The No.10 BYU men's cross country team can clinch a berth in the NCAA National Meet with a strong performance at Saturday's, Nov. 16, 10k NCAA Mountain Regional Meet in Albuquerque, N.M.

The NCAA creates the championship field of 31 teams by granting automatic bids to the top two teams from each of the nine regions and rewarding 13 teams with at-large bids.

The Cougars finished third in their region last year and were granted an at-large bid on the basis of their strong regular-season performance.

Several runners said they have started to peak at the right time, coming off perhaps their best race of the season, the Mountain West Conference Championships here in Provo on Nov. 2.

"We know we'll be fine if we run the way we did at the MWC Meet," senior Lewis Jones said. "If we can do that, we'll qualify for Nationals."

The Regional Meet gives the Cougars an opportunity to showcase their skills against some of the top teams in the nation.

Arguably the strongest region in the nation, the Mountain Region boasts seven of the top 30 teams in the nation, including No. 3 Colorado, last year's National Champion.

"The Mountain Region is probably the best region in the NCAA," head coach Ed Eyestone said. "We'll probably have five to six teams from our region go to Nationals."

2002 MWC runner of the year, sophomore Kip Kangogo, who has not lost a race this year, faces stiff competition as he seeks to extend his personal winning streak.

Colorado senior Jorge Torres, a three-time Big 12 Conference Champion, should pose the biggest threat to Kangogo's win streak.

"I told Kip to make sure he saves himself for Nationals too," Eyestone said. "Kip and Jorge have never gone head to head yet. I'm sure Kip will run hard and they'll put on quite a performance."

Kangogo has established himself as a favorite for the individual championship with six victories in six meets this season.

"I'm still going to run my best race," Kangogo said. "I'll make sure I'm okay too though, I don't want to strain myself because Nationals is only two weeks away."

Eyestone said the team is confident of an at-large bid if they do not earn one of the region's two automatic bids.

"We've beaten a lot of teams from other regions during the season," Eyestone said. "So we're looking pretty good."

With a current ranking of No.10, the team said they still have their eyes set on their early season goal of becoming one of the top-four teams in the nation

"The guys have the ability to finish somewhere in the top four," Eyestone said. "If we can do that, it will make for an amazing season."

Copyright Brigham Young University 14 Nov 2002