great things happening this weekend."

The men will be led by sophomore Josh Rohatinsky, who has emerged as one of the nation's top runners. The men finished fourth at last year's event.

"The guys look great," men's coach Ed Eyestone said. "We had an awesome week of practice and I feel confident going into this weekend."

The women's 6K event begins at 11 a.m., followed by the men's 10k event at 12:15 p.m. The course features nothing but flat, open terrain.

"It's a pancake flat course," Eyestone said. "No imagination could describe a hill of any kind."

Last year, the Utah women finished 15th in the region with Nellie Hammons leading the team with a 54th-place finish. Elise Greenwood-Bahr fell ill before the race and slipped to fourth amongst Utah runners. With Greenwood-Bahr healthy, Hammons running strong and Jennie Haertel's steady improvement, the Utes will look to put last year's showing behind them.

The men's team only competed with one runner last season, but will run a full squad this weekend. Senior Delfino Arevalo is coming off a 12th-place finish at the MWC championships and will have fellow senior Colby Frazier and freshman Vance Twitchell on his heels.

Southern Utah is coming off its sixth Mid-Continent Conference title sweep in seven years. The SUU men won the Mountain Regional title in 1999 on the same Fort Collins course.