BYU's Rohatinsky and Thomsen Earn Conference Honors as Cougars Continue Climbing in the Polls

Colorado Springs, Colo. -- Brigham Young University freshman Josh Rohatinsky and Brigham Young University sophomore Lindsey Thomsen have been selected as the Mountain West Conference men's and women's cross country athletes of the week, respectively.

Finishing the regular season at the Iowa State Pre-NCAA Invitational Oct. 14, Rohatinsky was the first Cougar to cross the finish line in the 10K race with at time of 31:33.4. The Provo, Utah, native was also the first Mountain West Conference finisher with a 27th-place finish out of 360 runners. The Iowa State meet attracted 53 total teams, including six of the top 10 teams in the country. The BYU men's team finished 4th overall and jumped up a notch to a No. 7 ranking in the national polls.

Thomsen also had an outstanding finish at the Iowa State meet. Her time of 21:17.2 in the 6K race earned her not only a 9th-place finish out of 371 runners, but also the top spot in Mountain West Conference best times for this season. The sophomore from American Fork, Utah, was the first Cougar to finish the race and led her team to a 1st-place finish, knocking off former No. 1 ranked Stanford and No. 2 Colorado. The overall Iowa State meet saw 56 teams compete, including eight of the top 10 teams in the country and 18 of the top 25 teams. The impressive showing by Thomsen and the Cougars earned them a No. 1 national ranking in the polls.

Coming Up: The regular season has ended for all Mountain West Conference schools. They each have a week to rest before facing each other in the 2000 Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championships, Saturday, Oct. 28 at the Collindale Golf Course in Ft. Collins, Colo. Colorado State University will hosts the event. The women's race is at 11:00 a.m., followed by the men's race at 11:45 a.m.

2000 Cross Country Athletes of the Week

Men

Sept. 6 -- Teren Jameson, Utah

Sept. 13 -- Teren Jameson, Utah

Sept. 20 -- David Romero, Air Force

Sept. 27 -- Bryan Berryhill, Colorado State

Oct. 4 -- Chris Acs, Air Force

Oct. 11 -- BJ Christenson, Utah

Oct. 18 -- Josh Rohatinsky, BYU

Women

Sept. 6 -- Katie Yemm, Colorado State

Sept. 13 -- Elizabeth Roodell, Colorado State

Sept. 20 -- Elizabeth Roodell, Colorado State

Sept. 27 -- Kylie Edwards, San Diego State

Oct. 4 -- Katie Martin, BYU

Oct. 11 -- Jenni Lopez, UNLV

Oct. 18 -- Lindsey Thomsen, BYU