BYU men place second, women seventh at NCAA cross country national championships

Madison, Wis. • BYU’s men’s and women’s cross country teams made some school history on Saturday at the NCAA Championships.

Both teams finished in the top seven for the first time ever in the races at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, with the No. 2-ranked BYU men finishing second and the No. 9-ranked BYU women finishing seventh.

Northern Arizona won the men’s title and Colorado won the women’s title.

The BYU men tied their best-ever finish at nationals, while recording their best score ever at the championships. The BYU women posted their third top-10 finish in the last three years.

Freshman Connor Mantz was BYU’s highest finisher, placing 10th. Seniors Rory Linkletter (22nd) and Connor McMillan (24th), sophomore Clayson Shumway (32nd) and junior Jacob Heslington (50th) also finished in the top 50.

Junior Erica Birk placed seventh on the women’s side, while Courtney Wayment (23rd), Olivia Hoj (86th), Sadie Sergeant (124th) and Aubrey Frentheway (150th) contributed to the high finish.

Southern Utah’s men’s team placed 19th and SUU’s women’s team placed 25th.

Aidan Reed was the best finisher for the Thunderbirds at 51st place, while Angie Nickerson placed 47th for the SUU women’s team.

Running individually, Utah State’s Cierra Simmons placed 133rd.