BYU Women Move Up to No. 3, Men Maintain No. 2

NEW ORLEANS – The United States Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association named BYU women’s cross country No. 3 and BYU men’s cross country No. 2 in their weekly ranking on Tuesday. 

The BYU men have been ranked No. 2 for 15 consecutive weeks, and the women have cracked into the top-three for the second time this season after being ranked No. 2 in Week 4 of this season.

Both Cougar squads are coming off strong showings after sweeping the team titles at the West Coast Conference Championship meet on Friday. Both teams placed 1-2-3-5-7, scoring only 18 points. The 18 points for the women are tied for the least amount of points scored in the WCC title meet, tying Portland’s 18-point finish from 1987.

Conner Mantz continued his undefeated streak, taking the individual meet title in the men’s 8k. Junior Whittni Orton captured women’s 6k title, her second individual victory of the season. 

BYU received a strong showing from its runners at the conference championship as Jacob Heslington, Danny Carney, Matt Owens and Brandon Garnica finished second, third, fifth and seventh respectively. Erika Birk-Jarvis, Courtney Wayment, Olivia Hoj and Anna Camp-Bennett finished in that same order as well.

Neither team has placed lower than second overall this season. The women placed first in each meet they competed in except for a second-place finish at the Pre-National Invitational where they trailed Washington by only three points. The men finished first overall except for the Bill Dellinger Invitational where they placed second by a margin of six points.

Both squads return to action to compete in their penultimate meet of the season at the Mountain Regional Championship on Friday, Nov. 15, at the Rose Park Golf Course in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The full release can be found on ustfccca.org.