BYU Cross Country Teams Sweep WCC Championships

BYU Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams swept the West Coast Conference Championships on Friday at Woodley Lakes Golf Course in Southern California.

Both teams were favorites to win, as the men had won the previous four WCC Championships and the women had won in 2018. Both teams are ranked in the Top 5, with the men ranked 2nd and the women ranked 4th.

The women ran first, and tied a WCC Championships record with a total 18 points. BYU went 1-3, with Whittni Orton finishing first overall. BYU was so dominant, in fact, that all 10 BYU runners finished in the Top 15, with BYU’s last runner coming in 14th overall. Points in cross country are counted by position at finish, so lower is best for scores. The women finished as follows:

1 Whittni Orton

2 Erica Birk-Jarvis

3 Courtney Wayment

5 Olivia Hoj

7 Anna Camp

8 Anastaysia Davis

9 Sara Musselman

10 Sadie Sargeant

13 Ember Stratton

14 Maddie Cannon

The men also dominated their race, winning with 18 points as well. Connor Mantz came in first, with fellow Cougars Jacob Heslington and Daniel Carney finishing second and third. It is the Cougars fifth straight WCC Championship. The men’s team finished as follows:

1 Connor Mantz

2 Jacob Heslington

3 Daniel Carney

5 Matt Owens

7 Brandon Garnica

9 Zac Jacklin

12 Connor Weaver

16 Talem Franco

17 Garrett Marsing

28 Michael Ottesen

Both teams will compete November 15 in the NCAA Mountain Region Championships in Salt Lake City. Should they qualify, they will compete in the National Championships on November 23 in Indiana.