BYU cross country gears up for NCAA Regionals in Logan

PROVO, Utah – The BYU men’s and women’s cross country teams head to Logan, Utah, to compete in the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Friday.

The women will run a 6K and the men will follow with a 10K.

“We are treating this regional meet as a semi-final at a championships meet,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “We want to run hard enough to advance but easy enough to recover for the most important meet of the year, the NCAA Championships. As a result, we may be resting some of our top seven runners and replacing them with our second team runners. We can do this as our team is very strong this year.”

Following a perfect-score finish at the West Coast Conference Championships, the No. 2 men’s team looks to claim another win for the Cougars. The last time BYU won the regional meet was in 2011.

The Cougars will face some of the nation’s top-ranked teams including No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 5 Colorado, No. 8 Colorado State, No. 12 Southern Utah, No. 16 Air Force and No. 23 Utah State.

“The main goal for Friday's race is to qualify for the NCAA Championship race,” associate head women’s coach Diljeet Taylor said. "The ladies are going to work together to ensure our spot to Kentucky. Overall, we are feeling fit and ready for this part of the season."

Following a second place finish at the WCC Championships, the No. 18 women’s team prepares to compete against some of the top teams in the nation. The competition includes No. 1 Colorado, No. 2 New Mexico, No. 15 Utah State and No. 29 Northern Arizona. The last time BYU won this meet was 2003.

The NCAA Mountain Region Championships will take place at the Steve and Dona Reeder Cross Country Course in Logan, Utah. The women’s race will begin at 10:15 a.m. MT and the men will follow at 11:15 a.m. MT. Admission is free.

Live results can be found here.