VERONA, Wis. — No. 1 BYU women's cross country won the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championship, its sixth in program history, with a team score of 147 at the Zimmer Championship Course Saturday morning.
“I’m really proud of these women," said head coach Diljeet Taylor. "They stayed committed to the process. They embraced the imperfect, which is what it takes. Like in any season, we had lots of downs, lots of ups, but they ran for each other and figured out how to fight their own battles.
"They let go of individual success and focused on the team. That’s what cross country is all about. I’m incredibly humbled and grateful to belong to these women, all seven of them. That wasn’t me, that was God, and I’m so grateful that He guided us through this. I don’t think my coaching could’ve done what happened today.”
The title is the second national championship under Taylor and its sixth team title overall (1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2020-21, 2024). Three Cougars finished in the top-40 and received All-America honors for their performances: Lexy Halladay-Lowry, Riley Chamberlain and Carmen Alder.
Halladay-Lowry led the charge for BYU as she earned a career-best finish at the national meet, placing 14th in 19:48.4. The Senior from Meridian, Idaho earned her second national championship (2020-21) and cross country All-America honor (34th in 2022).
“First off, I just want to say that this feels real good," said Halladay-Lowry. "We gave up a lot of our individual goals and we were just completely and utterly committed to the team. In years past, the commitment to self has taken away from the team. We were able to let go of that this year. By doing that, we not only stepped up for ourselves, but for each other. That’s why this happened today.”
Chamberlain and Alder each earned All-America honors for the first time in their careers with 31st and 39th place finishes. Chamberlain clocked 19:59.4 and Alder 20:03.6.
Taylor Rohatinsky and Carlee Hansen rounded out BYU's scoring five, placing 43rd and 65th in 20:06.5 and 20:21.6, respectively.
Coach Taylor has now coached nine athletes to 19 top-40 finishes at the national championships. The team placement marks the program's ninth-consecutive top-15 finish at the national meet, all of which have come during Taylor's tenure.
With BYU men's cross country winning the NCAA Championship as well, the Cougars have delivered the first sweep of cross country team titles since Colorado did so in 2004. This is just the fifth time in NCAA history a program has swept both titles (BYU, 2024; Colorado, 2004; Stanford, 2003; Stanford, 1996; Wisconsin, 1985).
| Athlete | Place | Time |
| Lexy Halladay-Lowry | 14th | 19:48.4 |
| Riley Chamberlain | 31st | 19:59.4 |
| Carmen Alder | 39th | 20:03.6 |
| Taylor Rohatinsky | 43rd | 20:06.5 |
| Carlee Hansen | 65th | 20:21.6 |
| Nelah Roberts | 83rd | 20:27.4 |
| Taylor Lovell | 88th | 20:28.6 |
| Place | Team | Score |
| 1 | BYU | 147 |
| 2 | West Virginia | 164 |
| 3 | Providence | 183 |
| 4 | Northern Arizona | 206 |
| 5 | Oregon | 210 |
| 6 | Stanford | 213 |
| 7 | New Mexico | 244 |
| 8 | NC State | 251 |
| 9 | Georgetown | 263 |
| 10 | Alabama | 293 |
“We’re all so grateful that our student-athletes and coaches performed at their very best throughout the year and in today’s championships," said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. "When you unite extraordinary coaches with phenomenal athletes great things happen.”