BYU grad Conner Mantz breaks American record in half marathon, continuing strong performances by alumni in distance running

BYU graduates, including distance runners, continue to grab national, and international, attention.

One of the latest examples? Former Cougar track star Conner Mantz smashed the American record in the half marathon on Jan. 19.

The race took place in Houston and ended with an intense showdown between Mantz and Ethiopia's Addisu Gobena, both of whom posted a time of 59:17. Mantz was named the runner-up to Gobena.

Two things stand out from their mark.

First, running 13.1 miles in less than an hour means Mantz and Gobena both held a pace of a 4:30 mile for the entire race.

Second, Mantz's 59:17 smashes the previous American record in the half marathon set by Ryan Hall in 2007, by 26 seconds.

"This is a record that I really wanted," Mantz told ABC 13 Houston. "I want to lower it down the road, but I'm grateful to be here and to hit a time that I've been wanting to hit for a long time."

Mantz left BYU as the winner of the 10k at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in 2021. His hunger for excellence has not diminished since his graduation with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Mantz continues to have close connections with BYU. Men's cross country head coach Ed Eyestone continues to coach him, and he was spotted at the Boston Marathon last year with fellow BYU alumni and former teammate Clayton Young.

Young also participated in the Houston half marathon, finishing in 10th place with 1:00:52.

Last summer in Paris, Mantz and Young finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the Olympics. Mantz finished with a time of 2:08:12 and Young finished at 2:08:44 — the two fastest times ever by Americans at the Olympic Games.

Mantz's performance in Houston echoes what other BYU alumni have accomplished in recent years. Gobena set the pace for the course of the race, with Mantz keeping close behind him. In the last 100 meters, Mantz decided to close the distance and bring the heat to the finish line.

"When I started to take off, it wasn’t like I was making a hard move," said Mantz. "I realized I had a lot more left in the tank, but I was so worried about the eleventh mile, that tenth mile into the wind that I would fade that I wasn’t as focused on trying to beat my competitors as I was focused on: ‘How can I make sure that I conserve enough energy so that I don’t fade in the last few miles?'"

Kenneth Rooks gained massive attention in the 2024 Paris Olympics for making a move in the 3000m steeplechase with a late surge of his own, bursting from the middle of the pack to finish with the silver medal. He ran for BYU until 2023, winning the NCAA National Championship in the steeplechase.

BYU's cross country teams both brought home two national championships in 2024. In many ways the pace BYU is running at now can be attributed to the pace set by the cougars that have come through the program already — a pace that is bringing them accolades on national and international stages.

“It was a special day today," Mantz said. "I was grateful for the pacers and my competitors. My coach, Ed Eyestone, has really been preparing me well. I’m grateful to be out here, compete, and try to go for the win."