National Championship History
The BYU women's cross country program boasts one NCAA Division I individual champions and six team titles. Current BYU women's cross country head coach Diljeet Taylor has contributed to two team titles and one individual title. Taylor coached Whittni Orton (2021) to an individual title while leading the BYU women's cross country program to a championship in 2020-21 and 2024.
2024 - No. 1 BYU Women's Cross Country Wins National Championship
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).
2021 - Orton Crowned Individual NCAA Champion, Team Runner-Up
Orton ran with the front pack of the top-4 runners for the majority of the race, breaking off at the 5K mark as she approached the hill leading to the finish line.
The senior from Panguitch, Utah, would go on to beat Alabama's Mercy Chelangat, the reigning individual champion, by nearly four seconds. Her 6K time of 19:25.4 is the second fastest all-time at Apalachee, beating a time of 19:26.2 set in 2014.
Orton is the first BYU woman to win an individual NCAA cross country title in school history. On the men's side, Conner Mantz won the individual title for the second-straight year, the first repeat champion since 2014-15.
2020-21 - BYU Women's Cross Country Wins National Title
Five Cougars finished in the top 50 to lead the BYU women’s cross country team to its first national championship since 2003 and its fifth team title overall (1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2021). Four Cougars finished in the top 40 and received All-America honors for their performances, the most All-Americans on one BYU team since 2003.
Senior Anna Camp-Bennett moved up four spots in the final kilometer of the 6K to cross first for the Cougars and take 11th place (20:28.3). Junior Aubrey Frentheway (20:34.9) and senior Whittni Orton (20:35.6) finished 15th and 17th overall, respectively, to give the Cougars three of the top 20 finishers.
Senior Sara Musselman (20:51.3) placed 33rd overall while junior McKenna Lee (20:59.9) finished 41st, one spot away from All-America status. Junior Haley Johnston (21:38.0) placed 115th and true freshman Lexy Halladay (22:14.6) finished 184th overall to round out the seven BYU runners.
“I’m just extremely proud and humbled to be their coach,” said associate director of cross country/track and field Diljeet Taylor said. “They’re running for something bigger than themselves. When you can get women that step on the line empowered, strong and really feeling in their hearts they can win, that’s when you see magic happen. That’s what we witnessed today.”
2002 - Cougars Win Fourth National Title
The Cougars won their fourth NCAA national title with 85 points, 28 points ahead of second-place Stanford. Michaela Mannova led BYU after crossing in 19:49.50, taking fifth place. Kassie Anderson took seventh after she finished in 19:56.10.
2001 - Cougar Women Dominate on Way to Third National Title
The BYU women's cross country team simply dominated the field on the way to their third national title in the past five years. The Cougars scored only 62 points to defeat runner-up N.C. State by 86 points, one of the largest winning margin in NCAA history.
The win was a team effort for BYU, with three runners finishing in the top ten and all five scoring runners finishing in the to 30 to earn All-America honors. The top five runners were only separated by 30 seconds as they came across the line.
"It is a dream come true for me to win this championship like we did," head coach Patrick Shane said. "Before the race we knew we had a good chance but you can never expect everyone to run as well as the girls did today. You have to savor the moment because this might never happen again."
1999 - BYU Women Win National Championship
For the second time in three years, the Cougar women are national champions in cross country, winning the title by a comfortable 53-point margin. The program becomes the first in BYU history to pick up two national titles (1997, 1999).
Senior Elizabeth Jackson finished first for the team in 11th place overall in 16:59. She was followed by Kara Ormond in 16th (17:11), Tara Rohatinsky in 17th (17:13), Sharolyn Shields in 23rd (17:16) and Laura Heiner in 26th (17:17). All five were awarded All-American honors following the race. BYU finished with a total of 72 points, ahead of second-place Arkansas' 125 and Stanford in third with 127. The point spread was a far cry from last year's final in which only five points separated the top three teams.
"This is easily the best team I have ever coached, no question, head coach Patrick Shane said. "The team unity, spirit and feeling was very positive and it carried them through today. It's like nothing I've seen in over twenty years of coaching. It was one of the most exciting races I've ever seen. We were up front in a pack all the way. Our strategy was a lot like regionals. We moved out front early and were able to run together as a pack for much of the race."
1997 - Cougars Win First National Championship
The Cougars won the first national title in program history, two points ahead of second-place Stanford. Courtney Pugmire led BYU, finishing in 16:58. Pugmire took eighth overall.