Cougars' men's cross country team gets ready for John McNichols Invitational
By Nate Mangum,
September 18, 2026
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The No. 9 ranked BYU men's cross country team is in Terre Haute, Indiana, Saturday, to face some of the nation's top teams.The Cougars will face off against many of the best programs in the country, including familiar in-state opponents such as Weber State, Utah State and Utah Valley University.This will be the men's team's first meet since September 4th at the Utah Valley Invitational, where the Cougars took first place. They were led by sophomore Tayvon Kitchen and juniors Dalton Mortensen and Noah Jensen, who finished first, second and third, respectively. Hunter Kitchen, Jefferson McMullin, Kyle Steadman and Land Lambert also placed in the top 10.Kitchen comes into the season as one of the best young distance runners in the country. The two-time Gatorade Player of the Year won three individual high school cross country state championships and four team state championships from 2021 to 2024. He also set the high school national record in the DMR (9:44.30), a record that stood for 23 years before he finally broke it. His true freshman season lived up to those standards. Kitchen was BYU's top runner at the Big 12 championship and the NCAA national championship, where he finished 32nd in the 10K. Senior Davin Thompson led the Cougars at the Nuttycombe Invitational, with Kitchen close behind in 21st.The Cougars have fond memories of the last time they made the trip to Terre Haute, the site of Indiana State University and the LaVern Gibson course. The last time the Cougars ran it, they took the 2019 men’s national championship. The historic course has hosted more national championships than any other course.Saturday's meet is a great opportunity for BYU to gauge which runners it can rely on after two All-American runners, Casey Clinger and Creed Thompson, moved on to the pros.The Cougars have just the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Oct. 9 before they head to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the Big 12 championship, where they'll face off against some of the nation's top teams, such as Oklahoma State and Iowa State.
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men's cross country
byu men's cross country
running
olympic sports
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