BYU, NAU have inside track to NCAA title 

By Adam Schneider of Dyestat 

In past years, the results of the regional championship have not repeated at the NCAA Division 1 championships. NCAA favorite BYU and second-ranked Northern Arizona battled for the Mountain region title and Northern Arizona raced its top runners and won 49-79 over the Cougars, with Colorado taking third with 80 points. 

BYU sat freshman Casey Clinger, junior Daniel Carney and senior Jonathan Harper. With the exception of junior Rory Linkletter (2nd in 30:14.6) and senior Connor McMillan (4th in 30:17.3), the rest of the team only focused on qualifying for the NCAA meet. BYU’s 1-5 spread was 48 seconds. When the Cougars dominated Oct. 14 at Pre-Nationals, the gap was 16 seconds when they placed their top five in the first 15 (Clinger and Carney were part of that group). BYU took the first five spots at the West Coast Conference championships against fourth-ranked Portland and seven of the first 10. BYU could put five before the Lumberjacks’ third runner at the NCAA meet. 

Defending NCAA champion Northern Arizona has had a great season but did not show it had five runners until the Mountain Region championships. Tyler Day (30:16.5) was third and Matthew Baxter was fifth (30:18.3) to lead a 29-second spread among the top five runners. When the Lumberjacks dominated Oct. 13 at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational, their gap was 23 seconds. They placed their first three ahead of Portland’s top three. If Northern Arizona can keep its top five in a tight gap like the Mountain Region and can break up BYU’s top five, the Lumberjacks have a strong chance to repeat. 

For the other trophy spots, it will come down to performances on that day. Third-ranked Stanford has some of its top runners returning from injury (seniors Sam Wharton and Jack Keelan) and won the Pac-12 title. The Cardinal have been improving from week to week, resting sophomore Alex Ostberg at the West Region meet. Junior Grant Fisher could challenge for the NCAA individual title. Portland won the West Region and was second to Northern Arizona in Wisconsin. The Pilots have an elite trio, led by Emmanuel Roudolff-Levisse, and need solid performances from their Nos. 4 and 5 runners to earn a trophy. 

Fifth-ranked Syracuse has NCAA winning experience (2015) and has won Atlantic Coast Conference and Northeast Region titles this year. Senior All-Americans Justyn Knight and Colin Bennie lead the Orangemen. Knight is undefeated this year and only lost last year at the NCAA championships to Villanova’s Patrick Tiernan. Syracuse was third at Wisconsin with a 62-second gap. At the ACC finals, Syracuse’s spread was 29 seconds and then 32 seconds at the Northeast Region meet. Sixth-ranked Colorado was second at the Pac-12 Championships and third at Mountain Region and is led by sophomore Joe Klecker, the Mountain Region champion. Southeastern Conference and South Central Region champions Arkansas has not run as well as it did last year in placing fifth at the NCAA Championships but the seventh-ranked Razorbacks have the talent and coaching to get a trophy. 

The individual title could be determined by the type of race that is run. Knight, Fisher, Klecker, Linkletter, Baxter, Days, and McMillan will competing for top 10 individual positions, with Alabama’s Vincent Kiprop, Gilbert Kigen and Alfred Chelanga, Oklahoma State’s Hassan Abdi, Middle Tennessee State’s Jacob Choge, Liberty’s Azaria Kirwa, Houston’s Brian Barraza, Georgetown’s Jonathan Green, Colorado State’s Jerrell Mock and Utah State’s Dillon Maggard. 

The trio from Alabama and Choge will likely battle with others in a fast or slow race, with Knight and Fisher. Fisher will probably have the advantage with a big kick in a slow race and Knight can kick off a fast pace. 

Top 20 (last week’s ranking) - NCAA D1 Regional Meet Performance on November 10th 

1. BYU (1) - 2nd Mountain Championships 

2. Northern Arizona (2) - 1st Mountain Championships 

3. Stanford (6) - 3rd West Championships 

4. Portland (4) - 1st West Championships 

5. Syracuse (3) - 1st Northeast Championships 

6. Colorado (5) - 3rd Mountain Championships 

7. Arkansas (7) - 1st South Central Championships 

8. Furman (8) - 1st Southeast Championships 

9. Iowa State (14) - 1st Midwest Championships 

10. Iona (9) - 2nd Northeast Championships 

11. Colorado State (12) - 4th Mountain Championships 

12. Oklahoma State (17) - 2nd Midwest Championships 

13. Washington (NR) - 2nd West Championships 

14. Oregon (10) - 3rd West Championships 

15. Southern Utah (13) - 6th Mountain Championships 

16. Air Force (NR) - 5th Mountain Championships 

17. Michigan (19) - 2nd Great Lakes Championships 

18. Michigan State (NR) 1st Great Lakes Championships 

19. UCLA (18) - 5th West Championships 

20. Alabama (15) - 3rd South Championships 

Other Team Entries - Virginia Tech, Middle Tennessee State, Washington State, Mississippi, Boise State, Utah State, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina State, Navy, Princeton