ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The No. 24 BYU women’s cross country finished fourth at the NCAA Mountain Region Championship Friday, putting the Cougars in good position to earn an at-large bid to the national championships.

“I’m thrilled,” said BYU head coach Patrick Shane. “I think every one of them laid it on the line and ran their hearts out. We’re certainly stronger than we were two weeks ago at the conference meet, and I think we’re going to be even better next week.”

No. 2 Colorado edged out No. 1 New Mexico in a one-point victory, both earning automatic bids to the NCAA National Championship in Lousville, Kentucky, next weekend. No. 20 Utah placed third, 10 points ahead of BYU.

BYU has likely earned enough criteria points to advance to nationals as a “bubble” team. Shane is confident BYU will move forward. 

Natalie Shields-Connolly finished in first for the Cougars, and Carrie Jube, Jennica Redd and Yesenia Silva weren’t far behind. Alice Jensen finished fifth for BYU and was the last to score, followed by Ashleigh Warner and Alyssa Steed.

“It was fun,” Shields-Connolly said. “We did a lot better than last time, but there's more we can do, and we're going to do it at nationals.”

Jube is the sole Cougar who ran at nationals last year, and Shields-Connolly competed at the meet during her sophomore season in 2013. For the rest of the team, it will be their first trip to the NCAA championships.

The top 25 finishers at each of today's region meets across the nation were named 2015 NCAA Division I Cross Country All-Region Honorees. BYU's honorees included Shields-Connolly (18th overall) and Jube (25th overall).

Complete results are attached below.

PROVO, Utah – No. 24 BYU women's cross country will compete in the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships Friday, at the University of New Mexico’s North Golf Course in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The top two teams earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships in Louisville, Kentucky on November 21st. No. 1 New Mexico and No. 2 Colorado have maintained the top national rankings throughout the season, but a third place finish this weekend would send the Cougars through to Louisville. A fourth place finish would likely be good enough for the Cougars as well.

The Cougars enter the meet ranked fourth in the Mountain Region standings, behind No. 20 Utah and just ahead of No. 25 Weber State. The Utes surpassed BYU in polls last week after placing fifth in the Pac-12 Conference meet, while BYU finished second after a tiebreaker to No. 30 Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference Championship. Weber State won the Big Sky title.

The field also includes runners from Air Force, Colorado State, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Nevada, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah, Texas Tech, Utah State, Utah Valley, UTEP and Wyoming.

The gun signals the beginning of the six-kilometer race at noon MST.

For links to live results, visit the BYU women’s cross country schedule page.