NICK WALKER / Scroll

Jessica Gower, a sophomore from Saint John, Ind., and coach of the Titans, ran to the individual women’s title and a course record at the cross country championships Saturday.

As the first flakes of snow come, they are a reminder of the impending winter, they also can cue the end of another cross-country season.

The Thunder and Titans won the men’s and women’s titles at the BYU-Idaho championship cross-country meet at the Rexburg Municipal Golf Course on Saturday.

In the men’s competition, the Thunder finished first with a score of 30, followed by the Titans with 39 and the Spartans with 43.

“[In all of the previous meets] our best runner got sixth place,” said Thunder team member Derek Osborne, a junior from Rexburg. “For this race, to have four guys in the top six was really impressive for us.”

The Titans had all five of their women in the top 10, finishing with a score of 25, followed by the Spartans with 42 and the Thunder with 55.

“All the work we did as a team paid off,” said Jessica Gower, a sophomore from Saint John, Ind. and the coach of the Titans. “It was a great way to end the season.”

Gower also won the women’s individual championship, with a time of 19:44 – 22 seconds faster than the next runner, and a course record. In the first meet, she finished seventh with a time of 21:26.

“It just is a really good confirmation that if you work hard, you can improve,” Gower said.

The Spartans brought in the next two runners, with Lauren Dalton, a junior from Ogden, Utah (20:06), and Lindsey Slater, a freshman from Ogden, Utah (20:37).

But Gower wasn’t the only Titan to bring home the individual title, Nate Aikele, a junior from Kennewick, Wash., won the men’s title with a time of 16:38.

The Thunder’s Martin Briggs, a freshman from Rigby, Idaho (16:38), and Osborne (16:52) finished second and third to lead the way for their championship team.