1. Who sits? BYU is fortunate to have crazy depth, so they will likely sit three of their top seven runners for Men (my guess: Aidan Troutner, Davin Thompson, Joey Nokes) and Women.
2. Can BYU win but conserve energy? Nationals is in eight days. Winning Regionals is not important . . . at all. Both teams are a lock to get to Nationals and should not race at full effort.
3. How good can BYU’s #8, #9, and #10 runners do? Can any of these runners run well enough to convince coaches to run them at Nationals?
4. Can the Men move up in the last 2k of the race? Most races up to this point have been 8k. This race and Nationals are 10k, so it’ll be important to see how the boys do in the extra distance.
5. If Carleen Hansen and Jenna Hutchins run, how do they look? Carlee missed the first few races of the season due to injury/illness. She has been making her way back, and the Cougs need her in peak form. Jenna had an awful race at Big12s. Rumor has it she was coming off of illness - is she back to 100%?
Below are the current team rankings for teams in the Mountain region - it is by far the most competitive of the nine regions.
MEN
1. BYU - #1
2. New Mexico - #6
3. Northern Arizona - #8
4. Colorado State - #23
5. Wyoming - #26
6. Texas Tech - #27
WOMEN
1. BYU - #1
2. Northern Arizona - #4
3. Utah - #9
4. New Mexico - #10
5. Utah Valley - #30