ORLANDO -- The women's cross country team had a successful trip down to Walt Disney World, winning the 5k race with a team score of 35 points. BYU beat out 35 other universities, which included 287 individuals.

"We had a pretty good race," said head coach Patrick Shane. "It was warm, hot and humid."

Anne Heiner led the Cougars with her 4th place finish and a time of 17:59. After a slow start to the race, she moved up and challenged for the lead in the final half-mile. Heiner, a senior of Las Cruces, NM, last competed in the Bill Dellinger Invitational.

"Anne ran a tough race," said Shane. "I was very impressed with her performance."

Accompanying Heiner in the top ten was Lisa Frischknecht, Jenna Taylor Jensen, Sara Ingebretsen and Katie Porter.

"I'm really excited about the race," said Frischknecht. "I felt like I got out a lot better. It was good to be up with my teammates. We really helped each other out. It was a great day for a race."

Coach Shane now feels confident as his team heads into the second half of the season.

"Lisa had a breakthrough race," said Shane. "She's really improved a lot this year. Our team, I feel, made some major steps to prepare for the last three races of the year. This meet helped us decide our final 12."

Coming in behind the Cougars in second and third place was IPFW (94 pts.) and Milligan University (129 pts.), respectively.

Up next, both the men's and women's teams will prepare for the Pre-Nationals meet on Oct. 14 in Terre Haute, Ind.

PROVO -- After finishing in second place at last week's Bill Dellinger Invitational, the women's cross country team will head to Florida for the Annual Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic.

"We'd like to win one," said head coach Patrick Shane. "We've finished second in all the races so far this year, but that is not where we want to be."

This will be Shane's last attempt to establish the final 12 girls who will participate in Pre-Nationals and the MWC Championships. With the depth of the team, he can afford to keep some of his top runners out of this week's race.

"I'd like to see some people step up and have good races and improve, " said Shane. "There are a number of young women who are on the bubble of breaking through and really helping us."

Making the trip to Orlando will be true-freshman Wendy Harris, who finished third in the BYU Autumn Classic. Anne Heiner, who participated in her first race of the season last week, will also travel. Ten other girls will accompany them, including Southern Utah transfer Tawny Bybee, Sarah Ingebretson and Jenna Taylor Jensen.

There will be 40 teams competing against the Cougars, many located in southern regions of the U.S. Coach Shane anticipates strong competition against teams BYU has not yet faced this season.

"There will be some good individual competition," he said. "It should be similar to the teams we competed against at the Great American Invitational."

This week the No. 9 ranked men's team will be preparing for the Pre-National meet coming up on Oct. 14 in Terre Haute, Ind.