25. Illinois Fighting Illini
24. Villanova Wildcats
23. Eastern Michigan Eagles
22. Iowa State Cyclones
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys
20. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
19. Michigan State Spartans
18. Boise State Broncos
17. Washington State Cougars
16. Indiana Hoosiers
15. Washington Huskies
14. Eastern Kentucky Colonials
13. BYU Cougars
12. Wisconsin Badgers
11. Furman Paladins
10. Virginia Cavaliers
9. Colorado State Rams
8. Norther Arizona Lumberjacks
7. Arkansas Razorbacks
6. Colorado Buffaloes
5. Iona Gaels
13. BYU Cougars
Flotrack’s #13: Mississippi Rebels
Flotrack's Ranking of BYU: 14th
Coach: Ed Eyestone
Flotrack's Ranking of BYU: 14th
Coach: Ed Eyestone
Notable Departures: Aaron Fletcher, Nicholas Montanez, Dylan Shawhan
Notable Additions: Will Handley
Projected Scoring Five: Dallin Farnsworth (SO) [ET#31], Connor McMillan (JR), Rory Linkletter (SO), Dallin Taylor (JR), Spencer Hanson (JR)
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How ridiculous is it that Flotrack ranked Ole Miss 13th in the nation? Did they see what happened last year? Do they realize that they're filled with milers? Their track performances were impressive, but 13th in the nation? I'm not buying it.
But this post isn't about Ole Miss, it's about the BYU Cougars. Somehow, someway the Cougars are consistently able to be one of the best teams in the nation. It's one thing for teams like Oregon and Stanford to be consistently good, but BYU will often lose runners for a year when those runners decide to go on mission trips. Those guys leaving in addition to the guys that graduate doesn't make things easy on BYU. And this year? Things are no different, as three scorers from last year's team have left.
It's not unsurprising for BYU to consistently be a top 25 team. But for them to be as good as they were in 2015 wasn't exactly expected. Most people expected senior Aaron Fletcher to be the leader of the Cougars last fall, but the emergence of freshman Dallin Farnsworth created a different narrative. The Erik Anderson Invite started off with Farnsworth getting his first collegiate win and led BYU to an easy win. The real challenge, however, would be at the Washington Invite where teams such as Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, and many more would attend. Yet, it was the Cougars who would stay poised and place three guys in the top 10. Unfortunately, Oregon and Stanford were just too deep and BYU would still finish in a very respectable 3rd place.
But things weren't going to get any easier at Wisconsin. It was a huge field with top-tier talent. Farnsworth wouldn't be able to keep up...right? Wrong. Farnsworth was the pleasant surprise of meet as he placed 16th overall in what was arguably the best race of his season. Fletcher followed behind in 18th. BYU ended up as the 2nd place team and suddenly, they were a threat to medal as a team at nationals.
After an easy run through the West Coast conference, BYU scraped their way past a deep Mountain region. It wasn't their best effort, but they settled for a respectable 3rd place behind Colorado and UTEP. Nationals would be the time to see if BYU could replicate their Wisconsin performance. But when the gun was shot and roughly 30minutes passed, BYU would not be among the medaling teams. The lack of a low-stick hurt them as Farnsworth was their top guy finishing 74th overall. In fact, BYU wasn't even in the top 10. The Cougars finished as the 12th team overall.
So where do we start with this year's team? The biggest focal point of this team will be Dallin Farnsworth who ran like an experienced veteran 2015 despite being a freshman. He showed us that he is the real deal, but also showed us that his youth left him vulnerable at big-time meets like nationals. The fact that he'll be another year older is already a huge positive.
There's no doubt that Farnsworth will be a consistent ace this year, but the pair of guys he has behind him are going to provide even more support. Connor McMillan (a just miss candidate on the ET Top 50) and Rory Linkletter will complete BYU's triple threat. McMillan was 26th at Wisconsin and 10th at regionals while Linkletter has run in only one race during XC last fall (in the 'B' race at Wisconsin). However, his track PR's were incredibly impressive for a freshman. 8:57 steeplechase and 13:52 5k are no joke and should be enough proof that he's developed a solid base for cross country.
The bottom two scoring spots will be a dog fight. Dallin Taylor showed us that he had potential during his on and off appearances on the varsity squad. Senior Mitchell Briggs, is another guy who will bring plenty of experience to a younger team. Rising junior Jonathan Harper also saw time on the varsity squad last fall. Of cource, there are plenty of others that I didn't mention that could definitely have an impact on this year's team.
