Cougars Claim Victory at Nuttycombe Invite

Madison, Wisconsin - BYU men's cross country took the overall team win at the 2024 Nuttycombe Invitational with 44 points on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course Friday afternoon. 

The Cougars took the victory in the Championship A Race with the top-five scoring runners all placing within the top-17. The next closest competitor was fellow Big 12 program Iowa State which aquired 108 points. Wake Forest follwed in third with 150 points. 

"The performances of our guys today was a good sign," said men's head coach Ed Eyestone. "We took a good win today, but we know our Big 12 rival Oklahoma State is the projected favorite for the national title, but we know we are in the right place right now. We won't today's race get to our heads. We'll stay hungry." 

Full Results Link

Men's 8k Championship A Race Results

Place	Name	School	Time
1.	Parker Wolfe	North Carolina	23:04.0
2.	Rocky Hansen	Wake Forest	23:06.9
3.	Liam Murphy	Villanova	23:08.6
4.	Casey Clinger	BYU	23:10.4
5.	Robin Kwemoi Bera	Iowa State	23:18.2
6.	Joey Nokes	BYU	23:21.4
7.	Ethan Strand	North Carolina	23:25.4
8.	Creed Thompson	BYU	23:28.4
9.	Aidan Troutner	BYU	23:29.6
10.	Luke Tewalt	Wake Forest	23:32.3

Senior Casey Clinger ran a consistent race in the front pack for a majority of the race. With 1k to go, Clinger lost contact with the group led by 2024 NCAA Outdoor 10k Champion Parker Wolfe of North Carolina who went on to win the race. Clinger crossed the finish fourth overall as the first Cougar across the line in 23:10.4. 

"We have always loved racing at Nuttycombe," said Clinger. "It’s a beautiful course and it gives us an opportunity to run against a lot of top teams. Winning the team title today gave us a good indicator of where our fitness is at and we are hungry to continue improving as the season progresses. We have big goals this year."

The pack of seniors continued with Joey Nokes followed closely behind to place sixth overall in 23:21.4. Creed Thompson and Aidan Troutner finished in stride placing eighth and night, respectively. Sophomore James Corrigan was BYU's fifth place runner, crossing in 23:48.8 to finish 17th overall in his first race since the 2024 Paris Olympics earlier this summer.  

Men's 8k B Race

Place	Name	School	Time
1.	Berkley Nance	BYU	24:21.4
2.	Lucas Bons	BYU	24:21.8
3.	Nathan Neil	Washington	24:22.4
4.	Ethan Edgeworth	Unattached	24:28.7
5.	Mark Boyle	BYU	24:29.6
6.	Wilson Georges	Colorado	24:34.6
7.	Seth Clevenger	Iowa State	24:40.3
8.	Christopher Cherry	Colorado	24:44.1
9.	Jake Liebert	Unattached	24:44.6
10.	Dalton Mortensen	BYU	24:45.2

The Men's 8k B Race saw true freshman Berkley Nance claim the overall individual victory, crossing the finish in 24:21.4. The race marks Nance's first time competing in a BYU uniform. 

"I was super excited going into the race to compete for BYU as a freshman," said Nance. "Our team worked well together in the race and coming down the final stretch I was able to find another gear to take the win. I can’t wait to keep building and see what our team can achieve when it really matters later in the season."

Lucas Bons led for a majority of the race, opening up a substantial lead halfway at the 4k mark. The junior who earned third place 2024 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships earlier this year finished in stride with Nance securing second place overall. 

Up Next

The Cougars will head to the University of Oregon to compete at the 2024 Bill Dellinger Invitational on Fri. October 11 at 12:15 p.m. MDT.