BYU Sweeps Competition in Final WCC Championships

PORTLAND, Ore. - No. 2/No. 5 BYU men's and women's cross country swept both the individual and team West Coast Conference titles at Fernhill Park on Friday.

The 2022 WCC Championship concludes BYU cross country’s 12-year reign of dominance in the conference before entering the Big 12 in 2023. Friday marked the BYU men’s eight-consecutive league championship and 10^th in 12 seasons, while the women won a fifth-straight and sixth in 12 seasons.

FULL RESULTS

Men’s Recap

The No. 2 Cougars registered a dominating performance, fielding seven of the top 10 finishers with 18 points to finish ahead of Gonzaga and No. 14 Portland.

Casey Clinger covered the 8,000-meter course in 21:59.4 to take his first individual WCC Championship title, good for over a minute faster than each of his prior three conference championship races. The senior from American Fork, Utah earned his fourth All-WCC First Team honors with Friday’s victory.

"This was an excellent team performance," said BYU men's cross country head coach Ed Eyestone. "Our team depth showed once again. Casey has taken third three times in the WCC's, so it was great to have him back this week and see him take his first conference title."

Clinger was joined by six teammates in capturing All-WCC First Team honors – Brandon Garnica (second-place), Joey Nokes (fourth), Creed Thompson (fifth), Davin Thompson (sixth), Aidan Troutner (seventh) and Christian Allen (ninth). Each top-10 runner for the Cougars finished within a spread of 21 seconds.

12th-place finisher Kenneth Rooks earned All-WCC Second Team honors.

Senior Brandon Garnica’s second-place finish at 22:08.9 marked his fastest 8k career time in his 23rd career meet.

"Brandon did a really good job keeping pace with Casey to secure second," Eyestone said.

Sophomore Joey Nokes’ fourth-place finish extended his streak of top-15 placements to five. Sophomore twin brothers Davin and Creed Thompson finished within 0.4 seconds of each other as Creed bested last year’s conference championship time by over a minute.

BYU’s 18 points today matches its 2019 WCC Championship point-total, a year in which the Cougars would go on to claim the national title.

With its final WCC title before entering the Big 12 in 2023, BYU men’s cross country has now won 31 all-time conference championships. The Cougars have finished in the top five or better in 59 of 60 (1962-present) seasons of competing for conference titles.

*Named to All-WCC Men's Cross Country First Team

^Named to All-WCC Men's Cross Country Second Team

Women's Recap 

Senior Aubrey Frentheway matched unrelenting rain with unrelenting pace as she raced through soggy conditions to win the WCC Women’s Cross Country Individual Championship and lead No. 5 BYU to its 23^rd all-time conference title.  

“Here at BYU, the program is bigger than the people in it,” said BYU women’s cross country head coach Diljeet Taylor. “Aubrey’s been inspired by the women who have come before her. What she’s doing this season is inspiring these younger women who will hopefully carry on this legacy.”  

Frentheway seized the lead 3,000-meters in and didn’t let up, plowing ahead alone at the front of the pack for the last half of the women’s 6,000-meters. Laura Pellicoro of Portland took second at 19:50.7 while San Francisco’s Ruby Smee filled in the podium with a 19:51.1 finish for third.  

At 19:47.2, Frentheway recorded a new 6k personal-best after having ran 19:55.7 at the NCAA Championships a season ago. Friday marked Frentheway’s fourth WCC meet appearance and second career win. With the win, the senior from Cheyenne, Wyoming became the fourth BYU runner to win the WCC women’s title in the last five seasons.  

BYU’s winning 30 points came as seven of its 10 runners finished in the top-15. Lexy Halladay-Lowry and McKenna Lee-Hansen took fourth and fifth, respectively, each recording career-best conference championship finishes. Carmen Alder improved her 6k time for the third-straight meet to take All-WCC First Team honors at ninth. Madi Moffitt, Sadie Sargent and Riley Chamberlain took places 11 through 13 and garnered all-conference second team recognition.  

Chamberlain was also awarded WCC Women’s Cross Country Freshman of the Year. A native of Loomis, California, Chamberlain came in at 20:31.4, recording a third-consecutive meet with an improved time in just her fourth-career collegiate meet.  

“I want to have women out there who are fighting for each other and we saw that today,” Taylor said. “Regardless of the conditions, these women showed up today. I’m super proud of that.”

*Named to All-WCC Men's Cross Country First Team

^Named to All-WCC Men's Cross Country Second Team

The Cougars continue their march to nationals with their next race at the NCAA Mountain Regional at UNM North Golf Course in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Nov. 11.