TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Whittni Orton led the way for BYU women's cross country as it took first place in the FSU XC Open at Apalachee Regional Park on Friday morning.

"The ladies ran well today," said women's cross country head coach Diljeet Taylor. "The goal was to preview the NCAA course and work together as a team. It's always good to walk away with a win. We know there are areas we need to work on, but this was a good test of early season fitness."

Full Results

BYU finished first with a score of 24 points, 27 points ahead of the host and second-place-team, Florida State. The Cougars had three of the top four finishes in Orton, Lexy Halladay and Aubrey Frentheway, and six in the top-10. 

Orton finished first overall with a time of 20:16.8 after leading or racing in the front pack for the entirety of the race. Following her were Halladay (20:30.9), Frentheway (20:36.8), Ana Weaver (20:54.5) and McKenna Lee (21:11.4) in third, fourth, sixth and 10th place, respectively. Kate Hunter (21:16.2) and Anna Camp-Bennett (21:21.3) rounded out BYU's top finish.

Halladay, Weaver, Alder, Sumsion, Moffitt, Arrington and Hanson each set career best 6K times at the meet.

What's Ahead

• Steve T. Reeder Memorial
  • Friday, October 8 (Time TBA)
  • Steve & Dona Reeder Cross Country Course (Logan, UT)

PROVO, Utah — Coming off a perfect score of 15 in the Autumn Classic last weekend, BYU women's cross country heads to Tallahassee, Florida, this week to race in the FSU XC Open on Friday morning.

Among the 30 teams participating in the meet are the tied-for-first BYU women, No. 3 Stanford and No. 19 Florida State. 

• FSU XC Open Meet Information
  • Friday, Sept. 17
  • Apalachee Regional Park - Tallahassee, Florida
  • Women's Garnet 6K: 6:10 a.m. EDT
  • Meet Details
  • Live Results

Carmen Alder, Eliza Arrington, Anna Camp-Bennett, Destiny Everett, Aubrey Frentheway, Lexy Halladay, Heather Hanson, Kate Hunter, Haley Johnston, McKenna Lee Hansen, Anna Martin, Madison Moffitt, Sara Musselman, Whittni Orton, Sadie Sargent, Julie Sumsion and Ana Weaver are slated to race on Friday. 

Camp-Bennett, Lee Hansen and Orton, members of the 2021 National Championship squad, as well as Sargent and Weaver are set to make their 2021 season debuts at the FSU XC Open.

The Cougars had 15 athletes race in Saturday's Autumn Classic. Including the three athletes that ran unattached, BYU runners took 15 of top 16 spots. Frentheway, Hunter, Martin, Johnston, Alder, Moffitt, Sumsion, Hanson, Reagan Gardner and Lizzie Dildine each set career best 5K times at the meet.