Regional Previews: Mountain Men

1. Colorado- The Buffs will pack run their way to a win here and will be one of the favorites heading into nationals.  The Buffaloes are fresh off an easy victory at Pac-12s for the second straight year.  The real question is: Will we see Joe Bosshard?

2. BYU- The Cougars looked great early but have slowly been dropping since.  Their top two are solid and will contend for the individual title here.  It will be up to their 3-5 to hold off the Lobos and Lumberjacks.

3. Northern Arizona- The Lumberjacks replaced Diego Estrada with Brian Shrader and Futsum Z and they have looked good this year.  They have avoided the bigger meets but have been successful at smaller ones.

4. New Mexico- The Lobos dominated the Mountain West conference and look to qualify for nationals out of this region.  Like usual, their team is comprised mostly of British imports.

5. Air Force- The Falcons have a tight pack.  They finished 2nd in the mountain behind New Mexico and placed 6 ahead of Colorado State's #2.

6. Colorado State- The Rams have run the big meets this year and are prepared to do well here.  They have  solid front runner in Alex Muntefering and a tight 2-5 pack.

7. UTEP- These guys are great through 2 and solid through 3.  Their 4 and 6 guys need to run well to even keep this spot.

8. Weber State- Weber edged out Southern Utah by 3 points at Big Sky.  They are led by John Coyle and have a solid pack.

9. Texas Tech- TT is not deep at all but front runner Kennedy Kithuka will likely win here.

10. Southern Utah- South Utah lost Cam Levins and any chance of making NCAAs.  They are led by 2011 individual qualifier Nate Jewkes.


It appears that 4 solid teams will qualify out of this region.  I really don't see anybody upsetting the top 4.  UTEP lacks depth and Air Force lacks a front runner.

Individuals:  The Kenyans will run hard and the BYU leaders will finish between them and the rest of the pack which will be tactically battling for team qualifying.  Most of the top positions will be taken up by BYU, Colorado, New Mexico, and NAU runners.

1.Kennedy Kithuka, Texas Tech
2. Anthony Rotich, UTEP
3. Rex Shields, BYU
4. Jared Ward, BYU
5. Jake Huryz,CO
6. Blake Theroux,CO
7. Futsum Zienasellassie, NAU
8. Brian Shrader, NAU
9. Matt McElroy, NAU
10. Hugh Dowdy, CO
11. Luke Caldwell, NM
12. Aric Van Halen, CO
13. Martin Medina, CO
14. Nate Jewkes, SUU
15. Alex Muntefering, CO St
16. John Coyle, Weber State
17. Tylor Thatcher, BYU
18. Jason Whitt, BYU
19. Pat Zacharias, NM