Results

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – An individual-title sweep by All-Americans Conner Mantz and Erica Birk-Jarvis led the No. 2 BYU cross country teams to a first-place finish on the men’s side and a second-place finish for the women at the Pre-National Invitational Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana. 

The No. 2 BYU men’s team scored 81 points to edge out No. 3 Colorado by two points and secure first place overall. The Cougars finished ahead of 36 other schools, including No. 4 Washington, No. 8 Ole Miss, No. 14 Oklahoma State and No. 15 Indiana. For the No. 2 women’s team, a second-place finish with 87 points raised them above No. 3 Colorado, No. 7 Michigan, No. 11 (tied) Boise State and No. 11 (tied) Florida State. 

Both teams competed in the Blue division races, beginning with the women’s 6K followed by the men’s 8K. 

Prior to the Pre-National Invitational, the women’s team had three-straight first-place finishes this season at the Big Wave Invitational, Autumn Classic and Bill Dellinger Invitational. So far this season the men placed first at the Autumn Classic and second at the Bill Dellinger Invitational.

For his third-straight first-place finish of the season, All-American Conner Mantz led the No. 2 BYU men’s team to victory in the 8K Blue race with a career-best time of 23:20.8. Jacob Heslington followed close behind in fourth after clocking 23:26.7 for a personal-best. 

“I’m super pleased with the men’s race,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Mantz battled hard for the win, showing he can race with anyone in the country. Heslington closed the gap from our 1-2 spot and got support from teammates, Garnica and Carney. Today’s race showed that with our 1-4, we’re in a position to compete with the best in the nation.”

The Cougars claimed two more spots in the top 20, including Brandon Garnica in 14th with a career-high 23:46.7 and Danny Carney (23.51.8) in 18th. To contribute to the Cougars’ 81-point win, Michael Ottesen (24:23.1), Kramer Morton (24:41.1) and Zac Jacklin (24:49.8) placed 44th, 82nd and 96th respectively. 

Along with Mantz’s finish, Eyestone was impressed by Ottesen’s confident showing in today’s competition. Ottesen passed 29 runners in the final 3K to secure his position. 

Men’s Team Notables

• The men’s team finished first with a score of 81 points

• This is the third-consecutive Pre-Nationals first-place finish for the Cougars

• All-American Conner Mantz claimed the individual championship title with a career-best time of 23:20.8

• Three Cougars earned personal-best times and four claimed spots in the top 20

All-American Erica Birk-Jarvis claimed the Pre-National women’s 6K individual title after exhibiting a dominant pace and final kick for a finishing time of 20:02.6. BYU’s No. 2 runner, All-American Courtney Wayment, took fourth place with a time of 20:10.7.

"I am very pleased with how the ladies fought today," BYU associate director of cross country and track and field Diljeet Taylor said. "Our main goal was to find a rhythm on the NCAA course and to continue to cut down the gap. The team worked well together and I’m excited to continue to train hard and come back in a month to showcase our toughness."

Two other Cougars secured spots in the top 20 with Olivia Hoj (20:32. 7) in 14th and Anna Camp-Bennett (20:36.0) in 20th. To round out the team’s finish, Sadie Sargent (20:56.8) placed 52nd, followed by freshman Anastaysia Davis in 53rd and Sara Musselman in 63rd. 

Taylor also noted that the women's team dedicated the race to women all over the world who are fighting a different fight. 

"As October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, we wanted to run for them today," Taylor said.

Women’s Team Notables 

• The Cougars placed second in the women’s Blue 6K race with 87 points, rising above four other nationally-ranked teams

• All-American Erica Birk-Jarvis earned the women’s 6K individual title with a time of 20:02.6–improving her fourth-place finish from the 2018 season

• This is the highest finish for the women’s team at the Pre-National Invitational since 2003

• Four Cougars placed in the top-25 runners

Several Cougars also competed and showed success in the Pre-National open races, headlined by Matt Owens’ (24:24.8) win in the men’s open 8K. 

After a two-week break, the teams will compete in the West Coast Conference Championships in Van Nuys, California, on Friday, Nov. 1.

TERRE HAUTE, IN — The No. 2 men and women's teams will compete at the Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday, Oct. 19.

The women’s 6k starts at 11 a.m. ET and the men’s 8k follows at 11:35 a.m. ET. 

Saturday’s races will feature 57 men’s teams and 64 women’s teams. Among the competition on the men’s side is No. 3 Colorado, No. 4 Washington, No. 8, No. 14 Oklahoma State and No. 15 Indiana. The women’s field consists of No. 3 Colorado, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Washington, No. 11 (tied) Boise State and No. 11 (tied) Florida State.

“I think we’re excited to show just how good we can be,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “We kind of took a half-step back after the Dellinger meet. We’ve had some great workouts. We’ve had a good three weeks of time, since the Dellinger meet to rack in some good, heavy training. I think ultimately, the guys just want to show how good they are.”

Eyestone and the men's team look to continue their success at Pre-Nationals meets, having won the team title in 2017 and 2018.

Men’s Team Notables: 

• The men’s team has won the last two Pre-Nationals Invitationals in 2017 and 2018 

• Former Cougar All-American Rory Linkletter won back-to-back individual championship titles after winning the Pre-National Invitational in 2017 and 2018

• Sophomore standout Conner Mantz placed fourth at the meet last year with an 8k time of 23:55.5, before improving his 8k time to 23:24.7 at the Bill Dellinger Invitational this season

The BYU women look to build on the success they’ve had so far this season, after winning their first three meets.

“We’re excited to get back in uniform after three weeks off,” BYU associate director of cross country and track and field Diljeet Taylor said. “We’re coming off a hard three week block of training, but I’m excited to see how our runners compete against some of the best teams in the country. This meet is another great stepping stone to get ready for the championship part of the season.”

Having the meet in Indiana feels like things are coming full circle, Taylor said, as Terre Haute was the site of the national championship in 2016, which was her first year as the BYU women’s coach.

Women’s Team Notables:

• The Cougars took fourth at last year’s Pre-Nationals race, rising above six other top-25 teams, their best Pre-Nationals finish since 2013.

• All-American Erica Birk-Jarvis finished fourth last season in the women’s 6K with a career-best time of 20:12.2

• The BYU women have competed twice in the state of Indiana since Taylor took the helm, finishing in the top-10 in each of those races

Live results can be found on AthleticLive.net. Live updates will also be provided on BYU's Twitter and Instagram pages. General meet information can be found here.