AMES, Iowa (Oct. 14, 2000) To cap off a busy weekend in which BYU cross country teams competed in five different races, the Cougars outran No. 1 Stanford to win the women's 6,000-meter race and the men placed fourth in the 10,000-meter event at the Pre-national Invitational Saturday.

BYU sophomre Lindsey Thomsen finished in ninth place, in a time of 21:17.2 to lead the charge for the Cougars. Senior Sharolyn Shields-Thayer (15th) and sophomre Sarah Ellett (23rd) also placed in the top 25 to give BYU a solid score up in the front of the crowd of over 370 runners. Redshirt freshman Nan Evans (39th) and Katie Martin (42nd) rounded out the scoring for the Cougars.

Colorado came into the race ranked No. 2 in the country, but finished in fifth place. The victory will likely vault BYU into the number one position in the national poll to be released this week. However, coach Patrick Shane is more concerned with the way his team is running and trying not to concentrate on the rankings at this point in the season.

"I was really pleased with the way each of these young women ran today," Shane said. "This was a tough, hilly, hard course, but apparently our training has been geared well for that."

On the men's side, BYU freshman Josh Rohatinsky finished in 27th place, in a field of 360 runners, with a time of 31:33.4 for the 10K course. Junior Lewis Jones (57th overall) and sophomore Andy Carman (76th) also helped the Cougars remain in striking distance of the rest of the pack. BYU entered the national rankings at No. 9 three weeks ago, and moved up to No. 8 last week. The solid showing and the Pre-national meet should help theCougars continue to climb in the rankings.

BYU also sent two teams to compete in the Utah State Invitational Friday. The men took second behind host USU, and the women took fourth.

The Cougars now begin prepartations for the Mountain West Conference Championships, which will be held Oct. 28 in Fort Collins, Colo.

PRENATIONAL INVITATIONAL

Women's 6,000 meters

Team Results

1. Brigham Young 117

2. Stanford 151

3. Wisconsin 189

4. Arizona State 241

5. Colorado 251

Individual Finishers

1. Kara Wheeler Colorado 20:27.3

2. Erica Palmer Wisconsin 20:56.7

3. Shalane Flanagan North Carolina 20:58.6

4. Amy Mortimer Kansas State 21:00.3

5. Lisa Aguilera Arizona State 21:05.9

6. Tuula Laitinen Toledo 21:06.5

7. Sabrina Monro Montana 21:07.8

8. Korene Hinds Kansas State 21:15.7

9. Lindsey Thomsen Brigham Young 21:17.2

10. Tara Chaplin Arizona 21:23.0

Other BYU Finishers

15. Sharolyn Shields-Thayer 21:38.4

23. Sarah Ellett 21:45.6

39. Nan Evans 22:00.2

42. Katie Martin 22:02.7

135. Melanie Steere 22:53.4

Men's 10,000 meters

Team Results

1. Colorado 64

2. Northern Arizona 215

3. Stanford 255

4. Brigham Young 310

5. Georgetown 313

Individual Finishers

1. Jorge Torres Colorado 30:31.1

2. Thomas Murley Stanford 30:48.8

3. Jonathan Riley Stanford 30:49.6

4. Luke Watson Notre Dame 30:52.3

5. Christopher Mutai Alabama 31:01.6

BYU Finishers

27. Josh Rohatinsky 31:33.4

57. Lewis Jones 31:59.6

76. Andy Carman 32:12.0

83. John Hedengren 32:15.2

86. Ben Wynn 32:16.2

105. Dula Parkinson 32:25.1

167. Nate Harrison 32:51.8

Women's 6,000 meters ( "B" race )

Team Results

1. Brigham Young 25

2. Colorado 44

3. Georgetown 95

4. Northwestern 121

5. Creighton 131

BYU Finishers

1. Tara Northcutt 22:46

2. Amy Bair 22:49

5. Tara Haynes 23:09

11. Sarah Ellis 23:31

16. Jamie Philburn 23:40

UTAH STATE INVITATIONAL

Men's 8,000 meters

Team Results

1. Utah State 23

2. Brigham Young 62

3. Idaho State 69

4. University of Utah 73

BYU Finishers

2. Golden Harper 27:00

4. Ammon Larsen 27:10

20. Mike Thatcher 28:02

33. Jeff Hopkinson 28:46

35. Ryan Bullock 28:48

Women's 5,000 meters

Team Results

1. Idaho State 55

Utah State 55

3. Ricks College 65

4. Brigham Young 90

5. Utah Valley State College 123

6. University of Nevada 127

BYU Finishers

4. Marie Hodson 19:08

9. Katy Rice 19:33

23. Taryn Lawson 20:04

26. Jolee Gillespie 20:10

33. Kim Nelson 20:32

The BYU men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Ames, Iowa, the site of the 2000 NCAA Cross Country National Championship, to compete in the Pre-national Invitational meet Saturday.

Returning to action after two weeks off from competition, the Cougar men will look to solidify their spot in the national rankings. BYU moved up one spot in the poll this week to take over the No. 8 position. The Cougars entered the rankings two weeks ago at No. 9, after placing third at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis. The meet featured nine teams that were ranked in the preseason top 25.

After taking one weekend off, the BYU women will also be returning to action in the Iowa meet. The Cougars won the Collegiate Division race at the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 30 in Palo Alto, Calif. The Invitational Division featured the top three women's teams in the country. No. 1 Stanford won the race, with the University of Washington surprising the field to take second. Kansas State, Wisconsin and Arkansas rounded out the top five for the race. With the strong showing, the Huskies moved up to No. 4 in the national poll. Since BYU beat Washington and Weber State earlier in the season at the BYU Triple Crown, the Cougars now sit in the No. 3 spot.