Greenville, S.C. (Oct. 13, 2001) In a return to the site of the team's first national championship, the No. 4 BYU women's cross country team finished second, losing only to second-ranked Stanford in the women's silver race at the Pre-National Invitational.

Tara Northcutt, a two-time All American, led the Cougar pack, finishing fifth in a time of 20:57 on the 6K course. Michaela Mannova finished just behind Northcutt, crossing the line in 21:04 for a seventh-place finish.

"I can't be happier with what we've done at this point in the season and with where we are as a team right now," women's head coach Patrick Shane said. "Our whole team is still training hard and we can improve but we are right on schedule with where we want to be."

The No. 17 BYU men's cross country team also ran well at the race, finishing fourth in the black race with 192 points. Lewis Jones was the top Cougar finisher in that race, covering the 8K course in 25:05 to finish 19th.

"We are going in the right direction and this race will give us a boost of confidence going into the postseason meets," men's head coach Ed Eyestone said. "Our race wasn't perfect by any means but the guys ran much better as a team."

The women's team sent five runners to compete in a second race at the meet, scoring only twenty five points to easily win the team title for that race. Nan Evans showed BYU's depth by winning the race, finishing in 21:42.

For complete results from all races at this weekend's Pre-National Invitational, go to http://www.furmanpaladins.com

Pre-National Invitational Women's Silver Race Team Results

1. Stanford 72

2. BYU 74

3. N.C. State 142

4. Boston College 150

5. Washington 231

Top Ten Individual Finishers

1. Sabrino Monro Washington 20:26

2. Catherine Guiney Boston College 20:31

3. Alicia Craig Stanford 20:48

4. Sara Bei Stanford 20:52

5. Tara Northcutt BYU 20:57

6. Jennifer Owens Virginia 20:59

7. Michaela Mannova BYU 21:04

8. Megan Guiney Boston College 21:06

9. Lauren Fleshman Stanford 21:08

10. Lisa Biggs Washington 21:09

Other BYU Finishers

16. Jessie Kindschi 21:21

19. Sarah Taylor 21:28

27. Amy Bair 21:44

31. Lindsey Thomsen 21:47

56. Katie Martin 22:16

Pre-National Invitational Men's Black Race Team Results

1. Stanford 56

2. N.C. State 94

3. N. Arizona 136

4. BYU 192

5. Oregon 233

BYU Individual Finishers

19. Lewis Jones 25:05

28. John Hedengren 25:18

30. Andy Carman 25:21

46. Steve Barrus 25:34

69. Ammon Larsen 25:55

112. Mark Nevers 26:28

185. Ty Jensen 27:28

Furman Invitational College Women's Race Team Results

1. BYU 25

2. Guelph 94

3. Virginia 117

4. Georgetown 124

5. Minnesota 140

BYU Finishers

1. Nan Evans 21:42

2. Jill Rencher 21:51

9. Devra Vierkant 22:28

11. Emily Mars 22:31

15. Jolee Gillespie 22:36

Furman Invitational College Men's Race Individual Results

BYU Finishers

21. Jeff Hopkinson 26:03

31. Tyler Bushnell 26:12

34. Chad Durham 26:20

The BYU men's and women's cross country teams will spend the weekend in Greensville, S.C. getting to know the course they expect to run on November 19.

The two teams will be competing in the Pre-National Invitational on the same course that the NCAA Championships will be held on November 19.

The race gives the Cougars a chance to get to know their course as well as some of their competition at the championship. But the teams won't get to run against all the top teams as has happened in the past.

"They are going to divide the top forty teams into two different races, so we won't be running against everyone at the race," women's head coach Patrick Shane said. "That gives unranked teams a chance to run against some of the top teams and possibly earn an at-large bid to the championships."

Both BYU teams are ranked in the top 20 in their respective polls, the women are ranked fourth and the men are ranked 17th, as the teams go to Greensville.

"This is our last big meet beforethe Mountain West Conference Championships," men's head coach Ed Eyestone said. "We'd like to run well as a team and improve our national ranking because I believe we are a top-ten team."

The two teams will take a week off after competing in the Pre-National Invitational to prepare for the Mountain West Conference championships, which will be held in Albuquerque, N.M. on Oct. 27