The only problem is that guys like Taylor, Briggs, and Harper weren't always the most consistent and that's probably the reason why we saw them switch on and off the varsity squad so often. BYU will need to establish someone at the four and five spots to make a bid at being a top-10 team once again. There's no doubt that they'll have talent in all five scoring positions, but when the time is needed to step up, can they do it?
Regardless of the "what if" scenario's, BYU is a powerhouse distance program and they have been for a while. Coach Ed Eyestone can seemingly take whatever guys he has and make them national contenders. He did it last year and he did it before then too. With the guys another year older and experience on their side, watch for BYU to do what they did last year...or even better.
How ridiculous is it that Flotrack ranked Ole Miss 13th in the nation? Did they see what happened last year? Do they realize that they're filled with milers? Their track performances were impressive, but 13th in the nation? I'm not buying it.
But this post isn't about Ole Miss, it's about the BYU Cougars. Somehow, someway the Cougars are consistently able to be one of the best teams in the nation. It's one thing for teams like Oregon and Stanford to be consistently good, but BYU will often lose runners for a year when those runners decide to go on mission trips. Those guys leaving in addition to the guys that graduate doesn't make things easy on BYU. And this year? Things are no different, as three scorers from last year's team have left.
It's not unsurprising for BYU to consistently be a top 25 team. But for them to be as good as they were in 2015 wasn't exactly expected. Most people expected senior Aaron Fletcher to be the leader of the Cougars last fall, but the emergence of freshman Dallin Farnsworth created a different narrative. The Erik Anderson Invite started off with Farnsworth getting his first collegiate win and led BYU to an easy win. The real challenge, however, would be at the Washington Invite where teams such as Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, Washington, and many more would attend. Yet, it was the Cougars who would stay poised and place three guys in the top 10. Unfortunately, Oregon and Stanford were just too deep and BYU would still finish in a very respectable 3rd place.
But things weren't going to get any easier at Wisconsin. It was a huge field with top-tier talent. Farnsworth wouldn't be able to keep up...right? Wrong. Farnsworth was the pleasant surprise of meet as he placed 16th overall in what was arguably the best race of his season. Fletcher followed behind in 18th. BYU ended up as the 2nd place team and suddenly, they were a threat to medal as a team at nationals.
After an easy run through the West Coast conference, BYU scraped their way past a deep Mountain region. It wasn't their best effort, but they settled for a respectable 3rd place behind Colorado and UTEP. Nationals would be the time to see if BYU could replicate their Wisconsin performance. But when the gun was shot and roughly 30minutes passed, BYU would not be among the medaling teams. The lack of a low-stick hurt them as Farnsworth was their top guy finishing 74th overall. In fact, BYU wasn't even in the top 10. The Cougars finished as the 12th team overall.
So where do we start with this year's team? The biggest focal point of this team will be Dallin Farnsworth who ran like an experienced veteran 2015 despite being a freshman. He showed us that he is the real deal, but also showed us that his youth left him vulnerable at big-time meets like nationals. The fact that he'll be another year older is already a huge positive.
There's no doubt that Farnsworth will be a consistent ace this year, but the pair of guys he has behind him are going to provide even more support. Connor McMillan (a just miss candidate on the ET Top 50) and Rory Linkletter will complete BYU's triple threat. McMillan was 26th at Wisconsin and 10th at regionals while Linkletter has run in only one race during XC last fall (in the 'B' race at Wisconsin). However, his track PR's were incredibly impressive for a freshman. 8:57 steeplechase and 13:52 5k are no joke and should be enough proof that he's developed a solid base for cross country.
The bottom two scoring spots will be a dog fight. Dallin Taylor showed us that he had potential during his on and off appearances on the varsity squad. Senior Mitchell Briggs, is another guy who will bring plenty of experience to a younger team. Rising junior Jonathan Harper also saw time on the varsity squad last fall. Of cource, there are plenty of others that I didn't mention that could definitely have an impact on this year's team.
The only problem is that guys like Taylor, Briggs, and Harper weren't always the most consistent and that's probably the reason why we saw them switch on and off the varsity squad so often. BYU will need to establish someone at the four and five spots to make a bid at being a top-10 team once again. There's no doubt that they'll have talent in all five scoring positions, but when the time is needed to step up, can they do it?
Regardless of the "what if" scenario's, BYU is a powerhouse distance program and they have been for a while. Coach Ed Eyestone can seemingly take whatever guys he has and make them national contenders. He did it last year and he did it before then too. With the guys another year older and experience on their side, watch for BYU to do what they did last year...or even better.
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