No. 4 BYU prevails at UVU Invitational, Hedengren takes first

The Cougars won the meet with 19 points and claimed seven of the top 10 spots.

Author Taylor McGladrie
No. 4 BYU prevails at UVU Invitational, Hedengren takes firstNo. 4 BYU prevails at UVU Invitational, Hedengren takes first

PROVO, Utah - The No. 4 Cougars won their first meet of the season, scoring 19 points at the UVU Invitational Friday morning.

Last year's NCAA runner-up, Jane Hedengren, took first place overall with a 15:08.62, breaking away from her competitors early on during the race and running over 30 seconds faster than Utah Valley's second place finisher. She now holds the Scera Park cross country course record, beating the previous record of 16:24.0 by over a minute.

"It was a good effort day all around for our team to kick off the season," said head coach Diljeet Taylor. "I like the energy and chemistry this team has and am excited to continue to work hard until we line up at the end of the month." 

Jenna Hutchins crossed the finish line in 15:44.65, placing third in her first cross country meet in two years. Taylor Lovell followed, clocking 16:04.57 for fourth place, while Lexi Goff-Thompson and Nelah Roberts rounded out BYU's win, placing fifth and sixth, respectively.

"It’s always fun to get back into racing and see the different pieces we have in play with our team this year," said Roberts. "Grateful for a chance to put on the uniform and excited to see how we build off of today."

Seven of the top 10 spots were claimed by the Cougars with sophomore Zariel Macchia securing seventh place and transfer Karrie Baloga finishing at eighth place.

2026 UVU Invitational

PLACE ATHLETE SCHOOL TIME
1st Jane Hedengren BYU 15:08.62
2nd Caren Kipsirat UVU 15:41.42
3rd Jenna Hutchins BYU 15:44.65
4th Taylor Lovell BYU 16:04.57
5th Lexi Goff-Thompson BYU 16:10.28
6th Nelah Roberts BYU 16:13.16
7th Zariel Macchia BYU 16:19.61
8th Karrie Baloga BYU 16:20.65
9th Reagan Doman UVU 16:27.32
10th Vanessa Alder Unattached 16:28.12

This was the first year BYU competed in the Utah Valley Invitational, making it the team's first win on the Scera Park course. The other competitor institutions included Utah Valley, Utah, Southern Utah, Southern Idaho, Snow College, Salt Lake and Westminster. For full results, visit SportTrax.

Up Next

BYU will return to racing in three weeks and travel to Stillwater, Okla. to compete in the Cowboy Jamboree on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7:15 a.m. MDT.