Men's Cross Country Wins Autumn Classic

PROVO, Utah — No. 3 BYU men's cross country came in first at the Autumn Classic, winning the meet with 17 points Friday morning at the Clarence F. Robison Track and Field Complex.

Joey Nokes placed first individually for the Cougars, crossing the finish in 19:33.1 with six fellow teamates coming in the top 10.  

"I'm super happy with the performance of our athletes for the first meet of the year," said BYU head coach Ed Eyestone. "Joey Nokes and Creed Thompson did a great job of leading us into battle. I thought they ran a patient race and that was kind of the plan. They looked good when it was time to roll."

Individual Results

Place	Name	Time	Team
1.	Joey Nokes	19:33.1	BYU
2.	Creed Thompson	19:33.2	BYU
3.	Brandon Garnica	19:37.8	Unattached
4.	James Corrigan	19:39.8	BYU
5.	Peter Visser	19:41.0	Weber State
6.	Garrett Stanford	19:42.5	BYU
7.	Lucas Bons	19:44.5	BYU
8.	Jacob Stanford	19:44.6	BYU
9.	Kevin Kirk	19:48.2	Weber State
10.	Grant Gardner	19:52.1	Unattached

Full Results

 

Joey Nokes won the men's 4-mile race crossing the finish with a time of 19.33.1. Nokes leaned in for the win, beating teammate and All-American Creed Thompson by one-tenth of a second. Nokes has six-career top-10 spots to go along with three podium finishes in 12-career BYU meets. This marks back-to-back seasons with individual victories for the junior. Nokes opened the 2022 season coming in first at the UVU XC Invite with a time of 15:24.8 in the men's 5k. 

"It's just a fun race and a rally fun atmosphere," Nokes said speaking on the Autumn Classic. "Having all of the fans here and so many athletes from the team run is exciting. It's not every race where we get 20 guys from the team all running together. It's cool to feel that strength behind you, whether its people in uniform or just running unattached." 

The Autumn Classic marks BYU cross country's first meet as a member of the Big 12 Conference. BYU is one of three Big 12 teams featured in the USTFCCCA's Preseason National Coaches Poll. Only No. 2 Oklahoma State is ranked higher.  

"I think there's going to be some great competion in the Big 12," said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. "There's a great culture here at BYU. Great athletes always graduate and you're hoping the the new young recruits can come in and fill those spots eventually. I'm super excited for the Cougars to start off their season."

BYU will next compete in the Virginia Invitational at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia on Sept. 23. The men's 8k A Race will begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT.