WACO, Texas – No. 2 BYU men’s cross country upset No.1 Oklahoma State to win the 2024 Big 12 Cross Country Championship title Friday morning.
“Our whole hope coming into the Big 12 Championships was to make it a good race,” said head Coach Ed Eyestone. “We knew Oklahoma State and I think we did a good job of putting pressure on them early. For a while we had a lot of orange in front of us, but my guys didn’t give up.They took heart. We are going to celebrate and enjoy this.”
The Cougars came into the meet ranked second in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll, a spot they have maintained all season. Defending NCAA Champions No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Iowa State were also featured in the race. The Cowboys have held the top spot in the rankings each week this season.
Senior captain Casey Clinger crossed first for the Cougars and third overall, coming across the 8k finish in 22:09.14 behind Brian Musua of Oklahoma State and Solomone Kipchoge of Texas Tech. James Corrigan and Joey Nokes followed in seventh and eighth to take the upper edge in the team standings.
Creed Thompson and Lucas Bons rounded out BYU’s scoring runners to clinch the team victory with 41 points. Davin Thompson also contributed heavily by breaking up the Cowboys’ pack by finishing 15th and sixth overall for the Cougars.
When you realize you’re conference champs 🥹 pic.twitter.com/sX1SxJBZd9
— BYU Track & Field/Cross Country (@BYUTFXC) November 1, 2024
The Cougars maintained a strong pack and positioned themselves in second place a majority of the race. A brief misstep by an Oklahoma State and Texas Tech runner on a turn near the 5k mark shook the lead pack. Within the final kilometer, BYU moved past Oklahoma State in the spread to clinch the victory.
"We knew it was going to be a battle out there with Oklahoma State and Iowa State," said Bons. "Our goals were just to pack up, be tough and let the results take care of themselves. We had some guys coming into this race dealing with some rough circumstances, but they still stuck it out and finished hard for the team. I’m super pleased with my race and our team’s race, but now we’ve just got to be humble and hungry for the next three weeks until the national championship."
The BYU cross country program swept both the men’s and women’s titles, each securing 41 points in their respective races. The last time the Cougars both took first overall in the team categories at a conference meet was 2022, the final year BYU cross country was a part of the West Coast Conference.
“Every split didn't necessarily mean we were getting closer to Oklahoma State,” said assistant coach Ryan Waite. “They pulled away from us for a little bit on each split, which I think just shows even more the resilience that our guys had because they didn't get discouraged by the fact that we got further behind. They just kept focusing on themselves, kept hunting, kept being present and kept believing.”
Eyestone and Waite implemented a mental strategy for their men by calling out specific phrases for each athlete during the race recorded on armbands.
“You know, the guys have their own little power statements. I have them here on my arm so I can yell them out and give them some specific instructions. We weren't calling audibles in the middle, but we were just cool. Casey's are ‘Stick’ and ‘Flip the switch’. All the guys have their sayings that they want to know.”
The Cougars will compete at the NCAA Mountain Regional held in Reno, Nevada at the Washoe County Golf Course on November 15.