Well no wonder BYU women didn't win the Mountain Region. They were racing at altitude and those darn ducks from Oregon were racing at sea level.
The Digital Universe
The BYU women’s cross country ended its season finishing seventh at the NCAA Mountain Region Championship in Fort Collins, Colo., on Friday. The University of Oregon, which came to the meet ranked No. 3, won the meet behind Jordan Hasay, who won her third consecutive NCAA West Regional crown.
“It was less than we had hoped and not where we wanted to be,” BYU women’s Head Coach Patrick Shane said. “The team has been a little inconsistent this year, and that’s what you get when you have a very young team.”
Freshman Natalie Shields came in first for BYU and a No. 14 overall finish (21:04, with teammate Lindsey Sowards Nielson finishing 25th overall [21:18]).
“We’re excited to have an opportunity to run at the NCAA cross country tournament, but we’re one and done this year, so our goal is to get there, and that didn’t quite happen this year,” Shane said.
This year, most of the runners for BYU ran in their first regionals, giving them a positive outlook for next season with most of the athletes returning.
_SW15412 by Jonathan Hardy.
BYU’s Jared Ward finished third at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championship on Friday, extending the men’s cross country season to nationals.
“We’re all excited and looking forward to next season when we know what it’s like and hopefully get out there and do better as a team,” Shields said.
One thing Shields learned from this experience this season was her potential as a contributor to the team.
“You never know your own boundaries and how far you can go,” Shields said. “For me this was an opportunity, and I learned about myself that there is still more in there, and I am looking forward to running two more seasons with the team.”
Results of the Mountain Region Championship can be found here.