TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - No. 9 BYU returns to the LaVern Gibson Championship Course for the first time since their 2019 NCAA Championship victory.
BYU’s last trip to Terre Haute was a successful one, as head coach Ed Eyestone’s 2019 squad brought home the program’s first team national championship. The Cougars, led by then-sophomore Conner Mantz, logged 109 points en route to the victory after earning an at-large bid.
RACE WEEK FOR THE MEN’S TEAM
— BYU Track & Field/Cross Country (@BYUTFXC) September 14, 2026
⏰: 7:05AM MDT
📺: RunnerSpace pic.twitter.com/MXxiaXLyq6
This year’s John McNichols Invitational serves as an early season opportunity for the Cougars to familiarize themselves with that same NCAA championship course. BYU, nor the championship race, has been back to the LaVern Gibson course since that 2019 season.
The men’s 8,000-meter championship race, featuring BYU’s top-seven runners, will start at 7:05 a.m. MT. The rest of the team will run in the 8,000m open race at 8:15 a.m. MT.
The race features some of the top competition in the country, including four teams that finished ahead of the Cougars in last year’s NCAA Championships (Syracuse, Northern Arizona, Eastern Kentucky and Colorado). No. 6 Colorado and No. 7 Northern Arizona both also ranked higher than BYU in this year’s USTFCCCA Preseason Coaches Poll.
It’s the second race of the season for the Cougars, who opened the season on Sept. 5 with a victory at the Utah Valley Invitational. Sophomore Tayvon Kitchen led the way with a first-place finish in a race where the Cougars claimed the top four spots.
Junior Dalton Mortensen will look to build off of an impressive season opener in which he finished as BYU’s second finisher. Fellow juniors Noah Jenkins and Hunter Kitchen also will be key contributors for the Cougars following their top-five finishes.
Streaming will be available on RunnerSpace+, with live results available on https://midwesttiming.com/results.