Cougars Dominant in Season Opener

In a race without team scoring, the BYU women's cross country team turned in a dominant performance, placing seven runners in the top ten at the Great Race of Great Bay in San Francisco.

Head coach Patrick Shane said the team's performance was superb at this point in the year. "I was really pleased with how well the team ran this early in the season. We didn't rest them much coming in but the squad raced well today. I was especially pleased with Jessie Kindschi's performance in her first race," Shane said.

Kindschi, a junior transfer from South Dakota State, won the first race of her BYU career, covering the 5K course in 18:11.1. Teammate Amy Bair crossed the finish line second in a time of 18:16.3.

Kindschi was excited to begin her career as a Cougar. "It was just exciting to put on the BYU uniform. We didn't have much time to get ready because the race started twenty minutes earlier than we thought it would but I felt good throughout the race," Kindschi said.

Katie Martin and Nan Evans finished fifth and sixth, respectively, and Tiffany Rust finished eighth to round out the Cougars top five. Rust's finish in 18:31.6 gave the Cougars just a 20.5 second spread between the number one and five runners on the team.

Nine Cougars finished in the top fifteen and every BYU runner finished among the top 25 in a race fielding 125 participants. The No. 4 Cougars return home next week to host a talented field, including No. 8 Arizona and No. 20 Weber State.

Great Race of Great Bay Women's 5K

Individual Finishers

1. Jessie Kindschi Brigham Young 18:11.1

2. Amy Bair Brigham Young 18:16.3

3. Tenaya Adams 18:18.0

4. Rosemarie Lagunas 18:21.7

5. Katie Martin Brigham Young 18:24.4

6. Nan Evans Brigham Young 18:25.2

7. Kathy Spink Stanford 18:28.0

8. Tiffany Rust Brigham Young 18:31.6

9. Jolee Gillespie Brigham Young 18:34.0

10. Emily Mars Brigham Young 18:40.8

Other BYU Finishers

11. Anika Smith 18:42.7

14. Jaime Cottle 18:45.9

21. Emili Smith 18:59.0

24. Lisa Antonelli 19:16.5

-- BYU --