Here are my projected top five finishers for the 2021 NCAA Championships in March:
1. Conner Mantz (Jr) - finished 3rd overall in 2019; has a legit shot at winning multiple titles before he graduates
2. Casey Clinger (So) - finished 24th overall as a true freshman; he has been back from his mission for about a year, and his fitness level seems to be very high; most highly-touted recruit in program history; was the #1 overall finisher at the Weber State Cross-Country Invitational in November (Conner Mantz did not run)
3. Brandon Garnica (Jr) - finished 42nd overall in 2019 (#4 BYU runner); was the #2 BYU finisher at the Weber State Cross-Country Invitational in November
4. Clayson Shumway (Sr) - after finishing 32nd in 2018 (#4 BYU runner) he sat out the 2019 season with injury
Who will be the fifth runner? My top pick is:
5. Aidan Troutner (FR) - highly-touted recruit who was the NXN National Champion in high school and is coming off a mission; was the #4 BYU finisher at the Weber State Cross-Country Invitational in November; at the BYU indoor track meet on January 14th he finished 2nd in the 3,000 meters behind Conner Mantz but ahead of Garnica and Shumway
Other possibilities for the fifth runner include:
Matt Owens (Sr), Zack Ericksen (So), Ethan Cannon (Sr), Elijah Armstrong (Sr)