Cougars take top three top spots in both races, with men capturing fifth consecutive team title and women securing back-to-back crowns in dominant fashion

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

Conner Mantz does more than just bring his ‘A’ game. He’s a student of it, as well.

So when the Brigham Young sophomore won the West Coast Conference’s individual championship Friday while leading the Cougars to their second straight team sweep at the conference championships, he understood what it meant.

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More is certainly expected of him and a men’s team that is ranked No. 2 nationally. But he still understood.

“It means a lot. It’s a historic conference,” said Mantz, whose birthplace of Logan, Utah, ironically hosted the Mountain West Championships on Friday.

“You look at the great individuals that have come through: Connor McMillan won it two years ago and he’s been a great friend and great inspiration to me. He’s going to do the New York Marathon and I expect great things from him this Sunday.

“Nick Hauger won it last year, and he’s a fantastic athlete and a great person, as well. You look at the past champions, and it’s a really big race. To come away with the win is quite the honor.”

Mantz fit the call. His victory, in 23 minutes, 33.75 seconds, allowed him to remain undefeated this year and gave him his fourth individual victory of the season in the 8-kilometer race held at Woodley Lakes Golf Course in Van Nuys, Calif.

The BYU men tallied 18 points to second-place Portland’s 51 and third-place Gonzaga’s 63.

On the women’s side, junior Whittni Orton led the way, winning in 19:49.27, while the BYU women also tallied 18 to second-place Portland’s 84 and third-place San Francisco’s 90.

The Cougars’ 18 points tied a meet record for lowest score in a WCC championship, matching Portland’s 18 points in 1987.

BYU’s men placed 1-2-3-5-7-9, with senior Jacob Heslington finishing second in 23:35.23 and Daniel Carney placing third in 23:38.40. Heslington led for part of the race and BYU had seven of the first 10 at the race’s midway point.

Mantz kicked it up a notch in the second half.

“At that point, my goal was just to hang with Connor as long as I could,” Heslington said. “If I can do that the rest of the season, good things will happen.”

Mantz still only edged Heslington by less than two seconds before offering some playful words afterward.
“At the end of the race,” Heslington said, “he turns to me and asks why I slowed down, so he must’ve felt like he had a little bit more. But I still feel good about it.”

Gonzaga sophomore James Mwaura broke the BYU string by finishing fourth in 23:40.17. BYU’s Matt Owens was fifth in 23:46.08.

Portland’s first runner was junior Reuben Kiprono, who placed sixth in 23:49.72. The Pilots, ranked 12th nationally, gave the Cougars the best competition they could and were within 20 points at the midway point before BYU pulled away.

“We knew if we were having an off-day today that they’d be here ready to take us on,” Mantz said. “We’re just trying to do our part, and go through every race one at a time, get the work done, and enjoy the process.”

Senior Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse was eighth in 23:53.72, and Michael Teran-Solano made a triumphant return to Southern California to place 10th in 24:04.68. Teran-Solano led Jurupa Hills High to an improbable California state title in 2013 and Nike Cross Nationals berth the following year before going to San Bernardino Valley College, and later, arriving in the Pacific Northwest.

BYU made up the rest of the top 10, with sophomore Brandon Garnica placing seventh in 23:52.35 and sophomore Zac Jacklin taking ninth in 24:02.05.

Mantz said he feels the Cougars are ready to compete with those in their rankings neighborhood.

“We believe we have a team that could upset (Northern Arizona),” he said. “NAU is very good right now. They’re always really good, and there’s no disrespect to them. I believe we are still on the rise. We still have guys stepping up, as long as we have our day at NCAAs, we could be up there with them.

“But they’re also a really good team. Colorado is a really good team, and Stanford is a really good team. We’re going to go out there and have our best race and go out and fight.”

Orton prevailed in the women’s race after a front pack of 15 runners, including eight from BYU, began to thin out in the second half of the 6-kilometer race. She wound up outracing teammate Erica Birk at the finish, prevailing by 0.06 seconds ahead of the defending champion.

Afterward, all the credit from Orton went to Birk.

“She’s just so good, so gritty and so tough, and obviously one of the best runners in the country," Orton said. “It really means a lot to even compete with her at all, and get a win today.”

Senior Courtney Wayment, who also held the lead at times during the race, placed third in 19:55.31.
But what threw a curve at the Cougars, if ever so slightly, was the performance of junior Aoibhe Richardson of San Francisco.

Richardson ran at the front with the BYU girls, who are ranked No. 4 nationally, and wound up as the only other female to break 20 minutes, placing fourth in 19:58.35.

Orton said Richardson forced her and her teammates to scrap their plan of pack running into the third mile.

“That was the plan,” Richardson said. “I didn’t want to let them dictate the whole race and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t beaten by anyone that I shouldn’t be on a good day.

“I felt good, so I decided to make a move and give them a run for their money,” she added.

From there, it was a BYU party through the top 10, save for one spot. Senior Olivia Hoj placed fifth in 20:07.7, followed by Gonzaga junior Claire Manley, who was sixth in 20:33.3.

BYU’s Anna Camp placed seventh in 20:36, and Anastaysia Davis finished eighth in 20:36.3, earning Conference Freshman of the Year honors.

Teammate Sara Musselman was ninth in 20:40.4 and sophomore Sadie Sargent was 10th in 20:41.5. With eight of the top 10, BYU was so dominant, in fact, that second-place Portland’s top runner was sophomore Anna Pataki, who was 11th in 20:46.6.

For their efforts, BYU coaches Ed Eyestone and Diljeet Taylor were both named conference Coaches of the Year.

Weather played a factor Friday but could’ve been much worse. Temperatures crept into the high 70s, but the smoke from the area wildfires stayed away. It was an adjustment for a conference that has a host of cold-weather campuses, but not a major thorn in the side.

“Actually, the weather was perfect,” Manley said. “It’s a little hot now, but for our race, it was pretty nice. We’ve been dealing with some tough conditions in Spokane, so it’s nice to get out here. Feels like Paradise.”