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NAU Men Keep Rolling, North Carolina State Women Finally Triumph and BYU Stars Sweep at NCAA D1 Championships

Published by
DyeStat.com   Nov 20th 2021, 11:51pm
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Northern Arizona wins fifth men’s title in six years, with North Carolina State women also producing five All-Americans to capture first Division 1 crown following AIAW championships in 1979-80; Conner Mantz and Whittni Orton-Morgan help BYU become first school to sweep individually since Indiana in 1988

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The North Carolina State women’s cross country team sprinted ahead of the competition in the first mile and dared 30 other programs to keep up with their impressive pace in the 6-kilometer final.

The Northern Arizona men’s squad withstood an early surge from Notre Dame, before seizing momentum midway through the 10-kilometer championship and never relinquishing control.

And a pair of Brigham Young graduate student-athletes both relied on decisive moves late in their races to achieve history Saturday at the NCAA Division 1 Cross Country Championships at Apalachee Regional Park.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Whittni Orton-Morgan pulled away from reigning women’s champion Mercy Chelangat of Alabama over the final kilometer and held on to secure the individual crown in 19 minutes, 25.4 seconds.

Chelangat clocked 19:29.3 and West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe, who finished 42nd at the March 15 final in Stillwater, Okla., elevated to third in 19:29.5. Iowa State’s Cailie Logue, who placed 126th at the March championship race, was fourth in 19:29.8, with Stillwater runner-up Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State finishing fifth in 19:33.5.

Conner Mantz sprinted past Athanas Kioko of Campbell in the final 300 meters and completed an unbeaten season by repeating as men’s winner in 28:33.1, becoming the first back-to-back champion since Oregon’s Edward Cheserek won three in a row from 2013-15.

Mantz also became the first American-born male athlete to repeat as Division 1 champion since Oregon’s Steve Prefontaine in 1970-71.

Mantz and Orton-Morgan became the first teammates to capture individual titles in the same year since Bob Kennedy and Michelle Dekkers swept the championships for Indiana in 1988.

Iowa State’s Wesley Kiptoo (28:38.7) also moved past Kioko (28:40.9) during the final straightaway, with former Bolles School high school standout Charles Hicks placing fourth for Stanford in 28:47.2 and Michigan State’s Morgan Beadlescomb finishing fifth in 28;50.6.

Adriaan Wildschutt of host Florida State, runner-up to Mantz at the March 15 final, secured sixth in 28:52.

Following Roe in the women’s race and Wildschutt in the men’s competition, the dominance of the North Carolina State women and Northern Arizona men was on display.

Northern Arizona captured its fifth team title in six years with a 92-137 victory over Iowa State, highlighted by five All-Americans. Oklahoma State took third with 186 points and Arkansas was fourth with 195 points, the same order both teams placed at the March 15 national final.

Abdihamid Nur was seventh in 28:52.9, Nico Young took 11th in 28:57.5, Drew Bosley finished 13th in 29:13.8, Nebraska transfer George Kusche earned 37th in 29:29.5 and Brodey Hasty placed 39th in 29:30.3 for the Lumberjacks, as the Mike Smith-coached group joined Arkansas and UTEP as the only men’s programs in Division 1 history to win five championships in a six-year span.

Thomas Pollard was the only other All-American to provide support for Kiptoo for Iowa State, finishing 21st in 29:20.4.

Oklahoma State achieved back-to-back podium performances for the first time since a five-year run from 2009-13, led by Isai Rodriguez (29:20.6) grabbing 22nd, with Arkansas producing three All-Americans, as Amon Kemboi (29:13.1) was 12th, Gilbert Boit (29:16.4) took 15th and Emmanuel Cheboson (29:17.4) placed 17th for the Razorbacks, who made consecutive podium appearances for the first time since 2004-05.

North Carolina State also had five All-Americans to prevail by an 84-122 margin over reigning champion BYU, with Kelsey Chmiel finishing sixth in 19:34.1, Katelyn Tuohy placing 15th in 19:43.1, Columbia transfer Allie Hays took 22nd in 19:48.2, Hannah Steelman was 24th in 19:49.6 and Samantha Bush securing 32nd in 19:52.9.

The Wolfpack, who had finished runner-up three times under coach Laurie Henes including March in Stillwater, finally captured the program’s first Division 1 women’s crown after winning AIAW national titles in 1979-80.

New Mexico took third with 130 points, extending its streak of 12 consecutive national top-10 finishes, including six podium performances during the stretch. Colorado was fourth with 187 points, its first podium appearance since winning the title in 2018.

Abby Nichols earned eighth for Colorado in 19:37.6, with New Mexico being led by Emma Heckel finishing 18th in 19:45. Anna Camp-Bennett supported Orton-Morgan by placing 12th for BYU in 19:39.3.

Notre Dame (215), Stanford (233), Minnesota (313), Arkansas (328), Iowa State (332) and Ole Miss (350) rounded out the top 10 women’s programs.

Minnesota was the only program among the group with three All-Americans, as Bethany Hasz secured seventh in 19:36.4, Megan Hasz (19:48.9) was 23rd and Abby Kohut-Jackson (19:56.8) took 39th.

In the men’s final, Stanford edged Tulsa by a 236-237 margin for fifth, followed by BYU (246), Colorado (249), Notre Dame (290) and Wake Forest (356) completing the top 10.

Hicks and 14th-place Ky Robinson (29:15.7) were All-Americans for Stanford, with Casey Clinger supporting Mantz by earning eighth for BYU in 28:55.7. Notre Dame, the runner-up March 15 in Stillwater, had Dylan Jacobs (28;57.5) place 10th and Danny Kilrea (29:28) secure 31st overall.



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