Weber State campus briefs

CROSS COUNTRY: The Wildcats open the 2010 season at the Utah State University Invitational on Saturday morning at the Heritage Cross Country course in Wellsville.

The Wildcat women had a strong second place showing, battling 20th ranked BYU. The Cougar won with 23 points. Weber State was second with 46, followed by Utah (83) and Utah State (84).

BYU was led by former WSU runner, Katie Bowen, who finished first in a time of 16:48.0. Weber State sophomore, Sarah Callister, was second in 16:54.1. That is a 26-second improvement from her time in this event last year as a freshman. Taylor Thornley, who attended Logan High, returned to Cache Valley and finished fourth in 17:13.8 — a 30-second improvement from her time in this meet last year.

"I was really proud of our women today," said head coach Paul Pilkington. "Sarah and Taylor really showed improvement in their ability to run. We also had a big surprise from Amber Henry. She had a great year as a middle distance runner in track last year, but didn't run cross country. She came out this season to run and ended up seventh overall and third on our time in a respectable time of 17:26.2, so that was pleasing to see."

On the men's side, the meet turned into a dual meet between the Aggies and Wildcats. Utah State won with 20 points. Weber State scored 41. WSU's Brett Hales was second in a time of 21:59.7, 10 seconds behind USU's Brian McKenna who was the individual winner.

"The men surprised me a bit with the way they ran,"?said Pilkington.

"Chris Burnett has kind of been in the shadows the last couple of years but he came out and ran well. Our freshman Dalton Zundel from Ben Lomond ran as an unattached runner and posted a time of 22:46.5 which would have been our third best time. He beat USU's Jacob Barton from Ogden High. Those two battled all through high school and it was the first time Dalton has ever beat him in a race. Brett Hales ran the way an upper classman should. All in all, it was a good first meet of the season."

The Wildcats are back in action in two weeks at the Montana State University Invitational in Bozeman, Mont., on Sept. 18.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: The Wildcats played its first five-set match of the season on Saturday night, but keeping it close wasn't enough to lift the Wildcats to their first win of the season.

Sophomore outside hitter Bethany Wray had 14 kills and seven digs, while hitting .220 for Weber State (0-7), which fell 3-2 (25-20, 16-25, 25-18, 23-25, 15-4) to Belmont in its final match at the Nevada Invitational.

True freshman Piper Wahlin had a career-high 11 kills against the Bruins (3-4), continuing her solid play during the tournament.

Junior libero Nina Blake had a WSU career-high 17 digs, and senior setter Kim Lissinna posted 32 assist for the Wildcats.

Earlier on Saturday, the Wildcats fell 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-17) to Notre Dame.

Wahlin led Weber State against the Irish with seven kills, while Wray had six kills and six digs. Blake had 12 digs against the Irish.

Weber State will open up the home portion of its 2010 schedule on Wednesday, September 8, when the Wildcats welcome former Big Sky Conference rival Boise State to Swenson Gym. First serve is set for 7 p.m.