RENO, Nev. - No. 1 BYU men's cross country secured a qualifying spot for the national championships at this year's NCAA Mountain Regional Friday afternoon.
"We headed into the race with the mindset of 'survive and advance'," said head coach Ed Eyestone. "We rested some of the guys for next week so I'm really pleased with how some of our roster showed out today. Everyone knows that the real race is nationals, but we are happy with the performances of our guys this afternoon."
The Cougars posted 52 points while battling snowy conditions through the 10k race at the Washoe County Golf Course. BYU finished first overall in the team category to secure an automatic bid to the national championships next week. Northern Arizona, who previously claimed the 2020, '21 and '22 national titles, placed third on the day with 71 points.
🇺🇸 #NCAAXC Regional Championships:
— Athletics Central (@Athletics_Cntrl) November 15, 2024
Mountain Regional:
Men’s Race (10,000m) - Team:
🥇 BYU 52pts
🥈 New Mexico 61pts
🥉 Northern Arizona 71pts#Athletics #CrossCountry #XC 🇺🇸 #Reno #NV @NCAATrackField
The beginning of the race saw seniors Joey Nokes and Casey Clinger lead BYU, maintaining ninth and tenth place respectively through 2.5k. Creed Thompson moved up at the halfway mark to run in stride with Clinger who dropped to 15th. The three runners pushed ahead at 7.5k to form a pack with Davin Thompson tacking on the back to put the Cougars in the top-12.
BYU closed out the race as a team with Clinger finishing fourth overall, Creed Thompson in sixth, Davin Thompson in eighth, Nokes in ninth and Luke Grundvig in 25th.
Additional Quotes
Assistant coach Ryan Waite
"The approach today was to run it like a preliminary heat in track. The guys were patient, didn’t go with early moves and then closed well. Luke Grundvig, who was our fifth man, closed really well to secure a team win. Now it’s just about recovery to be ready for eight days from now."
"We were able to show up and get the job done. The guys demonstrated some real toughness in the snow and had lots of fun."
"I feel like we ran exactly how we wanted to. It’s always fun when we get to run together and can look out for each other during the race. I can’t wait for the next one."
The Cougars will head to the 2024 NCAA National Championships on Saturday Nov. 23. The race will be held at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin with the men's championship 10k set for 10:10 a.m. CT.