Nov. 1, 2003

LARAMIE, Wyo. -

The University of Wyoming cross country teams completed competition at the 2003 Mountain West Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M. The Cowboys finished fifth in the men's 8k race with 137 team points, while the Cowgirls racked up 159 team points in the women's 6k race to finish seventh.

The Air Force Academy and BYU captured the men's and women's team titles, respectively. The ninth-ranked Falcons men's team finished with 37 points, edging out the No. 12 BYU men (41) by four points. The second-ranked Cougar women's squad finished with 19 points and were followed by Colorado State, with 62 points.

The Cowboys were once again paced by sophomore Brian Knight who finished 20th with a season best time of 26:03. Knight was followed by freshman Ragen Driver who also turned in a season best time of 26:31 to take 24th place. Senior Jason Delaney was the third Cowboy to finish as he took 29th place with a time of 27:04. Other Cowboy notables were sophomore Brian Harnisch (31st, 27:09), senior Kyle Cheesebrough (33rd, 27:16), junior Jeremy Thompson (39th, 28:54) and freshman Jason Sanders (40th, 29:15).

Junior Jennifer Thompson was lead the Cowgirl pack as she crossed the finish line in 23:00 to finish 18th. Junior Natalie Kean followed in 27th place with a time of 23:29. Other Cowgirls that competed on Saturday were junior Ashley Pederson (36th, 24:15), sophomore Elena Helmerick (37th, 24:19), sophomore Christine Michel (41st, 24:45), sophomore Kristen Brauneis (46th, 25:04) and sophomore Emerald Reid (51st, 25:39).

The two teams will be in action agian on Nov. 15th when the compete at the NCAA Regional Cross Country meet in Ogden, Utah.