Even without some of their top runners, BYU men, women rock NCAA cross-country regional

How deep is BYU’s No. 1-ranked women’s cross-country team? The Cougars won the NCAA Mountain Region meet in Reno, Nevada, Friday without its top two runners.
BYU finished with 47 points to place ahead of No. 4-ranked Northern Arizona, which was second with 60 points. Utah, ranked No. 9 nationally, placed fourth, while Utah Valley was fifth, Utah State ninth, Weber State 13th and Southern Utah 15th in the 20-team field.
The top two teams in each of the NCAA’s nine region competitions automatically qualify for next week’s NCAA championships in Wisconsin, plus 13 at-large selections. Utah is a lock to receive one of those at-large berths.
BYU’s Lexy Lowry and Jenna Hutchins — who have been the team’s top finishers much of the year — sat out the race to rest for the NCAA championships. Hutchins is nursing an injury (she finished 10th among BYU runners at the Big 12 championships two weeks ago).
BYU placed four runners in the top 10. Riley Chamberlain was fifth, while teammates Carmen Alder, Taylor Rohatinsky and Taylor Lovell placed eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively. Carlee Hansen was 20th to complete BYU’s scoring.
Erin Vringer and Annastasia Peters finished 12th and 13th, respectively, for Utah. Morgan Jensen was 21st, McKaylie Caesar 27th and Lindsey Peters 49th.
Utah’s Valley’s top scorers were Caila Odekirk and Anna Martin, who finished 24th and 28th.
Meanwhile, the BYU men’s team, which is ranked No. 1 in the nation, also held out some of its top runners and also placed first in the team standings.
BYU finished with 52 points. New Mexico was second with 61, followed by Northern Arizona 71, Utah State 152. Southern Utah was 11th, Weber State 12th and Utah Valley 13th out of 17 teams.
Casey Clinger placed fourth to lead the way for BYU, as the Cougars placed four in the top 10. Identical twins Creed and Davin Thompson were sixth and eighth, respectively, and Joey Nokes ninth.
Olympian James Corrigan, Lucas Bons and Aidan Troutner sat out the race for BYU..
BYU won the men’s 2019 NCAA championshiip. The BYU women’s team, won the 2020 championship and finished second in 2019 and 2021.
Correction: The original version of this article stated that the BYU men’s team finished third. The men’s team, like the women’s team, also finished first.