Reigning national champion BYU women support victory by Orton-Morgan with seven athletes in top 15 in first trip to Apalachee Regional Park; Wildschutt pulls away in second half of men’s race, but Stanford has five scorers in top 11 to win

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Photos courtesy FSU Sports Infornation and David Hicks

If the final act resembles the dress rehearsal for the Brigham Young women’s cross country team, then the Cougars demonstrated Friday at the Florida State XC Open that they will again be in contention for a national championship in November.

RESULTS

BYU closed well over the final stretch of the 6-kilometer race, overcoming an early deficit against host Florida State to place five scorers in the top 10 – led by individual winner Whittni Orton-Morgan in 20 minutes, 16.8 seconds – and seven athletes among the first 15 finishers to prevail with 24 points at Apalachee Regional Park.

The venue is also scheduled to play host Nov. 20 to the NCAA Division 1 Championships.

Orton-Morgan surged in the final kilometer to hold off Southern Utah fifth-year senior Alison Pray, who clocked 20:20.3, leading the Thunderbirds to a fourth-place finish with 105 points.

BYU followed with Lexy Halladay (20:30.9) and Aubrey Frentheway (20:36.8) in third and fourth, freshman Ana Weaver (20:54.5) in sixth in her collegiate debut and McKenna Lee placing 10th in 21:11.4. Kate Hunter (21:16.2) was 12th and Anna Camp-Bennett (21:21.3) finished 15th for the Cougars, who are not scheduled to compete Oct. 15 at Apalachee Regional Park for the Florida State Invitational, which is also serving as the NCAA Pre-Nationals event.

Florida State, which led BYU by a projected 14-point margin at the 4-kilometer mark, had Lauren Ryan (20:50.8) finish fifth, with Agnes McTighe (21:01.4) and Amanda Beach (21:04.1) placing eighth and ninth, respectively, to secure runner-up with 51 points.

Furman received a seventh-place finish from Bethany Graham (20:56.4) to take third overall with 83 points.

Stanford held out several veterans, in addition to not racing its freshman athletes because of orientation, and placed fifth with 171 points. Lucy Jenks (21:48.3) was the top competitor for the Cardinal in 27th place.

Lee University from Tennessee was the top Division 2 program in the race, finishing one point behind Stanford in sixth overall, with All-American Celine Ritter earning 11th place in 21:16.2.

Stanford did have its top athletes competing in the men’s 8-kilometer race and the Cardinal placed five scorers in the top 11 to prevail with 32 points. Furman was second with 61 points and host Florida State took third with 83 points.

Florida State standout Adriaan Wildschutt, the NCAA Division 1 runner-up March 15, relied on a strong surge near the midway point of the race to create a gap against Stanford’s Charles Hicks on his way to running 23:22, the fourth-fastest all-time collegiate 8-kilometer performance at Apalachee Regional Park.

Wildschutt already boasted the No. 3 mark of 23:16.7 from February at the Florida State Winter XC Classic.

Hicks secured second in 23:32.5, followed by Cole Sprout in 23:39 and Thomas Boyden (24:02.4) in sixth for the Cardinal, who also had Evan Burke (24:11.4) and D.J. Principe (24:12.2) placing 10th and 11th, respectively.

Ahmed Muhumed, who finished 123rd for the host Seminoles at the national meet, was fourth Friday in 23:48.1.

Fearghal Curtin of Charleston Southern finished fifth in 23:57.5, leading the Buccaneers to fourth overall with 141 points. Baldvin Magnusson of Eastern Michigan earned seventh in 24:03.7, as the Eagles placed fifth with 143 points.

Runner-up Furman featured Daniel Bernal (24:04.2) taking eighth, Dylan Schubert (24:10) securing ninth, Ares Reading (24:13.8) placing 12th, Cameron Ponder (24:17.5) finishing 13th and Gabriel Montague (24:27.1) earning 20th.

Mason Jones of Florida Southern was the top Division 2 competitor, finishing 18th in 24:23.5. Christian Noble of Lee, the Division 2 record holder in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meters, was 34th in 24:54.1.