Rohatinsky and Turner Named MWC Athletes of the Week

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- BYU sophomore Josh Rohatinsky and senior Laura Turner have been selected as the Mountain West Conference men's and women's cross country athletes of the week, respectively.

Rohatinsky, a Provo, Utah, native, brought home the individual crown at the Notre Dame Invitational last week in South Bend, Ind. In his first 8K race in two years, he clocked in a career-best 23:40, leading the 14th-ranked Cougars to a fifth place finish overall in the blue division of the invitational.

"Josh is the guy, who brings it when he wants too," Men's coach Ed Eyestone said. "With under a mile to go, Josh put a move on the leader and pushed himself till the race was over. The guy left people in his wake."

The race featured No. 2 Stanford, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Butler and No. 18 Florida State, among other top-25 squads. Rohatinsky's time is also an MWC-best for 8k's this season.

Turner, from Clifton, Va., crossed the finish line fourth overall (out of 154 runners) at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C. Her time of 17:04.55 in the 6K is a personal and conference season-best, as No. 17 BYU finished fourth overall in the 20-team field.

"Laura ran really well today," Shane said. "She's a season veteran who's a tough runner to beat. She really looked strong

Mountain West Conference Cross Country Athletes of the Week
Date      Men
Sept 15   Shadrack Biwott, Fr., New Mexico
Sept 22   Abe Wengel, Sr., Air Force
Sept 29   Mike Nicks, Sr., Colorado State
Oct 6     Josh Rohatinsky, So., BYU
Date      Women
Sept 15   Jocquelyne Gallegos, Sr., New Mexico
Sept 22   Elise Greenwood-Bahr, Jr., Utah
Sept 29   Nicole Feest, Sr., Colorado State
Oct 6     Laura Turner, Sr., BYU