LANSING, Mich. — The Ricks College cross country teams are once again national junior college champions. For the Lady Vikings, it's seven in a row. For the Viking men, it's now three straight. Competing in their final year of NJCAA sports, athletic teams from BYU-Idaho have retained the Ricks College Vikings name.
The Lady Vikings did what they do best — run as a group. At the Nov. 10 national meet in Lansing, Mich., five Lady Vikings ran together behind a lead group of foreign athletes. A mile into the race, Ricks closed the gap on the leaders, and in the final mile, Angela Benson of Orem, Utah, pulled away from her teammates, joined the lead group, then pulled away from them to win the individual title and First Team All-American status.
Not far back, Lida Clapier of Salt Lake City finished sixth; Kim Conover of Gilbert, Ariz., eighth; Audrey Golightly of Preston, Idaho, ninth; Kathrine Anderson of Fruit Heights, Utah, tenth. Those four earned All-America Second Team honors.
Third team All-America went to Amy Conover of Twin Falls, Idaho. Finishing 26th was Emily Prestwich of Cedar City, Utah. The Ricks team posted a score of 30 points, far ahead of second place Utah Valley State College with 72. (In cross country, lower score wins.)
For the men's race, defending champion Jeff Davidson of Burley, Idaho, crossed the finish line in sixth place, with Ryan Jenks of Blackfoot, Idaho, in seventh, and David Woodbury of Idaho Falls, Idaho, in eighth. The three were barely a breath apart. All earned Second Team All-America honors. Brett Larsen of Las Vegas, Nev., came in 20th, and Barry Jenks of Blackfoot, Idaho, was in 28th place. The closeness of the group was just enough to give Ricks a 4-point win over second place Central Arizona. Ricks scored 67 points, Central totaled 71.
Ricks earned the award for best combined score and Doug Stutz was once again named Coach of the Year, capping off the final season of cross country at Ricks College.
Coach Stutz was thrilled with the results. "Our [women] were awesome. They dominated. Angie Benson ran a tremendous race. Our men won on the strength of those top three guys. This was a win of willpower. I'm so proud of these athletes. They simply would not be denied in our final race ever."
