PROVO, Utah – BYU track and field announced Monday that Conner Mantz, one of the nation’s top distance recruits, has signed a national letter of intent to compete for the Cougars.
“We are extremely excited about signing Conner Mantz,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “He is one of the top recruits in the nation. To land a blue-chip athlete like Conner Mantz means we’re looking forward to him being an all-american and battling for a national championship individually and helping our team reach a whole new level.”
Mantz, a senior at Sky View High School in Smithfield, Utah, has already received a mission call to the Ghana Accra Mission and will depart during the summer. He will join BYU’s team and begin competing during the 2017 cross country season.
"I chose BYU because I loved the team atmosphere and tradition,” Mantz said. “There are also a lot of good athletes on missions right now that I know will be back when I'm running there and they will be great teammates. Coach Eyestone also has helped many athletes with the transition from a mission to competing at a world class level and that excites me."
BYU’s cross country team has placed in the top 4 at the cross country championships in two of the past four seasons. Eyestone believes the recent signing class including Mantz can lift the program even higher.
Mantz’s career highlights include:
· 2015 USATF Jr. Men’s 8K Cross Country Champion
· 2014 New Balance High School Indoor Nationals 5,000m Champion
· 2014 Third-place finisher in the USATF Jr. Men’s 10,000m
· Three-time Foot Locker National Championships Qualifier
· 2014 Dream Mile participant
· 2014 Brooks PR participant
· Personal best times of of 8:52.90 in the 3200m, and 4:07.63 in the mile
Photo (C) 2015, Paul Merca