OREM — Near perfection.
The Weber State women’s cross country team dominated the BYU Autumn Classic Friday night as the Wildcats beat second-place BYU 17-52 in the four-team meet.
Weber State crossed the line in six of the top seven places at Cascade Golf Course in Orem, finishing 1-2-3-5-6-7 to win their second of two meets this season.
Weber State junior Amber Henry claimed first place as the Mountain View, Wyo., native ran in a time of 16:58.9 on the 5K course to claim her second title in two meets. She and WSU senior Sarah Callister finished the meet in a virtual tie as Callister finished just 0.3 seconds behind Henry in 16:59.2.
Friday’s meet was the first of the season for Callister.
Senior Taylor Thornley took third, posting a time of 17:16.1. Kayla Blackford was fifth at 17:26.23, freshman Jamie Stokes was sixth at 17:37.3 and Laken Hintze took seventh at 17:41.7.
“It was a terrific race for us as a team,” said WSU coach Paul Pilkington. “Amber and Sarah both ran very controlled and excellent races. It was a great team effort for us across the board.”
The Wildcats entered the week ranked 17th in the nation and first in the Mountain Region. BYU was ranked 28th in the nation in the preseason poll.
Weber State will next be in action Sept. 29 at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Wildcat men’s team will compete today at the Montana State Invitational.
Volleyball
• WILDCATS DROP BIG SKY OPENER IN FOUR: At Swenson Gym, a solid start got away from the Wildcats on Friday night, and with it their Big Sky Conference opener.
Despite a career high-tying 18 kills from redshirt freshman outside hitter Rebecca Fuchs, the Weber State volleyball team dropped a 25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 25-16 decision to in-state rival Southern Utah.
The loss dropped the ’Cats to 0-1 in Big Sky action, 6-6 overall and ended WSU’s four-match winning streak. The Thunderbirds improved to 1-0 in their Big Sky debut, 4-7 overall.
Fuchs had a career-high 53 attacks, hitting .160, with four digs and a pair of blocks. Redshirt freshman Mariah Katoa had a career-high 14 kills and two blocks.
Senior setter Caitlin Penrod had 38 assists, seven digs and a pair of blocks, while senior libero Laurel Bodily had 20 digs.
Weber State stormed out to a 10-2 lead in the opening set, riding the emotions of their home debut, and carried the lead until Southern Utah tied the set at 19-all, and then went ahead 20-19.
The Wildcats rebounded with three straight points to take a 22-20 lead, but the Thunderbirds rallied to score the final five points.
Southern Utah scored the first five points of the second set, but WSU came charging back to take a 20-18 lead. SUU tied the set at 20-20, but WSU scored five of the last six points to level the match at one.
The Thunderbirds again got off to a hot start in the third set, leading 7-3, and carried the advantage throughout the set.
Needing to capture the four set to keep the match going, Weber State scored the first point of the set, but Southern Utah scored seven straight to take a 7-1 lead and the Wildcats were unable to cut into it any further.
Weber State will return to action this afternoon at 4 p.m. when it takes on Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks fell 3-1 to Idaho State on Friday.
Soccer
• WILDCATS FALL IN OT: At Reno, Nev., the Weber State soccer team suffered a tough overtime setback on Friday after rallying from a first-half deficit.
Nevada’s Sarah Schmeda scored to tie the match in the 74th minute and then scored in the second minute of overtime to lift the Nevada Wolf Pack to a 3-2 win at Mackay Stadium.
Weber State trailed 1-0 at halftime, but came out roaring in the second half and freshman midfielder Chansi Crompton hit an eight-year shot into the top left corner to tie the match.
Just five minutes later, sophomore defender Mackenzie Day scored, smashing the ball into the top right corner from 15 yards out.
Schmeda tied up the match in the 74th minute.
Weber State will return to action on Sunday when it travels to Mather, Calif., to take on UC Santa Barbara in a neutral-site match. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
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