PROVO — Conner Mantz isn't afraid to say it.

While most collegiate athletes at BYU and around Utah speak of a game-by-game mentality, and — for good reason — the day-by-day approach to winning in their collective sphere, Mantz has larger goals on the horizon.

He wants to win a national title.

This week, he'll get that chance — and he's definitely a contender.

Mantz will lead the top-ranked BYU cross country team into the NCAA national meet in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and he'll likely be among the favorites to win an individual championship when the gun goes off at OSU Cross Country Course.

And while the Sky View High product recognizes the need to prepare with the same one-day-at-a-time mentality, he also isn't afraid to set big goals.

He's had them since before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down his sport, and he's already led the Cougars to a national title

"Honestly, I've thought about winning a national title since I went for it in track in 2019, and ended up placing fourth," Mantz said. "I knew the fall would be my time.

"It's there, but you just have to focus on the day-to-day stuff. But I'm not going to head into that race and think that third is good again. I really want that title. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it."

Last fall was Mantz's time — or at least, it was his team's moment. After winning the men's 8,000-meter race during pre-nationals, Mantz led the Cougars to their first national title in program history.

A long-held distance running power, BYU finally broke through for its first-ever team title by edging regional rival Northern Arizona in Terre Haute, Indiana. Mantz's individual finish didn't include a title — he led the Cougars with a third-place finish.

But he knows there's only so many places to go if he wants to move up.

He's got the moves to do it, too.

Mantz's physical style of running is usually only described as "fast," when it isn't described as "painful." Rather than jumping out of the gate and cruising with the pack, he prefers to keep a steady pace — even if that pace puts him in a pack of one well ahead of the crowd.

Take, for example, the 5,000-meter race at the University of Washington this year, on Feb. 12. The junior was hanging with the pack alongside the pacesetter — the rabbit — of 65-second laps. When the pacesetter slowed by two seconds, Mantz didn't like the new pace.

So rather than wait around, he took off running. He bolted away from the pack, leaving everyone but BYU teammates Casey Clinger and Brandon Garnica in his wake.

The trio of native Utah harriers all finished the race in less than 13 minutes, 30 seconds — and Mantz's time of 13:28 was the fastest 5K run in the world this year, and six seconds faster than BYU's indoor school record.

"He's found another gear that he can go to, to get the victory," BYU coach Ed Eyestone said of Mantz. "It's always inspiring to have a guy up front who we know is going to get the job done and I think that gives confidence to the other guys as well."

WCC meet

BYU cross country sweeps WCC team titles for 3rd straight year

The Cougars dominated the conference's 2020 championship meet pushed to Wednesday due to the coronavirus pandemic, led by All-American Conner Mantz, who won his second league title with a winning time of 22 minutes, 54.4 seconds to top the men's race held at Craig Ranch Regional Park in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

That time, Mantz says, was more in line with what he calls the "spirit of the sport." Rather than a 10,000-meter event being raced for the full 10K, the event turns into an 8,000-meter stroll with a 2,000-meter finish. And Mantz hopes to change that.

"Sometimes I feel like there's an attitude in track of wanting to just have these insane sprint finishes," Mantz said. "And it takes away from the spirit of the sport, sometimes. It shouldn't be about your sprint finish; it should be about the whole race.

"The late kick is fun to watch, but it's still a 10,000-meter race."

The pandemic has pushed the national cross country meet back to Monday, postponing it from the fall and creating conflict with the annual NCAA indoor track meet. The Cougars' top distance runners won't be competing in that meet this weekend, because they want to defend their cross country title.

And Mantz? He wants to go for individual gold. He's already claimed a conference championship, leading the Cougars to a sixth-straight West Coast Conference title.

And one again, he only finds so many more ways to go up.

"Internally, we're just a bunch of guys who love to run. We're a bunch of goofballs," Mantz said. "But people see us as more of a title contender in every event. It seems like we've built a culture that is always going to have guys up and coming. It's been cool to see that new freshmen coming in know what is expected of them. It's almost an expectation when you get on this team, that we're going to compete."

Mantz won't be the only native Utahn angling for a title Monday at the NCAA cross country meet (10:30 a.m. MT, ESPNU). In addition to Mantz, Clinger and Garnica (among others) on the men's team, the No. 2-ranked BYU women's team will also be among the title favorites in their race.

Thirty-one teams were selected for the meet, as well as 38 individuals through a system of automatic qualifiers and at-large selections.

Besides the Cougars, Southern Utah and Utah State both qualified men's teams for the national meet — in addition to Utah Valley's Britain Reynolds and Weber State's Taylor Dillon.

BYU is the only women's team from Utah to earn a team spot at nationals, but Southern Utah's Alison Pray, Utah's Poppy Tank, Utah State's Katie Struthers and Weber State's Summer Allen also qualified. Utah Valley's Maddie Empey is the first female harrier to qualify for the national meet in school history, and the entry gives the Wolverines two runners headed to the championships for the first time ever, as well.

"I didn't realize that it was a thing — that I could qualify for nationals at conference. My legs were dying, and it didn't even process in my head," said Empey, who grew up in American Fork and is married to BYU center James Empey. "I remember finishing the race, and he came up with me afterwards, he told me, and I could think a bit more clearly. I just started crying, because I was so excited. The biggest thing was just disbelief, that it all worked out. It was worth it — all the hardship was worth it."

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