PROVO — The Brigham Young University men's lacrosse team capped off a storybook season last weekend, regaining its spot as the country's premier collegiate lacrosse program.

Competing in the 2007 Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association Division-A championships in Frisco, Texas, the top-ranked Cougars dominated the same way they have all year, dispatching the University of Oregon 16-9 in the championship game to claim the program's third national championship since 1997.

A whirlwind tournament saw the Cougars (20-2) first knock out 16th-seeded Texas A&M 12-5 in the first round, beat Boston College by an identical 12-5 score and oust fifth-seeded UC-Santa Barbara 12-6 in the semifinals, setting up the finals showdown with the Ducks.

Freshman Ted Ferrin led the Cougars in the championship game, scoring four goals on the afternoon. Sophomore Justin Hier tallied three goals and three assists in the game.

BYU spent a large part of the season at the top of the polls, buoyed by its gaudy record. After opening the season with four straight wins over quality opponents, the Cougars hit a speed bump, losing consecutive games to Notre Dame de Namur University and the same Oregon squad they would later defeat for the title.

After that March 2 loss, the Cougars tore off 16 straight victories, including a regular-season concluding 21-11 defeat of arch-rival Utah.

Junior Mark Davis was the team's leading goal scorer on the year with 41, with Ferrin leading the team in points with 54.

TRACK AND FIELD: The Cougar track and field teams are off to "Track City, U.S.A," this weekend for the NCAA West Regional Meet, hosted by the University of Oregon at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., Friday and Saturday.

BYU, fresh off another Mountain West Conference championship, may be without the services of some of its top athletes this weekend. Sophomores Chris Carter and Kyle Perry, both All-Americans a year ago, have been battling injuries and are questionable for this weekend's meet.

"I hope they can run, but golly, I don't know," said Cougar men's coach Mark Robison. "I wish we had a crystal ball where we could see."

Carter is ranked fifth in the region in the 400-meter hurdles, with Perry checking in at No. 16 in the 1,500-meter run. Though both athletes understand the importance of this weekend's meet as the final opportunity to qualify for the NCAA championships, Robison said their long-term well-being would obviously be first priority.