BYU Outruns WCC Competition On Wet Day In Portland

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

PHOTOS by Ken Martinez

Casey Clinger ran away from the men's field at the West Coast Conference cross country championships Friday in a steady rain at Fernhill Park in Portland. 

But he couldn't outrun the feeling that it was all very familiar. 

Wearing his signature blue BYU ballcap, Clinger ran with a mob of teammates up front in a pack that criss-crossed Fernhill Park in a steady rain that made footing slippery and backsides muddy. 

Then he tore out on his own and covered the 8-kilometer layout in 21:59.4. It was only his second collegiate cross country win and it followed three straight third-place finishes in the WCC meet. 

Clinger won back-to-back Nike Cross Nationals races in high school in 2015 and 2016 less than five miles away at Glendoveer Golf Course. 

"It brings back some memories for sure," he said. "There's nothing like this Portland rainy weather."

An extended summer came to an abrupt halt about a week ago and wet, cool weather set into the region just in time for Clinger's arrival. 

BYU put six runners into the top seven overall and scored 19 points to win another conference title. 

Wil Smith of Gonzaga was the only runner in a different uniform to finish in the top seven and he led the Bulldogs to a mild upset of host Portland, 69-76. Santa Clara was fourth, led by Nicholas Russell's eighth-place finish, with 81 points. 

Clinger did not run with his team Oct. 14 at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational due to soreness in his hip, but the issue was not troubling him Friday. 

In the women's race, Aubrey Frentheway gapped the field about halfway through the 6-kilometer course and 3.5-second win over Portland's Laura Pellicoro, clocking 19:47.2. The Cougars put two more in the top five, with Lexy Halladay-Lowry fourth and McKenna Lee-Hansen fifth. 

San Francisco's Ruby Smee was running second until Pellicoro passed her in the final straightaway and she took third in 19:51.1. 

The Dons took second with 65 points and Portland was third with 77. Gonzaga was fourth with 89 points.