BYU to Host NCAA Mountain Region Championships

PROVO, Utah--BYU is hosting this year’s 2011 NCAA Mountain Region Cross Country Championships at East Bay Golf Course in Provo, Utah, on Saturday, Nov. 12. The men’s championships begin at 11 a.m. and the women’s championships begin at 12:15 p.m.

The men’s race will be very competitive, featuring the No. 3 ranked team in the country, BYU, and No. 4 Colorado. Northern Arizona, which is currently ranked 12th in the nation, will also be competing, as well as many other local schools, including Southern Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley and Weber State. Southern Utah’s Cam Levins looks to extend his undefeated season and Northern Arizona’s Deigo Estrada and BYU’s Miles Batty look to challenge Levins up front.

The women's race will feature two nationally ranked teams, including No. 3 Colorado and  No. 19 New Mexico, who are the defending region champions. Risper Kimaiyo, a junior from UTEP, looks to defend her individual championship and will be challenged by BYU’s Morgan Haws, Colorado’s Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp and several others from Texas Tech and New Mexico.

The men's race will be a 10K and the women's race will be a 6K.  The top two teams in each race will automatically advance to nationals, and the top four athletes in each race not on a team that advances also automatically advance.  The results from the nine regions across the country will be compiled by the NCAA to determine the 13 at-large teams, which will be announced on Monday. The NCAA Cross Country National Championships will take place on Nov. 21 in Terre Haute, Ind.

Full results from the meet will be available at www.byucougars.com at the conclusion of the event.