The NCAA News - News and Features

December 1, 1997

Brigham Young follows motto to claim first cross country title

Brigham Young entered the 1997 Division I Women's Cross Country Championships with a simple motto: Take care of the process and the outcome will take care of itself.

The Cougars took care of the process November 24 at Furman by placing five runners among the top 46 individuals. The result: Brigham Young's first women's team title.

Competing in its ninth consecutive championships, Brigham Young registered 100 points to edge defending champion Stanford.

The Cougars' two-point victory was the closest finish since 1987, when Oregon edged North Carolina State, 97-99.

The Cardinal finished second for the fourth time.

Colorado (178 points), Dartmouth (205) and Wisconsin (227) rounded out the top five. Dartmouth's fourth-place finish was its best ever.

Carrie Tollefson of Villanova won the individual crown, becoming the fifth Wildcat competitor to win the title.

"Warming up, I told each runner what they should do to run their best race," said Brigham Young coach Patrick Shane. "We never talk about other teams. Our goal was not so much to win, but to do the best we could and be happy with the results.

"We didn't think much about Stanford or its ranking."

Courtney Pugmire led the way for the Cougars, finishing eighth individually with a time of 16 minutes, 58 seconds.

Maggie Chan (19th place), Elizabeth Jackson (32nd), Tara Haynes (38th) and Emily Nay (46th) joined Pugmire in guiding the Cougars to the title.

Tollefson extended Villanova's dominance in the individual championships, holding off defending champion Amy Skieresz of Arizona, who placed second. Tollefson finished the 5,000-meter course in 16:29 to give the Wildcats a championships-record seventh individual crown.