MADISON, Wisc. — No. 1/No. 5 BYU men's and women's cross country ran through rainy conditions to post a pair of top-5 team finishes at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational at Thomas Zimmer Championship Course on Friday. 

Men's Recap

The top-ranked men’s team wrapped up a productive day, fielding six runners to capture a second-place finish despite the absence of All-Americans Casey Clinger and Christian Allen. The Cougars tallied 89 points as only No. 2 Stanford placed higher. No. 3 Northern Arizona came in third overall with 145 points. BYU and Stanford loosened the Lumberjacks' grip on the Nuttycombe Invitational on Friday. Northern Arizona had won four of their previous five appearances at Thomas Zimmer. 

The Cougars faced off against 18 teams ranked in the USTFCCCA’s latest top-30 poll that included seven top-10 programs.

Five of BYU’s six runners finished between places 15-21 – all within two seconds of each other.

"This is one of the best team performances I can remember," said BYU men's cross country head coach Ed Eyestone. "To have less than a two-second differential between our first and fifth runner is unheard of in a meet of this caliber. Our guys have committed themselves very well."

Sophomore Joey Nokes led the way for the Cougars, crossing the line at 23:26.6. This marked the Riverton, Utah native’s fourth top-15 career finish. Senior Brandon Garnica came in 16th at 23:26.6 as sophomore Aidan Troutner completed his best career 8,000-meter race with a 23:27.3 time to round out the top three.

Twin brothers Creed and Davin Thompson placed 20th (23:28.4) and 21st (23:28.5), respectively. Sophomore Kenneth Rooks jumped 49 spots in the final split to register 63rd overall in his fourth career meet.

The B-Team fielded five harriers to claim a third-place finish with 131 points. Lucas Bons, Luke Grundvig and Isaac Teeples led the way for the Cougars.

Women's Recap

Aubrey Frentheway and McKenna Lee-Hansen led No. 5 BYU women’s cross country to a fourth-place team finish with a score of 252 in the women’s 6,000-meter championship race on Friday.

Frentheway was the Cougars’ top finisher, crossing at 11th with a time of 20:06.6. Lee-Hansen lingered in 75th through the first 2000m before surging to the top-40 at the 4000m mark and finishing in 15th at 20:11.6. Friday's Nuttycombe Invitational marked Frentheway's 15th and Lee-Hansen's eighth top-15 career finishes.

Lexy Halladay-Lowry, Carmen Alder and Riley Chamberlain wrapped-up BYU’s scoring at Nuttycombe. Halladay-Lowry ran 20:35.1 to finish 57th, while Alder (63rd) and Chamberlain (106th) each posted personal-best times of 20:36.9 and 20:56.1, respectively.

As a team, BYU edged No. 10 Notre Dame (257) and No. 11 North Carolina (280) to finish fourth, just eight points behind No. 4 Northern Arizona. WCC foes Portland and Gonzaga finished 33rd and 36th, respectively. No. 1 NC State won the meet with 80 points including individual winner Katelyn Tuohy.

Madi Moffitt (third) and Lindsey Stallworth (sixth) led the BYU women to a win in the women’s 6k “B” race with 33 points.

Both teams will have another two-week break before the postseason begins with the West Coast Conference Championships in Portland, Ore. on Friday, Oct. 28 at Fernhill Park.

PROVO, Utah - No. 1/No. 5 BYU men's and women's cross country continues its season at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday morning.

Meet Information

• Venue: Thomas Zimmer Championship Course
• Location: Madison, Wisconsin
• Women's 6k: 12:20 p.m. CDT
• Men's 8k: 1:00 p.m. CDT
• Live Results
• Live Stream ($)
• Parking: No parking will be available at the course. See further information from Wisconsin Athletics

The Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational will provide yet another opportunity to compete against many of the top teams in the country. Seven runners will be permitted to race for each team.

The No. 1 men's team will face off against 18 teams ranked in the USTFCCCA's latest top-30 poll, including seven top-10 programs: No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Northern Arizona, No. 5 Tulsa, No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 8 Colorado, No. 9 Syracuse and No. 10 North Carolina.

The No. 5 women's team will compete against 22 other teams ranked in the USTFCCCA's latest top-30 poll, including six other top-10 programs: No. 1 NC State, No. 2 New Mexico, No. 4 Northern Arizona, No. 7 Colorado, No. 8 Stanford and No. 9 Washington.

Friday's meet will be the second consecutive appearance for the women's team at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, registering a third-place team finish last season. The Cougars had three runners finish in the top-25: Aubrey Frentheway (13th), Lexy Halladay-Lowry (20th) and McKenna Lee-Hansen (23rd). Each will return to action Friday.

The meet will mark the first time since 2018 that the men have traveled to the invitational.

The No. 1 men's team enters its third-straight week atop the USTFCCCA rankings.

The men aim to continue momentum after a first-place finish on Sept. 24 in the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater, Oklahoma where its top five runners finished in the top 30. The Cougars were led by Casey Clinger at seventh, Joey Nokes at 10th and Christian Allen at 11th.

The No. 5 women's team finished third in Stillwater on Sept. 24, highlighted by Aubrey Frentheway who finished fourth overall. Lexy Halladay-Lowry and McKenna Lee-Hansen recorded top 20 times to finish 13th and 18th, respectively.

Meet the Host

Wisconsin cross country is led by director Mick Byrne. In 13 years as the men's cross country/distance coach and eight years as Director of Track & Field and Cross Country, he has led the program to one NCAA team championship (2011), 86 All-American honors and 12 Big Ten championships.