PROVO, Utah (Sep. 18,2007) -- The No. 23 women's cross country team looks to improve on its second-place finish at home two weeks ago as they travel to Honolulu for the Big Wave Invitational on Saturday.
The four-kilometer race will start at 7:50 a.m. HST at Kaneohe Kipper Golf Course.
In preparation for Oregon's Bill Dellinger Invitational in two weeks, the team will travel with a limited squad to the Big Wave Invitational.
The Cougars will be running without Angela Wagner, Katie Bowen, Jenna Jensen, Amy Fowler Layne and Amber Duffin, their top five runners.
"We're working really hard right now to get ready for Oregon, and they need to train so hard this week that traveling to Hawai`i wouldn't be congruent with success in two weeks," BYU coach Patrick Shane said.
Shane still expects his team to run well in Hawai`i.
"I think it's going to require them to put forth a maximum effort in the race, but I still feel we can show well in the race," he said.
Junior Tawnee Bybee will be joined by freshmen Cecily Lemmon and Anna Sperry in Hawai`i. Bybee, Lemmon and Sperry finished in the top 20 at the BYU Autumn Classic two weeks ago. With a time of 18:16.5 in the five-kilometer race, Lemmon led the group of three runners.
The women's team traveled to Hawai`i two years ago, winning the meet with a perfect score of 15 points. Jenna Jensen, who won't be making the trip this year, placed fourth in that race.