Mantz and Birk-Jarvis lead No. 2 Cougars to 1st, 2nd place finishes at Pre-Nationals

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.