Working to repeat: BYU Cross Country began its defense as NCAA champions at the Autumn Classic
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- BYU’s women’s cross country participants in 2025’s Autumn Classic gather prior to the race
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- BYU started out of the gates fast and finished on top of Friday’s Autumn Classic
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- BYU’s Nelah Roberts ran the fastest time during Friday’s Autumn Classic
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- BYU’s women claimed the top six fastest times during Friday’s Autumn Classic
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- BYU’s women’s cross country team poses for photos following Friday’s Autumn Classic
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- BYU’s cross country team begins their race at Friday’s Autumn Classic
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- The Cougars claimed six of the top 10 times recorded at Friday’s Autumn Classic
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- BYU’s Noah Jenkins finished just behind his teammate, Davin Thompson during Friday’s Autumn Classic.
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- BYU’s Davin Thompson took first place at Friday’s Autumn Classic
Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald
BYU's women's cross country participants in 2025's Autumn Classic gather prior to the race
There’s few coaches in the country who understand the arduous and somewhat complicated process of a cross country collegiate season better than BYU Coaches Ed Eyestone and Diljeet Taylor. Both coaches have won multiple BYU cross country championships while at BYU, including last season where both the BYU men and women’s teams took home gold medals.
So yeah, they know what they’re doing and on Friday set the respective men’s and women’s team off to a promising start of the 2025 season at the Autumn Classic held at Orem’s Lakeside Sports Complex.
The Cougar women started things off and clocked the six fastest times with Nelah Roberts taking first place with a time of 15:30.82, which was just fractions of a second ahead of teammates Riley Chamberlain, Taylor Rohatinsky and Lexi Goff-Thompson.
“I like the togetherness and what I’m really excited about is the vibe on the team is really positive,” Taylor said upon completion of the 3 mile race which included runners from Snow College and Westminster, among other local programs. “I like that the girls are getting along and lifting each other up. That’s really going to serve us well in November.”
Yes, it’s all about reaching peak form in November for the NCAA Championship, which will take place in Columbia, Missouri.
Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald
BYU started out of the gates fast and finished on top of Friday's Autumn Classic
It’s part of the reason why Taylor held out super freshman Jane Hedengren, who was named as the Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year for her accomplishments at Timpview last season. But that’s the normal course of action for every incoming runner, as Taylor works to have her team at peak form when it truly matters.
“To have longevity and sustainability in this sport you have to build a really strong foundation and you have to be intentional in doing it,” Taylor explained. “As far as Jane goes, she’s very driven and very fun to work with. My job is to hold her back during her first days at BYU so we can have her at her best at the end of her BYU days.”
As far as repeating as NCAA champions in November, Taylor doesn’t focus on doing as much, at least not in a specific sense.
“The goal is to get women to the line in November who believe in themselves and believe in each other,” Taylor said. “Those same girls need to then execute the race plan as perfectly as possible while embracing all the imperfect things that may happen in the race, and then the outcome usually takes care of itself.”
On the men’s side, BYU’s Davin Thompson finished first in the 7,ooo meter race with a time of 19:49.82. Noah Jenkins secured second for the Cougars with a time of 19:55.17.
Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald
BYU's Nelah Roberts ran the fastest time during Friday's Autumn Classic
Both runners will be looked at to lead a team that graduated more than several of the top runners from a season ago.
“When you graduate five of your top seven from an NCAA championship team you’re rebuilding, but hopefully reloading,” Eyestone said. “I think guys are stepping up and I really like the leadership of Davin Thompson. He was our first guy in and then Noah Jenkins for a nice 1-2 punch.”
Eyestone, like Taylor, pointed to the process of building toward November, and believes he has the team capable of at least competing for tops in the nation.
“I think at the end of the day we’re going to be a strong team,” Eyestone said. “It’s not necessarily the team you have in September. It’s the team you have in November…So I think we have the potential, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
Brandon Gurney, Provo Daily Herald
BYU's women claimed the top six fastest times during Friday's Autumn Classic
BYU's women's cross country team poses for photos following Friday's Autumn Classic
BYU's cross country team begins their race at Friday's Autumn Classic
The Cougars claimed six of the top 10 times recorded at Friday's Autumn Classic
BYU's Noah Jenkins finished just behind his teammate, Davin Thompson during Friday's Autumn Classic.
BYU's Davin Thompson took first place at Friday's Autumn Classic
