By AARON SHILL
The BYU men’s cross country team held serve on their home course, overcoming a strong team effort by Montana to win the BYU Autumn Classic on Saturday.
The Cougars edged the Grizzlies 69-73 behind junior Matt Poulsen’s third- place finish with a time of 24:55.
Utah senior Jeff Simonich led the entire race, posting a 24:29 time for first-place overall.
Poulsen, who had missed four days of practice due to illness, lagged behind for the first two miles before kicking ahead for a strong finish.
Related Story
Women’s cross country takes care of business
“My legs felt good and I just decided to go,” he said. “I barely missed second place. I almost got that guy, but I just ran out of time.”
Junior Randon Richards was the second Cougar to cross the finish line with a time of 25:22. Richards was followed by freshman Matt Adams, who posted the third-best finish on the team at 25:24.
Adams, a native of Heber, Wasatch County, was running in his first home collegiate meet. He said the support of the crowd provided his legs with a little extra energy.
“It’s so nice having everyone cheering for you,” he said. “It just pumps you up and helps you run faster.”
The win was a confidence builder for the Cougars, who are ranked 17th in the nation. By outpacing 16th-ranked Montana, BYU beat a nationally-ranked opponent who it will face again in the region championships.
“We ran fairly well as a team,” Poulsen said. “I’m impressed, but we do have more in us.”
The Cougars agreed that despite the win and some strong individual performances, the team needs to improve its collective effort in the coming weeks.
“Our team packing wasn’t quite like I’d like it to be,” head coach Sherald James said.
Poulsen also said the team was a little too spread out in Saturday’s race. Poulsen said running as a pack helps the athletes pull each other along.
“That’s really important in cross country, because when you are up in a front pack with your teammates, you’ve trained with them in practice and it’s just a different feeling,” he said.
James said running together leads directly to lower scores in the team column. Montana provided an example of effective pack running as the Grizzlies barely fell short of the Cougars.
Although the Grizzlies did not place a runner in the top five, Montana occupied four of the top fifteen spots, more than any other school competing in the race.
