POCATELLO, Idaho - Sept. 2 - The men's cross country team started the season off with success as they defeated the Idaho State Bengals with a perfect score of 15 to 47. The top four men were also able to break into the top ten course records for Southern Utah while the women fell to the Bengals with a score of 31 to 24.

"To earn a perfect score with only part of the team competing really shows us how the team is shaping up," head coach Eric Houle said. "It will be interesting to see how everyone does throughout the rest of the season."

Elijah Rono led the Thunderbirds with a first-place finish and time of 19:01.3, ranking third in Southern Utah's all-time records on the Idaho State course. Rono was followed by Dallas Eborn (19:06.0) in second place, John Hart (19:17.4) in third and Ryan Barrus (19:25.5) in fourth. Eborn's time ranks fourth in the school records, while Hart and Barrus now rank eighth and tenth respectively. Nigel Sharp rounds out the scoring T-Birds with a fifth-place finish and time of 19:30.6.

Freshman Ashley Gray finished first for the Thunderbirds on the women's side, coming in second place in her first collegiate race with a time of 10:37.0. Gray's time also ranks third in the Southern Utah records for the course. She was followed by Jamie Smith in third place with a time of 10:43.2 and Danielle West in seventh place with a time of 10:56.0. Smith's and West's times rank fourth and sixth respectively in the course records for SUU. Dayna VanArsdol (11:15.4) and Lizzy Butler (11:32.4) were the last two scoring members of the team, finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

"I think this meet gave the women a good opportunity to build on their training and gain confidence," Coach Houle added. "They look strong and I think we could be contenders for the top three spots at the conference championship.

The Thunderbirds will now take a two-week break from competition and will return on Sept. 17 to compete at the UC Riverside Invitational in Riverside, Calif.