BYU takes third at Nationals, totals four All-Americans

STILLWATER, Oklahoma – Led by Casey Clinger, the BYU men’s cross country team tallied 132 points to claim third in the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Division I National Championships on Saturday at Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course.

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Clinger had his best finish yet in his fourth nationals appearance, crossing the line at 28:58.7 to take home seventh place.

For just the second time in program history and first since 2018, the Cougars totaled four All-Americans (top-40 finishers): Clinger at seventh, Brandon Garnica at 21st (29:21.7), Davin Thompson at 30th (29:28.8) and Creed Thompson crossing the line at 29:30.5 for 35th.

"One of our greatest strengths is our depth," said BYU men's cross country head coach Ed Eyestone. "When I saw them all working together from the start, I knew we would be in the hunt. They just kept chipping away and we were as high as second place around the 8k mark. Although we faded a little bit at the end, I was so proud of the determination of the guys to hold on. What you want to do is put yourself in a position to win the national meet, and they did that nicely. They executed very well on a tough course and held on for a podium spot. I'm happy with the way they competed."

Christian Allen - graduate transfer and 2021 All-American at Weber State - rounded out the top five for BYU with a 47th-place finish at 29:42.0. Junior Aidan Troutner finished just a second behind to take 48th overall.

Northern Arizona won for the third consecutive year off a tiebreak with Oklahoma State. Each team finished with 83 points.

The Cougars finished ahead of fourth-place Stanford (195 points), who was favored to win the title entering today. Wake Forest and Wisconsin took fifth and sixth, respectively.

By the midpoint of the race, BYU, Oklahoma State and Northern Arizona had separated themselves from the rest of the pack. NAU’s Nico Young and Drew Bosley, along with Stanford’s Charles Hicks, had about 10 seconds of separation for much of the latter half.

The next six runners, Clinger included, jockeyed for position in the final stretch. Each finished within two seconds of one another.

The team’s third-place finish marks the program’s fifth podium finish and fourth under Coach Eyestone. It also goes down as BYU’s 14th finish in the top-10 at nationals since 1983.