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MADISON, Wisc. — To quote another local sports franchise, the strength of the team is the team.
BYU’s men’s cross country put its team depth on display at Saturday’s NCAA championships at the 10-kilometer Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin.
Freshman Connor Mantz finished 10th overall with a time of 29 minutes, 17.1 seconds to pace the Cougars, who also got top-25 finishes from Rory Linkletter (29:42.5) and Connor McMillan (29:48.1).
A staple at the national meet with 20-straight qualifications, Saturday’s finish was the highest mark at the national meet since BYU finished second in 1993.
Northern Arizona won the national title, placing all five scoring runners inside the top-25 to cruise to 88 points over BYU’s 116. West Coast Conference rival Portland finished an even more-distant third with 160 team points.
Wisconsin’s Morgan McDonald won the individual title in 29:08.3.
Southern Utah’s Aidan Reed finished 51st with a time of 30:09.8, followed by teammate Nate Osterstock’s 99th-place finish in 30:36.9. The Thunderbirds finished 21st in the team rankings.
Women's meet
In the women’s 6K meet, Erica Birk-Jarvis placed seventh with a time of 19:58.1 to pace the Cougars to a seventh-place finish in the nation.
Former Davis standout Courtney Wayment placed 23rd with a time of 20:20.6, and Olivia Hoj was 86th in 21:00.0.
It’s the first time in BYU history the two men’s and women’s programs have both finished in the top seven nationally.
Colorado won the team title with 65 points, paced by individual champion Dani Jones, who blitzed the field for a winning time of 19:42.8.
Angie Nickerson, who led Southern Utah to their first-ever NCAA championship meet, finished 47th in 20:42.0. Three Thunderbirds cross the finish consecutively, starting with sophomore Alison Pray (21:31.7) and followed by Madison Fruchey (21:32.3) and Maddy Kauffman (21:32.3).
Utah State’s Cierra Simmons was 133rd overall with a time of 21:21.70.
