No. 2 men's, No. 6 women's cross country set to compete at Oregon

PROVO, Utah – The BYU cross country teams will compete at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in Springfield, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 28. 

Competition begins with the men’s 8K at 10:30 a.m. PDT. The No. 2 BYU men’s team will face several squads headlined by No. 6 Portland, No. 11 Oregon, No. 23 UCLA, No. 25 Villanova and No. 26 (tied) Air Force. 

The No. 6 BYU women’s team will compete in the 6K starting at 11:30 a.m. PDT. The Cougars’ ranked competition will include No. 10 Oregon, No. 13 Boise State, No. 14 Furman and No. 24 UCLA. 

“This will be a good test for us because there will be some nationally ranked teams racing,” BYU associate director of cross country and track and field Diljeet Taylor said. “I’m looking forward to giving our top runners a chance to see where they’re at. We’re in a pretty heavy block of training right now so I know we’re going into this race tired but I’m excited to see how we pack up and compete.”

The No. 6 women’s team earned their second win of the season at the Autumn Classic. Led by Aubrey Frentheway, the Cougars finished with seven women in the top 10. After resting the top runners from the Autumn Classic, Taylor is looking forward to the power that a full squad can bring to Oregon. 

Taylor will use this meet as an opportunity to evaluate the women in a competition setting after an intensive period of training in preparation for the Pre-National meet. 

“I want to work on our competition mentality during this race,” Taylor said. “I’m not too concerned about times, but more concerned about how they get into that competition mindset.”

Women’s Team Notables

• BYU last competed at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in 2017 and took third place
• In 2017, Laura Young finished first for the Cougars and 11th overall
• Courtney Wayment and Olivia Hoj competed at Oregon in 2017 placing 11th and 17th, respectively
• The BYU women’s team previously finished fifth overall for three years straight at the Bill Dellinger Invitational (2006, 2007, 2008)

“This will be a nice race for us,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “We’ll be traveling with a squad of 14 men this week and will continue to see how the team is progressing. We will be battling against several strong, ranked teams. It’s a fairly large early-season invitational.”

Following a sweep at the Autumn Classic to start the season, Eyestone is ready for the men’s team to be tested against major competition. Led by Conner Mantz, last week’s West Coast Conference runner of the week, BYU will suit up a squad of 14 men. Eyestone noted that this meet is a good indicator of the team’s current ranked position and will help with considering who will compete at Nationals. 

“I want to see our men be tested. It is a fairly young team,” Eyestone said. “After this weekend we have three weeks of hard training and then we go to the Pre-National meet. We will see if our No. 2 ranking is just a result of respect from last year and the years before or if we really deserve it. I think we do. We’re looking for that second-tier group of men that worked hard this summer and are ready to step up.”

Men’s Team Notables: 

• The Cougars last competed at Oregon in 2017 and took first place
• In 2017, the men’s team was led by Clayton Young in first and Rory Linkletter, Connor McMillan and Casey Clinger in spots 2-4
• BYU took first at the Bill Dellinger Invitational in 2012 and second place in 2009 and 2006

The Bill Dellinger Invitational will be hosted at the Pine Ridge Golf Club on Saturday, Sept. 28, beginning at 10:30 a.m. PDT. Live results can be found on athletictiming.net. Follow the BYU cross country Instagram and Twitter accounts for live updates on the race.