Men’s and women’s cross country take first in season opener

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The men’s and women’s cross country teams started the season strong, with both teams taking first place Saturday at the Utah State Invitational in Logan.

The men won with a score of 24, beating the  University of Utah and Weber State. The women won with a score of 40, beating Weber State, Utah and Utah State.

Men’s head coach Ed Eyestone said he was happy with how his team performed.

“I thought we were in great shape and they ended up running a good team effort,” Eyestone said.

BYU runners finished both first and second individually. Sophomore Jared Ward took first, with Curtis Carr only a few seconds behind him.

Carr said the team’s performance showed their condition and hopefully what’s to come this year.

“It was a good indicator of our fitness and we’re excited for what’s to come the rest of the season,” Carr said.

Ward said he also thinks the team has great potential.

“We had a lot of BYU jerseys up front for the whole race so it was an exciting start to the season to see so many guys together,” Ward said.  “A good kickoff to the season shows that we are ready to get going and see what happens. I think we’ll have a good team.”

The women’s team had a tougher challenge than the men’s team but still remained victorious.

Freshman Sarah Darby was BYU’s best performer. She finished first for BYU and third individually.

With many younger athletes on the team this year, women’s head coach Patrick Shane knew they were fortunate to win.

“I felt like they ran very well, for younger athletes with not as much experience,” Shane said, “and we were fortunate to come away winning by a point.”

Sophomores Bethanie Krumen and Kelsi Tippets helped solidify the win for BYU.

Krumen said this was a team effort and win.

“Seeing the Y on the back of their uniforms really helped me pull through,” Krumen said. “It was great to be able to help the team, but of course everyone worked together to pull the win out today.”

Tippets said she agreed with Krumen about team support.

“Having everyone cheering for our team at the end and seeing one of my teammates sprinting ahead really helped me finish strong,” Tippets said.

Both teams’ next races will be Sept. 16 at the BYU Invitational in Provo.

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