EARYLSVILLE, Va. — No. 3 BYU men’s cross country placed second at the Virginia Invitational Saturday morning with five runners finishing the 8k race in the top-30.
| Athlete | Time | Place |
| Joey Nokes | 23:30.5 | 4th |
| Aidan Troutner | 23:40.3 | 14th |
| Creed Thompson | 23:45.3 | 26th |
| Jacob Stanford | 23:45.3 | 27th |
| Garrett Stanford | 23:46.2 | 30th |
| Lucas Bons | 24:02.5 | 55th |
| James Corrigan | 24:09.2 | 65th |
| Justin Hartshorn | 24:19.5 | 88th |
| Luke Grundvig | 24:52.2 | 154th |
| Grant Gardner | 25:09.4 | 174th |
"It was a really good day," said BYU head cross country coach Ed Eyestone. "I could not be more pleased, really. We felt confident about our top three finishers [Joey Nokes, Aidan Troutner, Creed Thompson], so really the big search today was for our fourth and fifth men. Suddenly after today, we have five really good guys all together and that's amazing for the rest of the season."
The Cougars ended the morning with a combined 101 points, finishing just behind defending national champion and top-ranked Northern Arizona. Despite the absence of All-Americans Casey Clinger and Davin Thompson, BYU had five runners in the top-30 and two in the top-20. The Cougars competed against 12 teams featured in the USTFCCCA Coaches Preseason National Poll, besting fellow Big 12 counterpart Iowa State who placed 13th overall.
Nokes crossed the finish line first for the Cougars with a time of 23:30.05. This marks back-to-back races for Nokes placing first for BYU. Troutner came rushing in just moments later placing 14th with a time of 23:40.3.
Pushing to the finish together, Thompson and Jacob Stanford crossed in 23:45.3. Thompson leaned in for 26th with Stanford finishing in 27th. Garrett Stanford rounded out the Cougars top-five scoring runners finishing with a time of 23:46.2 placing 30th.
"We ran well together as a team and moved up throughout the race," said Troutner post race. "It's been a great start to the season and was a great learning experience for us today to help us be prepared for nationals."
The men aim to see the Panorama Farms course again, with the 2023 NCAA Championships being hosted in Earlysville on Nov. 18.
The Cougars next travel to Madison, Wisconsin for the Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 13 at the storied Thomas Zimmerman Championship Course.