ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — No. 6 BYU finished third at the Mountain Regional on Friday, putting the Cougars in position to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship race next weekend.
It was the third time in as many races that the Cougars had a different runner finish first for them, with Isaac Hedengren leading the pack for BYU in this one. His 29:12.2 was good for seventh overall and a new personal best in the event. It was also Hedengren's first-ever race as BYU's low stick.
Hedengren was followed closely by sophomore Tayvon Kitchen, who finished eighth overall and second for the Cougars, running a 29:15.7. Dalton Mortensen in 12th (29:21.4), James Corrigan in 18th (29:40.6) and Jefferson McMullin in 25th (30:00.09) rounded out the scoring for BYU.
"Mission accomplished. We were trying to communicate to the guys that we were in a good place, and they delivered," head coach Ed Eyestone said after the race. "Our guys up front ran controlled enough that we were in a good place, and we feel like we put ourselves in a good position for next week."
Full individual and team results can be found here.
| Name | Time | Place |
| Isaac Hedengren | 29:12.2 | 7th |
| Tayvon Kitchen | 29:15.7 | 8th |
| Dalton Mortensen | 29:21.4 | 12th |
| James Corrigan | 29:40.6 | 18th |
| Jefferson McMullin | 30:00.09 | 25th |
| Malachi Schoenherr | 30:05.0 | 27th |
| Land Lambert | 31:04.6 | 53rd |
The race featured the top two teams in the country, No. 1 New Mexico and No. 2 Colorado. Both teams placed ahead of BYU, but the Cougars held off No. 20 Northern Arizona to claim their third straight third-place finish.
Opens in a new window Opens in a new window As the Cougars have in every race of the season, BYU came out strong as a team, sitting in second place through the first 2,800-meters of the race. The Cougars also showcased the power of their pack-style running, maintaining just a two-second gap between their first and fifth runners through the first 4,000-meters.
Separation began around the halfway mark, as Hedengren and Kitchen made moves to remain with the lead pack that sat behind eventual race winner Titus Kimaru of Texas Tech. Both runners remained in that front pack, staying firmly in the top 10 through the final 3,000 meters of the race to claim their seventh- and eighth-place finishes.
Corrigan moved up eight positions in the final 4,000-meters, surpassing three runners from Northern Arizona to help BYU capture the podium finish.
Per NCAA Championship qualification rules, the top two finishing teams from each region automatically qualify for the championship meet. Outside of the automatic qualifiers, the NCAA Division I Cross Country Subcommittee awards 14 additional at-large bids for the championship meet.
Those at-large bids are given based on a range of criteria that includes regional finish, wins against teams already in the championship, head-to-head competition between teams under consideration and records against common opponents.
Up Next
The NCAA Division I Cross Country Subcommittee will award the 14 at-large bids by 3 p.m. MST on Saturday, Nov. 14. These selections can be found at ncaa.com.