Top-ranked BYU cross country keeps sights on national meet ahead of Mountain regional

PROVO — Cross country is a unique sport in college athletics, in that conference meets don't factor much into the race for a national title.

But BYU men's head coach Ed Eyestone made sure his runners celebrated the program's first-ever Big 12 title before turning towards Friday afternoon's NCAA Mountain regional in Reno, Nevada.

The Cougars also added to the trophy case, one that includes back-to-back Big 12 titles from the women's program in the school's second season in the conference.

What Eyestone and women's counterpart Diljeet Taylor have built at BYU is remarkable, and the 2019 national champions certainly have eyes beyond a conference or regional meet. It's why you might see the Cougars dial back at Washoe County Golf Course, possibly resting a few individuals nursing minor injuries and relying on depth to try to cinch up a top-three finish.

But Eyestone made sure his team appreciated the history that happened in Waco, Texas, when BYU stunned then-No. 1 Oklahoma State with 41 points for the team title as all five scoring runners finished inside the top 12, led by Casey Clinger's third-place finish overall.

"Often, especially if you're a nationally ranked team or one ranked in the top 10, you're always looking at how can we improve and win nationals, or finish in the top three," Eyestone told KSL.com. "But in doing so, sometimes you just neglect the conference.

"But we recognized that is a big accomplishment as well — particularly now that we're in the Big 12, where three of the top four ranked teams in the country currently reside. To basically go tooth-and-nail against Oklahoma State and Iowa State, and come out as champions, that was a huge meet for us."

Of course, that's not the national championships, which will be held Nov. 23 in Madison, Wisconsin. So Eyestone admits the celebration lasted for a day or two, before the BYU harriers flushed it and looked ahead to Friday's regional meet and the national meet — the last one being the most important of the year, for obvious reasons.

The top-ranked Cougars, who received all 11 first-place votes in the USTFCCCA national coaches poll to move up from No. 2, will be joined in the Mountain regional by No. 6 New Mexico, No. 8 Northern Arizona, No. 23 Colorado State, No. 26 Wyoming, No. 27 Texas Tech, and Utah State, which dropped out this past week after being ranked as high as No. 19 (among others).

BYU's top-ranked women's team, which was led by senior All-American Lexy Halladay-Lowry and Riley Chamberlain in capturing a second Big 12 title, will also face No. 4 Northern Arizona, No. 9 Utah, No. 10 New Mexico, and No. 30 Utah Valley at the regional meet.

It's arguably the most competitive regional in the country, with six men's teams and five women's teams ranked in the top 30.

"After conference we made sure to be extra focused on recovery and staying hungry for the national meet," said BYU senior Creed Thompson, the former Skyridge star who earned All-American honors with a 35th-place finish at nationals a year ago, in a news release. "We had some really good and really hard workouts last week that will prepare us to be tough at nationals. The goal for regionals is to punch our ticket to Madison with minimal effort, which might mean resting a few of the top guys."

As for Clinger, the seventh-year senior out of American Fork is coming off a phenomenal redshirt season where he finished fifth in the 10,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic team trials in 27:59.71 and has a strong shot at become the program's first-ever five-time All-American in cross country.

"Casey Clinger is a phenomenally talented runner," Eyestone said. "He's been leading our team all year ... and the nice thing about having somebody like Casey is you can always put him in a race and you know he's going to be up front, battling the elite international runners for a top spot.

"We'll send him out, because the best way you can be a good teammate in cross country is to score 1 point for the team ... and have teammates that come across the line right after you."

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