Gardner leads Cougars to Autumn Classic win

PROVO, Utah – Spencer Gardner of BYU finished first among attached runners, as the Cougars cruised to a win in the 2014 BYU Autumn Classic.

The Springville senior's time of  20:21.0 set the pace for BYU, who held off UCLA, Weber State and Idaho State on the 4-mile course at BYU's Clarence F. Robison Track and Field Complex on Saturday.

“I felt different today,” Gardner said. “I knew that after two miles it was going to be a footrace to the end. From there, I just went as fast as I possibly could.”

The Cougars finished with 21 points overall, 28 points ahead of UCLA. Weber State came in third with 66 points and Idaho State came in fourth with 109 points.

BYU’s five scoring runners all finished within 10 seconds of each other. Senior Conner Peloquin finished second among attached runners, holding off two UCLA runners at the tape.

“I was really pleased with Conner Peloquin’s finish—that he could hold those guys off,” head coach Ed Eyestone said.

Freshman Connor McMillan and junior Aaron Fletcher came in as the fifth and sixth attached runners, third and fourth overall for the Cougars. Jonathan Nelson rounded out BYU’s scorers as the seventh attached finisher.

“I thought it was a nice home opener for us,” Eyestone said. “The fact that we had just a ten-second gap between our first and fifth man indicates a good effort for us.”

The Cougars have started the season with wins in their first two meets. With Saturday’s win, BYU claimed the top spot in the Autumn Classic for the seventh year in a row.

Official race results can be found here.

BYU highlight video.