Oct. 31, 2009

Men's results / Women's results / All-Conference team

By Mallory Mortvedt
Athletic Media Relations

OREM, Utah -Coming off of two great weeks of practice, the CSU men and women cross country team had a strong showing Saturday, with both teams placing in the top five at the Mountain West Conference Championships held at the Cascade Golf Course in Orem, Utah.

"I thought we ran well today," Head Coach Bryan Berryhill said. "Last year we only had one runner in the top twenty, and this year we had five."

The CSU women placed four runners in the top 15, with sophomore Ellie Rastall placing first for the Rams with a time of 21 minutes, 18.4 seconds, senior Kristen Hemphill placing second for the team with a time of 21 minutes, 37.7 seconds, freshman Sarah Heuer placing third, with a time of 22 minutes and 8.3 seconds, and sophomore Nicole Peters placing fourth for the team with a time of 22 minutes and 15.8 seconds.

"The women took a huge step forward to get back to where we were two years ago," Berryhill said. "We had two girls in the top ten, we took a big jump and I was very happy with the results."

The men's team also had a good performance despite several injuries, with junior Daniel Wallis placing first for the Rams with an overall time of 24 minutes, 59.7 seconds, and behind him freshman John O'Neil placing second for the team with a time of 25 minutes, 44.1 seconds.

"The men did ok, we didn't really do anything that impressive, pretty much just a very average race on the men's side," Berryhill said.

The teams now turn their focus to the NCAA Championships taking place in Albuquerque, N.M. on Nov. 14. This will be the last opportunity for the Rams to show their running at peak performance.

"I think we are looking good heading to regionals. On the women's side, I think we have a good shot of making it to nationals. On the men's side, we just want to have a race that will move us forward to next year," Berryhill said.

The overall results for the women's finish were University of New Mexico claiming first scoring 24 points, Brigham Young second (45), Colorado State third (64), US Air Force Academy fourth (124), Wyoming fifth (165), Utah sixth (195), Texas Christian seventh (196), San Diego State eighth (207), and UNLV tenth (210).

Women's All-MWC First Team include Cecily Lemmon Lew from BYU, Ruth Senior, New Mexico, Nicky Archer, New Mexico, Lacey Oeding, New Mexico, Ellie Rastall, Colorado State, Katy Andrews, BYU, and Ashley Gibson, New Mexico.

Women's All-MWC Second Team include Vanessa Ortiz from New Mexico, Kristen Hemphill, Colorado State, Angela Wagner, BYU, Nicole Nielsen, BYU, Carolyn Boosey, New Mexico, Delyth James, New Mexico, Sarah Heuer, Colorado State.

University of New Mexico also took first overall on the men's side, scoring 29 points, Brigham Young came in second (34), US Air Force Academy third (72), Colorado State fourth (118), Wyoming fifth (132), and Texas Christian sixth (186).

Men's All-MWC First Team include Jacob Kirwa from New Mexico, Miles Batty, BYU, Justin Tyner, Air Force, Chris Barnicle, New Mexico, Richard Nelson, BYU, David Bishop, New Mexico, Nate Ogden, BYU.

Men's All-MWC Second Team include Rory Fraser from New Mexico, Alden Bahr, BYU, Ross Millington, New Mexico, Brandon Hebbert, BYU, Ryan Merriman, BYU, Zach Nordahl, Air Force, and Lee Emanuel, New Mexico.

CSU women's times (overall finish): Ellie Rastall 21:18.4 (5), Kristen Hemphill 21:37.7 (9), Sarah Heuer 22:08.3 (14), Nicole Peters 22:15.8 (15), Kendra Gerk 22:40.7 (22), Michelle Dettmann 22:47.1 (25), Aliese Willard 22:53.6 (29), Margaret Wood 24:35.7 (58), Brittany Lee 24:53.7 (63).

CSU men's times (overall finish): Daniel Wallis 24:59.7 (18), John O' Neil 25:44.1 (27), Spenser Lynass 26:01.6 (28), Jeremy Freed 26:02.9 (29), Andrew Roberts 26:23.6 (34), Ryan Friese 26:44.8 (35), Colin Anderson 26:56.1 (37), Andrew Lesser 27:30.2 (42), Cameron Fullerton 30:13.5 (49).