Cougars Sweep MWC Championships

FORT COLLINS -- Once again the BYU cross country teams came away with a clean sweep at the Mountain West Conference Championship on Saturday at Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins, Colo.

For the 18th consecutive season the women's team has captured the conference title, and the men bring home their eighth in nine seasons.

"Overall we had a fantastic effort," women's head coach Patrick Shane said. "We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish."

Sophomore Heidi Magill and junior Josh Rohatinsky led their teams to the title by picking up the individual Mountain West Conference crown.

The No. 8 women's first place finish came with all five of their scoring runners placing in the top-10, giving them a solid score of 23. Magill's victory came with an all-time MWC Championship record 6K time of 20:42.4. Chelsea Smith McKell (20:59.2, second), Breanne Sandberg (21:11.1, fourth), Ann Heiner (21:25.8, seventh) and Amy Fowler (21:28.8, ninth) completed the scoring for the Cougars. Colorado State finished third with 75 points, followed by Wyoming in fourth (121 points), San Diego State in fifth (134), Air Force sixth (138) and Utah seventh (189). TCU (192) and UNLV (274) finished eighth and ninth, respectively.

After winning the individual championship, Magill was honored as MWC Runner of the Year. In addition, Magill was named First Team All-MWC. Joining her were teammates McKell, Sandberg and Heiner. Second Team honors went to Fowler and Ann Marie Thomas. Besides being named to the Second Team All-MWC, Fowler picked up Freshman of the Year honors after her performance.

On the men's side, the No. 6 Cougars finished with 27 points, while runner-up Colorado State finished with a point total of 62, Air Force claimed third-place with 73 points, followed by Wyoming in fourth (108 points), New Mexico in fifth (119) and TCU in sixth (140).

Rohatinsky paced the field with a time of 24:12.9. His time was the second fastest clocking in MWC Championship history. By way of scoring for the Cougars, Rohatinsky was followed by Chandler Goodwin (24:38.7, fourth), Dustin Bybee (24:39.9, fifth), Josh McAdams (24:47.1, seventh) and Tyrel Jensen (24:56.6, tenth).

By picking up the individual victory, Rohatinsky was also crowed as MWC Runner of the Year and named to the All-MWC First Team. Also earning First Team honors were Goodwin, Bybee and McAdams. Second Team honorees were Tyrel Jensen and Jacob Gustaffson. Gustaffson was also honored as Freshman of the Year.

Coach Eyestone was also awarded with his third MWC Coach of the Year award. Earning the award marked the third time he has received the honor in the last four seasons.

BYU has two races remaining in their season. The Mt. Regional is up next and the Cougars will be running in front of a home crowd as they host the event. The meet will be at East Bay Golf Course in Provo, on Saturday Nov. 12.

2005 MWC WOMEN'S ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM:
Heidi Magill, So., BYU
Chelsea Smith-McKell, Sr., BYU
Timmie Murphy, Jr., New Mexico
Breanne Sandberg, Jr., BYU
Lital Azulay, So., San Diego State
Leslie Luna, So., New Mexico
Ann Heiner, Jr., BYU
SECOND TEAM:
Nicole Graham, Sr., Air Force
Amy Fowler, Fr., BYU
Jacquelyne Gallegos, Sr., New Mexico
Danielle Korb, Jr., Colorado State
April Thomas, Sr., Colorado State
Ann Marie Thomas, Fr., BYU
Kristen Hemphill, Fr., Colorado State
 
2005 MWC WOMEN'S AWARDS WINNERS
 
RUNNER OF THE YEAR:
Heidi Magill, BYU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Amy Fowler, BYU
2005 MWC MEN'S ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST TEAM:
Josh Rohatinsky, Jr, BYU
Nick Wilson, Sr., Air Force
Kip Kangogo, Sr., TCU
Chandler Goodwin, So., BYU
Dustin Bybee, So., BYU
Josh Glaab, Sr., Colorado State
Josh McAdams, Sr., BYU
SECOND TEAM:
Rob Watson, Jr., Colorado State
Jeff Gosselin, Sr., Air Force
Tyrel Jensen, So., BYU
Cameron Clarke, Sr., New Mexico
Jacob Gustafsson, Fr., BYU
Paul Michel, Sr., Colorado State
Philemon Tanui, Jr., Wyoming
2005 MWC MEN'S AWARDS
RUNNER OF THE YEAR:
Josh Rohatinsky, BYU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Jacob Gustafsson, BYU
COACH OF THE YEAR:
Ed Eyestone, BYU