As the Mountain West Conference season was coming to a close, the University of Utah cross country team had plans to finish the conference meet at least fourth in the men’s competition and somewhere around fourth in the women’s competition.
All objectives were met, and some were surpassed, as the Utes finished well at the meet in Albuquerque, N.M.
The men’s squad hopped over a ranked Colorado State squad and finished third in the tournament, while the U women finished fourth.
BYU won both events and took the MWC crown, as the Cougars won the men’s competition by seven points and the women’s competition by 28 points.
U All-American Teren Jameson has done it all year, and this competition could not resist his domination either. Jameson won the men’s race outright, coming in at 23 minutes, 54 seconds?some 25 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
“It felt great?I’ve been training all summer and all season looking forward to this. It was a flat course so it was a fast race, and I just felt good throughout,” Jameson said.
He has felt good in most races as he has now won four of the five meets he has competed in and finished second in the NCAA Pre-Meet in South Carolina.
Jameson’s remarkable year has subsequently resulted in him receiving the Mountain West Conference Runner of the Year award.
Sophomore Colby Frazier also ran very well, as he finished seventh in the competition (24:37), coming in only one second slower than BYU’s Lewis Jones, who finished sixth.
Frazier’s strong season also yielded some individual honors, as he was named to the MWC’s All-Conference First Team.
The men’s squad finished ahead of Colorado State by 23 points and was behind second place Air Force by nine points.
The women’s squad did not place as high as the men’s, however, it had a very good team meet, as the Utes finished fourth behind BYU, Colorado State and Air Force.
BYU had six of the top seven runners as it completely dominated all competition.
Elise Greenwood was the first to cross the finish line for the Utes (in 22:39), and Trina Bateman and Tara Hall soon followed her, as they finished 20th, 23rd and 27th, respectively.
After taking over for long time Ute coach Mike Jones, Brian Appell has built a foundation that he can build upon for the following years. For his effort this year, he has been named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
The Utes will now head down to Provo on Nov. 10 to compete in the Mountain Region Championships, in which the Utes finished 10th last year.