Four top-20 finishers help men's cross country finish second at Nuttycombe

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.