UVU cross country ready for NCAA

UVU’s cross country women’s team clinched the Great West Conference Championships last year and this year both the women’s and men’s teams have been picked to win the conference titles.

“We’re excited about this year because it’s our first year where we can qualify for the NCAA championships,” said coach Scott Houle. Beyond being thrilled for the NCAA championships, Houle said, “The team is excited for just the fact that they’ve got to a point where we’ve got pre-season rankings.”

Houle has brought in many new recruits for this season. “We feel like we’ve got the best team and that we’ll do very well,” said Houle.

“This season’s team goals are to win the conference championship and then just see how we can do at the NCAA championships,” said Houle. “It’s going to be pretty tough because they only take two teams from our region and there’s some great teams there, but I know we have a team put together that can do well and I know we can represent our University very well.”

With the NCAA championships part of this years schedule, UVU chose not to host a local meet, which they have done in the past as well as attending the local BYU meet. Instead, UVU has put together a schedule that will give them the opportunity to compete against many other great teams.

UVU will have one opportunity to compete in state at the Color Country Invitational held at Southern Utah University in Cedar City halfway through the season in mid-October.

UVU will kick off its 2009 season at the Wyoming Invitational on Sept. 4 in Laramie Wyoming.