TCU’s men’s and women’s cross country teams were defeated at the 2005 Mountain West Conference Championships meet Saturday on the Collindale Golf Course in Fort Collins, Colo. The men placed last out of 6 teams, while the women placed eighth in a nine-team tournament.

Brigham Young swept the championships.

Senior Kip Kongogo came in at 24:35.3, received All-Conference recognition and third place at the meet.

Despite the poor overall finishes, head coach Patrick Cuniff said he saw good things at the meet.

“The two positive points we saw were Kip Kongogo and what a high level of competitor he is, and to go in the meet and in a challenging situation, against the quality of the competition and the competitive environment, to finish in the top three,” Cuniff said. “On the women’s side, I was actually very happy with Alyson Trovato in her first conference meet, and she was actually able to beat her time from the prenationals. There is a lot of room to develop her, and with years of training, she will give a lot to the program.”

Travato, a freshman, finished 41st out of 66 runners.

Cassie Hostick, 22:29.3, finished in 29th place to lead TCU in the six-kilometer women’s race.

Despite the disappointing overall turnout, head coach Patrick Cuniff said there were good sides to the meet.

Cuniff said the team will have to step up to compete in a conference that is bred to run long distance.

“We know that the Mountain West is a really strong distance-running conference,” Cuniff said. “They are in a lot of good climates and conditions to train, and that is where they put their emphasis and scholarship money, and it will be great challenge for us to rise to at that level,” Cuniff said.

Senior Jackson Langat and sophomore Matt Manly posted their second best marks in an eight-kilometer competition this year. Langat finished 32nd with a time of 26:01.3, while Manly followed in 33rd with a 26:02.8.

Manly also said this weekend had positive occurrences.

“Something I saw this weekend was that we can compete in the Mountain West,” Manly said. “It was tough, but we can be competitive and be right in the middle.”

Langat said the upcoming years require recruitment in order to have ideal success.

“I think that we need to get ready in the future in cross country and track,” Langat said. “We need to get recruitment for the next years.”

The Frogs will run again Nov. 12 at the South Central Regional Meet.