Distance Teams Stanford Bound, Others Travel to UTEP

PROVO -- The BYU men's and women's track teams will split this weekend, with the distance runners heading to Palo Alto to compete in the Stanford Invitational. The sprinters and field events competitors will travel to El Paso, Texas to compete in the UTEP Invitational.

The Stanford meet provides top competition in the distance events, and the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters should see a host of NCAA automatic qualifying marks. The BYU women's team has entered a total of nine athletes in the two events, including 2000 NCAA 10,000 meter Champion Tara Northcutt. The Cougar men will also be looking to make a strong showing, as senior John Hedengren returns to the meet where he recorded an NCAA qualifying time last year in the 10,000. In addition, freshman Josh Rohatinsky, who recorded a win in the 5,000 meters in the first meet of the season, will be competing for BYU.

In El Paso, the Cougars will compete against New Mexico and UTEP in a triangular meet. Senior All-American shot putter Jim Roberts returns to the BYU lineup after missing one week due to injury. Junior All-American pole vaulter Jeff Hansen will also be competing for the Cougars.

The UTEP meet will begin Saturday at 9:45 a.m., with events running until approximately 3:30 p.m. The Stanford meet will run from 8:30 a.m. until after 10:00 p.m.

Results for the UTEP meet can be found on the team website at:

http://athletics.utep.edu/xcountry&track/01springtime.htm

Stanford's website is www.gostanford.com