Cougars take home awards at WCC Championships

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This year’s WCC championships ended in success for both the BYU men’s and women’s cross country teams.

Team Captain Dylan Shawn holds the WCC Championship trophy.  The men's cross country team had seven runners in the top eight. (BYU T&F/CC Twitter account)
Team Captain Dylan Shawn holds the WCC Championship trophy. The men’s cross country team had seven runners in the top eight. (BYU T&F/CC Twitter account)

The men were projected to win the meet and they did not disappoint.

“Now THAT’s what I’m talkin’ about,” BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe said via Twitter. “Cougar men cruise to 2015 WCC XC Championship scoring an incredibly low 17 points! Aaron Fletcher wins!”

They BYU men’s team dominated the race and defended its No. 4 ranking — it had seven runners in the top eight. Perennial powerhouse Portland finished second, 49 points behind the Cougars.

Fletcher was named WCC Athlete of the Year after winning the race and he was joined by six teammates on the first team All-WCC. Dallin Farnsworth was named as the WCC Freshman of the year.

“The men got it done,” BYU men’s cross country head coach Ed Eyestone said via Twitter.

This was the third championship in five years for the men.

The women’s team had been battling illness and injury for the few weeks prior to the race; notably, top performer for most of the season Natalie Shields-Connolly with a sprained ankle. The women did race well enough to earn a raw-score tie with Gonzaga, but they ended up in second place because of a tie breaker that fell in favor of the Zags.

The women’s team had been battling illness and injury for the few weeks prior to the race; notably, top performer for most of the season Natalie Shields-Connolly with a sprained ankle. The women did race well enough to earn a raw-score tie with Gonzaga, but they ended up in second place because of a tie breaker that fell in favor of the Zags.

“It was not our best race of the year, but it was our best race today,” BYU head coach Patrick Shane said in a press release. “Everybody did their best today and we couldn’t have done any more than we did. They all gave it everything they had. Today just wasn’t our day.”

Jennica Redd led the way for the Cougars in the 6k and Alice Jensen, winner of the WCC Preview meet, finished 10th earning them both first team All-WCC honors. Shields-Connolly and Kelsey Braithwaite both earned WCC All-Academic team honors with Carrie Jube and Redd receiving All-Academic honorable mention.

The next meet for the Cougars is the NCAA Mountain Regional Championship on November 13 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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