Utah Utes campus briefs

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY: The Utes are gearing up for the 2009 NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Saturday. The race will be held at the University of New Mexico's North Golf Course in Albuquerque. The men's 10K race is slotted for 10:45 a.m. MT, by the women's 6K at noon.

The projected runners are currently Amanda Mergaert, Jenny McCune, Sydney Osmun, Rachel Schmalzle, and Hilary Troutner.

The Utes are coming off of a sixth-place finish at the Mountain West Conference Championships held on Oct. 31, in Orem, Utah. Freshmen standouts Mergaert and McCune led the Utes. Mergaert finished the six-kilometer race in 22:53.1 for 28th-place overall and McCune finished in 22:55.0 for 30th place.

The third scoring runner for Utah was freshman Megan Combe with a time of 23:49.4 for 43rd-place overall. Redshirt freshman Lucy Yates had a time of 24:07.3 to earn 48th place, followed by senior Osmun with a time of 24:43.6 for 60th-place overall.