Cougars Win BYU Invitational

PROVO, Utah -- In their first home meet of the season, the men’s and women’s cross country teams finished first, sweeping the 2011 BYU Invitational on Friday.

The men’s team dominated the four-mile race, taking nine of the top 10 spots. The only non-BYU runner in the top 10 was Josh McCabe, who ran unattached and finished in fourth. 

To watch men's video click here

Senior Miles Batty led the pack, finishing first overall with a time of 19:08.4, with sophomore Jared Ward finishing second overall and junior Rex Shields in third. This was the first race of the year for both Batty and Shields.

“I think the race went really well,” Batty said. “Besides the one runner, it was all BYU up front. We had a really good pack early on and we finished well as a team.”

Men’s head coach Ed Eyestone was pleased with his team’s performance.

“I’m very happy with how the race went,” Eyestone said. “It was a nice solid team effort. We kept to our game plan and I was very satisfied with our top three performance.”

BYU finished with a total of 15 points, with Idaho State scoring 50 points.

The women’s team was again able to pull away with a close first place finish in the 5k, beating Idaho State University by two points with a score of 30. Finishing third behind Idaho State’s 32 points was the Utah, scoring 72 points.

To watch women's video click here

Freshman Brooke Holt finished first for the Cougars and third overall, with a time of 18:31.5, while sophomore Michaelanne Laurent and freshman Candace Eddy came in second and third for BYU and sixth and seventh overall.

Women’s head coach Patrick Shane was proud of his team and especially Holt’s performance.

“Brooke Holt was our go-to girl today,” Shane said. “She’s a true freshman and she executed the race plan we put in place perfectly. She did a great job.”

Holt, who has only run in two races at the collegiate level, said she was more prepared mentally for this race than she was at Utah State.

“I think I was ready to run with the college girls this week,” Holt said. “I was mentally more prepared and was able to follow Coach Shane’s plan that he set out for me.”

Up next for the Cougars, the women will head to Minnesota to participate in the Griak Invitational on Sept. 24, and then they will join the men’s team at the Notre Dame Invitational in Indiana on Sept. 30.

Results for this meet can be found by clicking here.