SEATTLE-- Jared Ward led a strong debut of the BYU distance runners and many standout perfomances for the men's track squad Friday and Saturday at the UW Invitational. 

"It was a good meet for us," head coach Ed Eyestone said. "By in large we did great and performed well. We looked forward to the debut of our distance squad and they didn't disappoint."

Ward ran the 3000 meters and recorded the 14th fastest time in the country in his first appearance of the year. Four more Cougars finished in the top-20, with Jonathan Nelson taking 13th, Steve Flint finishing in 15th, Taylor Farnsworth placing 17th and Curtis Carr taking 20th. 

Zach Stetler set a personal best in the shot put, taking fifth place with a mark of 17.15 meters. Mario Harper took second in the 400 meters in 48.47 seconds. Jonathan Harper ran a personal best 4:06.23 in the mile. Full results can be found at GoHuskies.com.

The Cougars return to action Feb. 7 and 8 as they travel to New York to participate in the New Balance Invitational. 

PROVO, Utah—The BYU men’s distance runners will make their season debut as BYU track travels to Seattle to compete at the Washington Invitational Friday and Saturday.

“We are going to open up our distance guys for the first time this season,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Our guys have looked fit in workouts, and Seattle always has great competition. We know the importance of bringing our 'A' game. They have a great venue up there. We’re looking to post fast times and qualify some runners for nationals.”

The Cougars will have a strong group running the 3000 meters, led by All-Americans Jared Ward and Tylor Thatcher. They head a group of runners that together took fourth overall at the 2013 NCAA Cross Country Championships, including Jonathan Nelson, Steve Flint and Jason Witt, winner of the West Coast Conference cross country championship meet.

Braydon Bringhurst and Kyle Brown hope to continue their strong starts to the season in the pole vault, with each posting new personal bests within the last two meets. Zachary Stetler and Craig Merkley lead the Cougars in the shot put and weight throw, respectively.

The meet will begin on Friday at 1 p.m. PST with multi-events and field events. Friday’s running events start at 5 p.m. Saturday’s running schedule kicks-off at 9:15 a.m. PST with the men’s 3000 meters and continues throughout the day, finishing with the 4x400 meter relays at 5 p.m. Field events begin at 10 a.m.

Full meet information can be found at the Washington track and field website, where live results will also be made available.