Pre-Nationals is run on the same course Nationals is run on. This year’s race attracted the top five ranked teams in the country as well as many other ranked teams.

Last year at Nationals the BYU Women had an awful race. They went out way too fast and died down the stretch. You have to believe that race has been at the forefront of their minds for this season.

Winning Pre-Nationals definitely bodes well for #2 ranked BYU’s national championship chances. However, it must be noted that BYU was at full strength and #1 ranked Northern Arizona held out two of their top runners. When teams hold out runners it is difficult to gauge what sort of shape those runners are going to be in when they come back. For example, before this season Carlee Hansen was thought to be a top five runner for BYU. Yesterday was her season debut, and she finished as BYU’s #10 runner. The longer Northern Arizona holds out these runners the less impact they are likely to have.

So, what are BYU’s national championship chances for 2024? I think they have a 20% chance of winning it all, a 50% chance of being a podium team (top 3), and a 90% chance of being top 5.

In this race BYU showed off some of their depth. The #5 runner always plays an important part in how a team finishes, and in this race BYU’s #6 runner came in before anyone else’s #5. Our top 7 runners all had solid races, and this team has shown consistency throughout the season thus far.