Men, Women Picked to Win MWC

COLORADO SPRINGS -- Patrick Shane’s women’s cross country team and Ed Eyestone’s men’s cross country team were selected to win the 2010 Mountain West Conference titles, in a vote by the conference’s coaches released Monday.

On the women’s side, the Cougars received five first-place votes and finished with a score of 61 points to take the top position in the women’s poll. New Mexico, the 2009 MWC Champion, came in second with four-first place votes and 58 points.

In another close vote, the men’s cross country team nabbed four-first place votes and 24 totals points to edge out defending MWC Champion New Mexico for first place. The Lobos finished with two first-place votes and 20 points.

The women’s team returns its top runner from 2009, senior Cecily Lemmon-Lew. Lemmon-Lew won the MWC Championships last season. Miles Batty will lead the men’s team, coming off a 2009 campaign in which he finished second at the MWC Championships and the NCAA Mountain Regional.