This past weekend was huge with BYU Football and Women's Volleyball winning convincingly in late season action while BYU Women's Soccer, Men's Soccer and both Cross Country teams had phenomenal postseason performances.
This semester has been a really good year for BYU Sports. The worst team on campus is the BYU Football team, who is currently sitting at 7-4 and on a five game winning streak. That isn't to say that the football team isn't playing well, rather it is a huge compliment to how well all of the other teams are playing.
In total, five teams have seen time ranked in the Top Ten nationally since the start of the school year, and all of those teams continue to show why they deserve to be there.
Postseason Success
Cross Country had a huge weekend at the NCAA National Championships. The men's team won their first ever National Title, taking down favorite Northern Arizona. Head Coach Ed Eyestone became the first ever person to win an individual national championship and also coach a winning team. The Cougars were led by Conner Mantz who finished third overall, however it wasn't the top few runners that won the championship, it was the fourth and fifth runner finishing 42nd and 45th. In the past few seasons, it was the fourth and fifth runners that held the Cougars from being able to take home the championship.
The women's team, had three runners in the top ten with Courtney Wayment 5th, Erica Birk-Jarvis 6th and Whittni Orton 7th. Unfortanelty, the fourth and fifth runners were further back finishing 56th and 60th, just a few spots too far behind to upset number one ranked Arkansas. Their 102 points was the lowest second place finish ever, which shows a bit of bad luck this year for them. The race was still a success for the team, especially considering the team came in ranked third and nobody was expecting to even challenge the Razorbacks.
Women's Soccer also had a great weekend as they took down North Carolina State 3-0 to advance to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. The first half saw NC State actually lead in most statistical categories, but the second half was all too familiar for the Cougars seeing them score three goals. After the first goal, the backline received more support and the Wolfpack had no real chances to score or catch up.
The Cougars will play Stanford this Friday as they hope to secure their first ever Final Four. The Cougars have never advanced to the Final Four, but Stanford will be no easy task. The Cardinal lad the nation scoring goals. BYU is second. Don't be surprised if this game ends up with ten total goals.
Men's Soccer,who is a club team also had a huge weekend winning the National Championship in their division the NIRSA. They took down Ohio State 3-1.
Finishing the Season Strong
Not a ton of people saw it, but we sure heard Greg Wrubell tell us all about BYU Football's 56-24 win over UMass. While the second half wasn't much to watch (or listen to), the first half saw the Cougars score an all time record 42 points in the second quarter. It was a game that was the kind of game that is a confidence booster for players like Zach Wilson and newly emerged star running back Jackson McChesney who went off for more than 200 rushing yards in only his second game ever played.
The Women's Volleyball team also went off taking down Gonzaga in a three set sweep against the Bulldogs. The win gave the 13th ranked Cougars a much needed win as they have already all but lost the WCC title with San Diego having a lead and tiebreaker over the Cougars. Because of that, they will rely on an at-large bit for the NCAA Tournament and a loss would have perhaps put them on the bubble with their weak strength of schedule. Mary Lake continued to add to her already BYU record dig record by recording 18 of them. The Cougars have one more regular season game before awaiting to see where they will land in the NCAA Tournament.