OAKLAND, Calif. – BYU men’s cross country secured the championship title with a perfect score of 15 and the women's team finished second with 52 points at the West Coast Conference Championships on Friday at the Metropolitan Golf Links.
The men ran an 8k race and the women ran a 6k.
"I'm super pleased with the way the guys ran," head coach Ed Eyestone said. "They maintained a relentless pace and it paid off. To perfect score the conference meet over the third-ranked team in the country shows that we should be considered a national championship caliber team."
Ranked No. 2 in the nation, the BYU men’s team made WCC Championships history as the Cougars claimed the top five spots. It was the first time ever a team finished the championship meet with a perfect score. BYU defended its title for the third year in a row and fifth time in seven years.
Connor McMillan led the charge for the Cougars with a first-place finish (23:33.8). Daniel Carney (23:28.9), Casey Clinger (23:29.0), Rory Linkletter (23:29.0) and Clayton Young (23:29.1) crossed the finish line just after McMillan, each grabbing the front of their uniforms to show the BYU logo. The athletes had met the night before and talked about how they wanted to finish together and hold their uniforms proudly.
"It was an amazing team performance and it was nice for McMIllan to get the individual title," Eyestone said. "It shows that we have at least three individuals in McMillan, Linkletter and Young who can win a big meet individually."
The Cougars defeated No. 3 Portland, No. 29 San Francisco and regionally ranked No. 10 Gonzaga, No. 12 Santa Clara and No. 13 Loyola Marymount. This was perhaps the most stacked field in conference history.
Led by McMillan, seven Cougars earned All-West Coast Conference First Team while two were named to the second team. Eyestone was named WCC Coach of the Year for the third-straight year and fourth overall. Clinger was named the WCC Freshman of the Year.
The No. 18 women’s team finished second in the championships for the third year in a row. The Cougars finished behind No. 4 San Francisco.
"Our pack ran really well today," associate head women's coach Diljeet Taylor said. "USF is a great team this year and I think the women did a good job positioning themselves in a pack throughout the race. We ran a patient and persistent race as that was the plan going in."
Courtney Wayment finished first for the Cougars and sixth in the meet (20:02.1). This was her first time finishing first for BYU this season. Laura Young (20:03.6) finished close behind in seventh with Olivia Hoj (20:28.9) and Ashleigh Warner (20:31.6) crossing the line 11th and 12th. Kristi Rush rounded out the group, finishing 15th (20:42.3)
"I look forward to the next race to see how we stack up against the teams in our region," Taylor said.
BYU returns to Utah for the NCAA Mountain Region meet on Nov. 10 in Logan.
| Place | Team | Score | Scoring Order |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BYU | 15 | 1-2-3-4-5(9)(10) |
| 2 | Portland | 58 | 6-7-11-14-20(29)(32) |
| 3 | San Francisco | 75 | 8-12-16-17-22(33)(41) |
| 4 | Gonzaga | 100 | 15-18-19-23-25(34)(39) |
| 5 | Santa Clara | 165 | 26-27-30-37-45(54)(56) |
| 6 | Loyola Marymount | 166 | 21-28-36-38-43(47)(55) |
| 7 | St. Mary's (Cal.) | 187 | 24-35-40-42-46(52)(61) |
| 8 | Pepperdine | 198 | 13-31-50-51-53(57)(59) |
| 9 | San Diego | 259 | 44-48-49-58-60(62)(63) |
| 1 | Connor McMillan | BYU |
| 2 | Daniel Carney | BYU |
| 3 | Casey Clinger | BYU |
| 4 | Rory Linkletter | BYU |
| 5 | Clayton Young | BYU |
| 6 | Jeff Thies | Portland |
| 7 | Nick Hauger | Portland |
| 8 | Aziz Mohamed | San Francisco |
| 9 | Kramer Morton | BYU |
| 10 | Jonathan Harper | BYU |
| 11 | Reuben Kiprono | Portland |
| 12 | Jack Rowe | San Francisco |
| 13 | Brayden McLelland | BYU |
| 14 | Clayson Shumway | BYU |
| 15 | Nick Heath | Pepperdine |
WCC Coach of the Year
Ed Eyestone
WCC Freshman of the Year
Casey Clinger