Y. teams finish in top 10

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The BYU men's and women's cross country teams both finished in the top 10 at the NCAA cross country championships on Monday.

Colorado swept both team titles.

Josh Rohatinsky helped lead the men to a fifth-place finish, while Laura Turner led the four-time national champion BYU women to an eighth-place finish.

"I'm ecstatic for the guys," men's coach Ed Eyestone said. "We came one place short of where we wanted to be, but I'm very proud of the guys. Anytime you finish in the top five, it's a great accomplishment."

Rohatinsky placed 22nd overall out of 243 runners with a time of 31:45. The sophomore was named All-America. Finishing 41st overall was teammate Brian Lindsay at 32:05. Behind Lindsay was a pack of Cougars who helped solidify the men's fifth-place finish: Chandler Goodwin (44th, 32:09), Dustin Bybee (78th, 32:41) and senior Chad Durham (82nd, 32:41).

"It wasn't my best race, but it was good to finish where I did," Rohatinsky said. "I'm not upset with myself; I just know I could have gone harder."

The men's fifth-place finish is their best since 1983, when the Cougars placed second in the nation.

Turner became only the second BYU woman to earn four all-American citations. She finished in fourth place overall.

"I felt so good today," Turner said. "I rarely have a good kick at the end, and I did that today."

Finishing behind Turner was teammate Rena Chesser. The senior finished the race with a time of 21:22, good for 37th overall. Coming in behind Chesser was freshman Heidi Magill. Magill ran the 6K event in a time of 21:48, placing her 58th overall. Teammates Julie Cameron (89th, 22:11) and Amber Harper (105th, 22:18) rounded out the scoring.

"I'm pleased with our eighth-place finish," Shane said. "It's been an unusual year; it's been a faith builder.

"We struggled early in the year. But we can be grateful for a lot of things. Its times like these that remind you of what you should be grateful for."

Utah junior Elise Greenwood-Bahr finished 79th overall in the 6K race (21:45.1). Greenwood-Bahr earned an individual trip to the national race by finishing ninth (21:05.2) in the Mountain Region championships earlier this year.

Southern Utah freshman Jess Baumgartner placed 51st out of 242 runners. His time of 32:00.3 was just two seconds shy of earning him all-America honors, though his finish was the second-best overall among Utah athletes in the race.

Baumgartner's berth to the NCAA championship race marked the first time in four seasons a Southern Utah athlete had competed at nationals, and it is the fourth appearance overall for the men's program.

Weber State's Nate Long finished 129th overall in 26:09.