Mantz rallies past Young in final 200 meters to take men’s 8-kilometer race, with O’Neill holding off Camp-Bennett and Beling for women’s 6-kilometer victory in Las Vegas; BYU men edge NAU 49-54, women prevail 46-61 over Boise State 

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

NORTH LAS VEGAS – Conner Mantz, a three-time Foot Locker All-American during his prep cross country career at Sky View High in Utah, is quick to respect the ability of a Nike Cross Nationals champion.

After all, the Brigham Young junior trains with two of them on a daily basis in teammates Casey Clinger – a two-time NXN winner at American Fork High in Utah – and 2018 champion Aidan Troutner of Timpview High in Utah.

But Mantz is a two-time NCAA Division 1 cross country All-American, including a third-place finish in 2019, and he reminded reigning NXN champ Nico Young of those impressive credentials with a significant surge in the final 200 meters of the men’s 8-kilometer yellow race Monday at the Silver State Collegiate XC Challenge hosted by UNLV.

Young, making his collegiate cross country debut for Northern Arizona, led Mantz along the final straightaway of the 2-kilometer looped course at Craig Ranch Regional Park, before the BYU standout used the final curve to slingshot past the Newbury Park High graduate and secure victory in 22 minutes, 50.4 seconds.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Mantz led four BYU athletes in the top 10, helping the Cougars prevail by a 49-54 margin over Northern Arizona – competing without All-American Luis Grijalva – with Young clocking 22:52.7 and leading three Lumberjacks among the first seven competitors, including Abdihamid Nur (23:09.3) finishing fifth and Blaise Ferro (23:11.6) earning seventh.

Taryn O’Neill, representing Canada, prevailed in the women’s 6-kilometer yellow race for Northern Arizona in 19:51.2 in her first cross country competition in 437 days, contributing to a third-place overall finish with 64 points.

Boise State, with South African athlete Taylor Beling taking third in her Broncos’ debut in 19:55, was second overall with 61 points.

And BYU, led by senior Anna Camp-Bennett placing second in 19:52.9, had five scorers in the top 17 to emerge victorious with 46 points in their first cross country event since October in Stillwater, Okla., site of the March 15 Division 1 championship meet hosted by Oklahoma State.

BYU was able to pull off the team sweep in the yellow races relying on experience and depth in the men’s competition, along with improving young talent in the women’s event.

Casey Clinger took fourth (23:05.5), Brandon Garnica (23:11.5) secured sixth, Clayson Shumway (23:26.4) was 10th and Elijah Armstrong was 28th in 23:53.5 for the Cougars, who endured a 36-59 setback to Northern Arizona in their first matchup Oct. 17 at the Oklahoma State Invitational.

Although BYU competed without senior All-American Whittni Orton in the women’s yellow race, Camp-Bennett was supported by sophomore Aubrey Frentheway (20:00.2) in fourth, freshman Lexy Halladay (20:22.6) in 10th, sophomore Haley Johnston (20:31.6) in 13th and freshman Anna Martin (20:40.3) in 17th.

Junior Haley Herberg finished fifth in 20:01.6 and sophomore Naomi Smith took sixth in 20:04.7 for Washington, which placed fourth in the women’s yellow race with 88 points.

Senior Talon Hull captured third in the men’s yellow race in 23:01.8 for Washington, which edged reigning Atlantic Coast Conference champion Notre Dame by a 75-80 margin to take third overall.

Yared Nuguse (23:16) and Danny Kilrea (23:21.8) were eighth and ninth for Notre Dame, competing in a cross country race for the first time since Oct. 30.

BYU’s success wasn’t only limited to the marquee yellow races, the Cougars also swept the individual wins in the green races, along with earning a dominant men’s sweep of the top five spots.

Senior Ethan Cannon clocked 24:01.8 in the 8-kilometer green race and led a 16-second spread among BYU’s top five runners.

The final competition of the meet saw BYU freshman Caroline McLeskey rally in the final 50 meters to edge Jenna McCaffrey of Northern Arizona in the women’s green 6-kilometer race by a 21:06.3 to 21:06.6 margin. McCaffrey helped the Lumberjacks place five scorers in the top eight to earn the team victory with 15 points.

Air Force senior All-American Mahala Norris won the women’s 6-kilometer blue race in 20:37.8, with Utah Valley placing four scorers in the top eight and five athletes among the first 13 competitors to hold off Boise State with a 36-42 triumph.

Christina Geisler (20:46.1) and Sailor Hutton (20:56.9) were second and third for the Broncos, with Maddie Empy (20:58.7), Mazzie Melaney (21:02) and Maggie Zwahlen (21:20.4) taking the next three spots for Utah Valley. 

New Mexico sophomores Abdirizak Ibrahim (23:58.9) and Nehemiah Cionelo (24:23) took the top two spots in the men’s 8-kilometer blue race, leading the Lobos to a 31-46 victory over Grand Canyon.