No. 9 Cougars head to Wisconsin

PROVO, Utah – The No. 9 BYU men’s cross country team will compete against 17 of the nation’s top 30 ranked teams when they travel to the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational Friday.

Now in the heart of the cross country schedule, coach Ed Eyestone believes his team’s performance this week will have a major impact on the season as a whole.

“This is the point-getting portion of the season,” Eyestone said. “This race here is crucial for us. As long as we have a solid race I think we’ll finish around the top five which will help us.”

Along with a handful of teams ranked just below the Cougars, there are also five teams ahead of them in the polls who will compete in Madison. Syracuse (2), Stanford (4), Iona (5), Virginia (7) and Michigan (8) will all be on the course Friday morning. A field with so much depth can swing the tide for the Cougars moving forward.

“This will be a great opportunity for us to get some quality wins against teams that will be in the NCAAs,” Eyestone said. “It will be crucial for us to get some at-large points with some wins here.”

Friday’s meet offers two race heats, A and B. The “A” race will count for points and it will feature each school’s top runners. The “B” race serves a two-fold purpose: (1) help teams determine who will be its eighth and ninth runners at their respective conference races and (2) give others a chance to get some college racing experience. Both 8-kilometer races will be on the Thomas Zimmer championship course.

BYU will have 11 runners in uniform in Wisconsin. Those anticipated to compete in the “A” and “B” race are listed below.

Coach Eyestone listed a number of things he hopes his team can accomplish come race day.

“Our main goals here are to get a lot of at-large points,” he said. “I think top three is realistic, but definitely top five. We also want to get a good look at our team since this is the last race before the conference meet. Lastly, we want to close the gap between our four and six runners. Our top three are running a little ahead of our four, five and six guys, so we want to close that gap a little bit.”

The men’s “A” race will start at 11:45 a.m. CDT Friday, while the “B” race will follow at approximately 1:10 p.m. CDT. Live stats will be available on the BYU men’s cross country schedule page. In addition, get real time updates by visiting the National Results Wall. Follow the meet on social media by using #adidasinvite.

BYU “A” race representatives: Dallin Farnsworth, Aaron Fletcher, Connor McMillan, Mitchell Briggs, Clayton Young, Nicolas Montanez and Jonathan Harper.

BYU “B” race representatives: Dylan Shawhan, Steve Morrin, Rory Linkletter and Dallin Taylor.