BYU men take top six spots in season opener, and despite resting four athletes, women rely on depth to hold off Weber State; Mantz, Thompson are individual winners

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Conner Mantz took his first racing steps on the journey to not only earning more All-America honors, but potentially contending for an NCAA Division 1 cross country title in November.

Weber State senior Lexie Thompson continues to make big strides in her pursuit of returning to the NCAA championship meet for the first time since 2015.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Mantz, a sophomore who was 10th last year at the Division 1 final, led a Brigham Young sweep of the top six places Saturday in the men’s 7-kilometer race in his season debut, clocking 21 minutes, 12.3 seconds at the BYU Autumn Classic at East Bay Golf Course in Provo, Utah.

Thompson covered the women’s 3.2-mile layout in 17:48.4 to take the top two spots with teammate Abby Lawrence (17:53), with BYU resting four top athletes, including All-Americans Erica Birk-Jarvis and Courtney Wayment.

Aubrey Frentheway (18:00.6) and McKenna Lee (18:02.7) finished third and fourth for BYU and Ember Stratton (18:16.1) led a pack of eight Cougars finishing sixth through 13th to prevail by a 28-32 margin over Weber State, which also had Summer Allen (18:08.3) secure fifth.

Dixie State (82) and Westminster College (115) also competed in BYU’s annual home meet.

BYU produced a 15-47 victory over Weber State in the men’s race, with Dixie State (90) and Westminster College (110) placing third and fourth.

Zac Jacklin (21:26.8), Jacob Heslington (21:34.2), Garrett Marsing (21:38), Michael Ottesen (21:38.4) and Matt Owens (21:43.4) rounded out the top six for BYU, which had seven athletes in the top 10.

Taylor Dillon (21:45) led Weber State with a seventh-place finish.