CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL  |  2020-21 WCC XC ALMANAC
FINAL RESULTS  |  COURSE MAP  |  COMPLETE BYU RELEASE



LAS VEGAS – BYU cross country won the West Coast Conference men’s and women’s titles at the 2020 WCC Cross Country Championships at Craig Ranch Regional Park on Wednesday.

The BYU men’s team scored 25 points on its way to its first-place finish while the women’s team finished with 28 points to secure the women’s title. The men’s squad has now won six conference titles in a row and the women’s squad has claimed the last three.

In a meet that featured five nationally ranked teams, the No. 1 BYU men’s cross country team defeated No. 8 Portland while the No. 2 BYU women’s cross country team beat No. 25 Portland and No. 30 San Francisco.

BYU Women’s Cross Country Recap
Aubrey Frentheway (20:04.4) and Anna Camp-Bennet (20:12.7) went 2-3 to lead the Cougars to victory in the women’s 6K. Sara Musselman (20:28.1) took fifth place and McKenna Lee (20:41.1) placed 7th overall to give the Cougars four in the top 10.

“It was a good day overall,” said BYU associate director of cross country/track & field Diljeet Taylor said. “We had some people step up when we needed them to, and the women got it done. Now, it’s time to put our heads down and work hard for the next few weeks.”

ADDITIONAL WCC WOMEN’S RACE NOTABLES
 - Junior Anna Pataki of Portland crossed the finish line more than eight seconds ahead of the next runner to claim the women's WCC individual title.
 - Pataki, who finished 11th at the conference meet last season, becomes the 14th Pilot to win the WCC women's individual title and the first since Lauren LaRocco in 2016.
 - No. 25 Portland placed second in the team scores with 49 points behind only No. 2-ranked BYU (28).
 - Portland’s Victoria Weir placed sixth overall (20:32.9)
 - San Francisco placed two in the top-10: MacKenzie Yanek was fourth overall (20:18.9), while Eve Jensen was ninth (20:42.9)
 - Complete results available HERE. Top-10 finishers are first team selections; 11-15 are second team selections.

WOMEN’S RACE TEAM SCORES

Place	Team	Points
1.	BYU	28
2.	Portland	49
3.	San Francisco	68
4.	Gonzaga	98
5.	San Diego	178
6.	Saint Mary's	200
7.	Santa Clara	201
8.	Loyola Marymount	206
9.	Pacific	253
10.	Pepperdine	294

BYU Men’s Cross Country Recap
All-American Conner Mantz won the men’s individual title for the second consecutive year with a time of 22:54.4. The junior was one of six Cougars that finished in the top 10 of the men’s 8K. The win marks the second individual victory of the season for Mantz and his six first-place finish of his collegiate career.

“Conner Mantz is a grinder and he’s not intimidated to having guys running with him late in the race,” said BYU head coach Ed Eyestone. “He’s found another gear that he can go to, to get the victory. It’s always inspiring to have a guy up front who we know is going to get the job done and I think that gives confidence to the other guys as well.”

All-Americans Casey Clinger (23:05.9) and Brandon Garnica (23:25.8) took third and fifth place, respectively, to give BYU three runners in the top five. Elijah Armstrong (23:29.9) placed seventh overall while Aidan Troutner (23:43.4) and Ethan Cannon (23:44.5) went 9-10 to round out the top 10.

ADDITIONAL WCC MEN’S RACE NOTABLES
 - Gonzaga placed second as a team.
 - The Zags' James Mwaura finished second as an individual in an 8K program-record finish of 23:02.9, while Yacine Guermali ran the second-fastest time in school history at 23:07.5, placing fourth.
 - Portland’s Evert Silva was sixth overall (23:27.8)
 - Santa Clara’s Jack Davidson posted a time of 23:37.7 to place seventh overall, becoming the first Bronco since 2007 to crack the top-10 in the conference meet
 - Complete results available HERE. Top-10 finishers are first team selections; 11-15 are second team selections.

MEN’S RACE TEAM SCORES

Place	Team	Points
1.	BYU	25
2.	Gonzaga	51
3.	Portland	62
4.	Santa Clara	108
5.	Pepperdine	169
6.	San Francisco	176
7.	Loyola Marymount	203
8.	Saint Mary's	221
9.	San Diego	238

CONFERENCE HONORS
Men’s Coach of the Year
Pat Tyson, Gonzaga
Men’s Freshman of the Year
Aidan Troutner, BYU (9th/23:42.4)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Diljeet Talylor, BYU
Women’s Freshman of the Year
Anna Martin, BYU (13th/20:54.0)

NCAA NATIONALS
The 2020-21 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held Monday, March 15, 2021. The meet will take place at the Oklahoma State University Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The NCAA selection show is set for March 6.