Men's Results | Women's Results

VAN NUYS, Calif. — BYU cross country swept both conference titles at the West Coast Conference Championship on Friday. 

The men’s and women’s teams swept the conference titles for the second-straight year. The men have won the conference title five years in a row. 

Whittni Orton won the individual meet title in the women’s 6k (19:49.27), barely edging BYU senior Erica Birk-Jarvis (19:49.33) at the finish line. 

Sophomore Conner Mantz took first in the men’s 8k (23:33.75), remaining undefeated on the year after capturing his fourth individual title this season. 

Both teams scored only 18 points, posting 1-2-3-5-7 finishes across both squads. For the women, their team score tied a WCC meet record-low, being the first team since Portland in 1987 to score as few as 18 points. 

“I’m happy with the performance; our guys stepped up very well,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Going into the conference meet anything can happen. Portland has All-Americans, so we knew we would have to fight for it. We wanted to go out strong and run in a pack, and I think we did that. Conner and Jake had a nice 1-2, Danny Carney elevated for us at the end. It is good to see different guys step up each meet for us.”

Jacob Heslington (23:35.23) placed second and Danny Carney (23:38.40) placed third, with Matt Owens (23:46.08) grabbing fifth, giving the Cougars four top-five finishers. Brandon Garnica (23:52.35) and Zac Jacklin (24:02.05) also placed in the top 10, finishing seventh and ninth, respectively. Matt Owens (24:11.05), Talem Franco (24:23.01), Garrett Marsing (24:33.63) and Michael Ottesen (25:00.60) finished 12th, 16th, 17th and 28th, respectively, to round out the day for the Cougars. 

Men’s Team Notables

• The Cougars won their fifth consecutive conference title and their seventh in eight years

• Six BYU runners received first-team All-WCC honors, with one Cougar named to the second team

• Ed Eyestone received his seventh WCC Coach of the Year award

• Juniors Matt Owens and Connor Weaver posted personal-best times of 23:46.08 and 24:11.05, respectively

"I'm so proud of the ladies for their performance today," BYU associate director of cross country and track and field Diljeet Taylor said. "They executed the race plan. It's always fun to walk away from conference championships with the team title, individual title and freshman of the year title."

The Cougar women were dominant once again, with Courtney Wayment (19:55.31) and Olivia Hoj (20:07.70) also finishing in the top five. Anna Camp-Bennett (20:35.97), Anastaysia Davis (20:36.24), Sara Musselman (20:40.34) and Sadie Sargent (20:41.45) finished seventh through 10th, respectively. Ember Stratton (20:57.79) took 13th and Maddie Cannon (21:09.44) took 14th, rounding out an excellent day for BYU. 

Women’s Team Notables

• The Cougars won their second-straight WCC conference title and third overall since joining the conference in 2011

• Whittni Orton is the second BYU runner to win the WCC individual title

• Anastaysia Davis was named WCC Freshman of the Year

• Eight BYU runners were named to the All-WCC First Team

• Coach Diljeet Taylor received the WCC Coach of the Year award for the second time

• Sadie Sargent ran a personal-best in the 6k with a time of 20:41.45

BYU returns to action for the Mountain Regional Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Rose Park Golf Course on Friday, Nov. 15, and will be broadcast on FloTrack. Live updates will also be provided on the BYU cross country and track and field Twitter and Instagram pages.

PROVO, Utah – The No. 2 men’s and No. 4 women’s cross country teams will kickoff the championship portion of their season as they travel to the West Coast Conference (WCC) Championships in Van Nuys, California, at the Woodley Lakes Golf Course on Friday. 

The women’s 6K starts at 10 a.m. PDT, followed by the men’s 8K at 11 a.m. PDT. 

“We’re excited for the conference meet this year,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Because this is the second biggest meet of the year for us after the National Championship, we’ve prepared ourselves well. We know that Portland has a very good team, so we need an elevated performance from this men this weekend.”

Following a first-place finish at the Pre-Nationals Invitational in Indiana, the No. 2 BYU men’s cross country team will be racing this weekend to claim the conference title for the fifth-straight year and seventh time in nine years. The Cougar’s ranked competition will include No. 12 Portland and No. 29 Gonzaga. 

“We’re gonna go hard and try to come home with the conference championships,'' Eyestone said. “I like Conner Mantz’s chances up front. This will be a good opportunity for our development as a team.”

During the 2018 season, the Cougars took home the WCC title with a dominant 21-point performance. All-American Connor McMillan led the men’s team with his second-place finish, followed by six other Cougars in the top 10, including All-American Conner Mantz in third. Previously this season, Mantz has secured three-straight first-place finishes, including the Pre-Nationals individual title. 

Eyestone also noted that several men this season have taken the responsibility to be scorers for the team and he is looking forward to how they'll compete this weekend. 

Men’s Team Notables

• The Cougars took first at the 2018 WCC Championships with six Cougars named to the All-WCC First Team and two named to the Second Team
• Since 2011 when BYU joined the WCC, the men’s team has claimed the championship title six times
• Last season, Ed Eyestone received his sixth WCC Coach of the Year award
• Conner Mantz finished third overall at the 2018 WCC Championships

“We’re enthusiastic about approaching the championship season,” BYU associate director of cross country and track and field Diljeet Taylor said. “This will be a good indicator of what’s to come. We’re not tapering for the conference but we are looking to run together."

Coming off a second-place finish at Pre-Nationals, the No. 4 women’s team is looking to defend the WCC Championship title for the second year in a row. All-American Erica Birk-Jarvis won the women’s 6K race, leading the Cougars to their highest finish at the Pre-National Invitational since 2003. 

At last season’s WCC Championships, Birk-Jarvis became the first runner from BYU to win the women’s WCC Championship race. Her performance contributed to the Cougar’s second WCC title since joining the conference in 2011. All-American Courtney Wayment took third, followed by four other BYU runners in the top 10. 

"This weekend we will also work on honing our competitive drive and mindset for the championship season,” Taylor said.

Women’s Team Notables:

• The Cougars took first at the 2018 WCC Championships for the second time 
• All six of BYU’s top-ten finishers received first-team All-WCC honors
• In 2018, All-American Erica Birk-Jarvis claimed her first WCC Championships title
• Last season, Aubrey Frentheway was named Freshman of the Year and Coach Diljeet Taylor received the women’s WCC Coach of the Year award

The WCC Championship meet will be held at the Woodley Lakes Golf Course in Van Nuys, California. The meet will be streamed live on the WCC Network and live results can be found on Record Timing. Live updates will also be provided on the BYU cross country and track and field Twitter and Instagram pages.