Casey Clinger (BYU)
Casey Clinger has been a huge addition to the BYU men's squad. The way that he's been running has been uncharacteristic of most college freshmen. Many freshmen redshirt their first year and take some time to develop as scorers at the team level. This was not the case at all for Clinger, who's used to being at the top. In high school, he did what was previously unprecedented: winning back-to-back NXN titles in 2015 and 2016.
Clinger has arguably been one of the most impactful freshmen in the NCAA this year. He kicked off his season with a bang finishing fourth at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, running 23:46.90 for 8K. Then he continued his success, placing as one of the best freshmen at one of the biggest meets in the country the NCAA Division I (DI) Pre-Nationals. He was the third man for BYU and his place helped BYU beat both University of Colorado and the University of Oregon.
Then he helped BYU to the 1-5 sweep at the at the West Coast Conference Championship, where he placed third and to help the Cougars have a six-second 1-5 split for the team title. Most recently, BYU ran at the 2017 DI NCAA Mountain Regional where they finished third behind Colorado and New Mexico without Clinger. With Clinger well-rested and ready to take on his first college XC 10K, the sky is the limit for the FloXC No. 2 ranked BYU men.