BYU Has a Banner Day at NCAA Cross Country Championships – Runner’s World

• At the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, the Arkansas Razorbacks won their first women’s title in program history and the BYU Cougars won their first men’s title by defeating three-time defending champions Northern Arizona.
• Edwin Kurgat of Iowa State won the individual men’s title while Weini Kelati of New Mexico won for the women.

An upset in the men’s race and a dominant showing for the favorites in the women’s race highlighted the competition at the2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Battling muddy conditions on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, the BYU men secured the team victory over three-time defending champions Northern Arizona, while Edwin Kurgat of Iowa State won the individual title in the men’s 10K.

In the women’s 6K race, the Arkansas Razorbacks backed up their No. 1 ranking with the program’s first championship title in history, and Weini Kelati of New Mexico ran away with her first individual crown.

With a team total of 109 points, BYU beat NAU by 54 points to secure the program’s first NCAA cross-country championship in history and improve on the team’s runner-up finish to the Lumberjacks in 2018.

Despite graduating four All-Americans from last year’s squad, BYU managed to rebuild better than ever this season. Led by a third-place individual finish from sophomore Conner Mantz, the Cougars put five runners in the top 39 to become the first team to beat NAU since 2016.

“It’s been a long time coming,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone told FloTrack afterward. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I’m super proud of these guys.”

The Cougars led the team standings at every major split from 3K to the finish line. In the last 2K, the BYU runners secured the team title by moving up 12 individual spots in the final stretch.

The individual race saw a thrilling back and forth from top runners Peter Seufer of Virginia Tech, Mantz, Amon Kemboi of Campbell, Joe Klecker of Colorado, Vincent Kiprop of Alabama, and Kurgat. While Seufer led each split from 3K to 8K, Kurgat made a decisive move in the last kilometer to break away from his competitors for good.

The senior covered the 10K course in 30:32, five seconds ahead of Klecker who finished runner-up for the Buffaloes. In the process, Kurgat also led the Iowa State Cyclones to a fourth-place team finish behind Colorado who finished third overall.

In the women’s race, team winner Arkansas and individual winner Weini Kelati of New Mexico both lived up to their No. 1 ranking heading into the NCAA championships.

For the first time since 1999, the Razorbacks secured a place on the podium with the program’s first cross-country team title in history. Led by standout performances from Katie Izzo and Taylor Werner, who placed third and fourth, respectively, Arkansas won the championship with 96 points, six points ahead of runner-up BYU. The Razorbacks became only the second women’s team in history to win all three NCAA team titles in a calendar year (indoor track, outdoor track and cross country) joining the University of Texas, which accomplished the same feat in 1986.

For Izzo, the top three finish was a significant improvement on last year’s championship run for her as well as the team. At the 2018 NCAA championships, she placed 82nd while contributing to the Razorbacks’ 14th-place finish.

In the race for the individual title, Kelati reigned supreme by covering the 6K course in 19:47, 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Alicia Monson of Wisconsin. The performance is the first NCAA cross-country title of her career at the University of New Mexico. She won the 10K at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.

Kelati established herself up front early with a group of contenders running shoulder to shoulder with her. By 2K, the top group was led by Kelati with runners from BYU, Arkansas, and Stanford, who led the team standings before the halfway point.

Just before the 3K split, Kelati began to gradually pull ahead of the group. After she crossed the halfway point, she bolted past her competitors and gave herself a significant lead.

By 4K, the New Mexico junior had a six-second gap on Monson, who led the chase pack. At this point, the team race was heating up with Arkansas pulling ahead of BYU and Stanford.

In the final 2K of the race, Kelati continued to hold her position up front. By the final 400-meter stretch, Monson and Izzo were far from striking distance when Kelati crossed the finish line. Kelati’s victory improves on her runner-up finish from last year’s championship.

With Izzo and Werner up front, the Razorbacks put all five scorers in the top 52 to win a thrilling team battle over BYU, who despite placing three runners in the top seven, fell short in the team race with 102 points to Arkansas’ 96. Stanford finished third with 123 points and New Mexico earned a fourth-place finish with 168 points.

Taylor Dutch is a freelance writer living in Chicago.