LARAMIE, Wyo. – Wyoming's men's and women's cross country teams are ready to run at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Friday, Nov. 9, hosted by BYU in Provo, Utah. The women's 6-kilometer race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. (MT), with the men's 10-kilometer race starting at Noon.

The Cowboys enter the championship ranked No. 18 in the country and No. 6 in the Mountain Region. Two weekends ago at the Mountain West Championships, the Cowboys placed fourth as a team, while junior Paul Roberts won the individual title. Roberts earned first-team all-MW honors and was named the league's Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Juniors Christopher Henry and Harry Ewing both earned second-team all-conference honors with ninth- and 11^th-place finishes, respectively.

"This is a group of guys that are really binding together," said men's cross country coach Scott Dahlberg. "They've been putting in some tremendously hard work, and I think it's coming together right now in a good fashion. They're keying off each other in races, and they have a good understanding and perspective of the fact that they're doing really well, but they have more in the tank. That's just a nice mentality heading into this race."

Last season at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, the Cowboys placed ninth with 286 points. Henry led the way for the Brown and Gold, finishing 38^th overall, while then-junior Michael Downey placed 46^th overall. The Cowboys will be up against tough competition this season, as No. 1 Northern Arizona, No. 2 BYU, No. 8 Colorado, No. 13 Air Force and No. 14 Colorado State are all running in the Mountain Region, considered one of the top regions in the nation. Northern Arizona is the reigning national champion.

The Cowgirls enter the championships ranked No. 11 in the region. At the Mountain West Championships two weekends ago, the Cowgirls placed eighth with 196 points. Freshman Katelyn Mitchem finished first for the Cowgirls for the third time this season, as she placed 30^th overall. Junior Ashley Bock finished just behind in 31^st, while junior Kacey Doner finished 44^th.

"We've still been training some high mileage, and I want them to still come together closer and finish closer as a team, lower the time between our first and fifth person," said associate head coach Amanda Clower. "I still think we have some room for that. We were a little spread out at the conference meet, so I still think we need to work on that."

Last season at the NCAA Mountain Region Championships, the Cowgirls placed 15^th with 376 points. If the Cowgirls finish in 11^th-place, where they are ranked, it would be a significant leap forward from last season. Also running in the race this Friday are No. 1 New Mexico, No. 4 Colorado, No. 9 BYU, No. 22 Southern Utah and No. 28 Northern Arizona. New Mexico is the reigning national champion.

Links to a live stream and live results will be posted on GoWyo.com, and fans can follow @wyo_track on Twitter for updates.