LOS ANGELES – Makenna Smith and James Tracy led the way for BYU track and field as the team competed in the Southern California Trojan Invitational this weekend.

"All in all it was a great first outdoor meet for us," BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. "We had eight or nine marks that should hold up as regional-qualifying marks, and we learned a lot about what we have to work with this outdoor season."

Smith finished second in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:26.07, three seconds faster than her time in the same meet last season. Coming in after Smith were teammates Madelyn Brooks (4:30.84), Alyssa Steed (4:36.30) and Erika Nash (4:38.17), who finished third, fourth and fifth in the event.

In the discus, Dailyn Johnson took fourth with a throw of 48.09 meters, which is now the eighth-best outdoor discus mark in school history

Jennica Redd won the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:31.12.

Alyssa Monteverde-Dalton ran a 13.73 in the 100-meter hurdles to take second place.

On the men's side, James Tracy placed first in a field of all BYU runners in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:53.16, a new personal record for the senior.

Freshman Cam Dopp won his first outdoor race of his young career with a time of 51.90 in the 400-meter hurdles.

Zachary Stetler finished third in the shot put (17.80 meters) and fifth in the discus (51.12 meters).

BYU also sent some of its decathletes, heptathletes and jumpers to the UNLV Spring Invitational over the weekend, and more information about that meet will be posted as soon as it's available.

The Cougars head to Austin next week to participate in the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.

PROVO, Utah – Over 60 BYU track and field athletes will kick off their outdoor seasons this weekend with the USC Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles, California, on Friday and Saturday.

“The USC meet is traditionally one of our first big outdoor events,” BYU track head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Coming off of indoor nationals last week, this will be a great opportunity for a lot of athletes who have been competing indoors to have their first meet in Southern California, where the weather will be nice. We’re looking forward to having a group go down there and have some solid efforts and some regional qualifiers.”

Other schools competing against BYU will be host USC, Oregon, Washington State, Hawai’i and Long Beach State.

A small group of heptathletes, decathletes and jumpers will compete at a separate meet in Las Vegas, Nevada, hosted by UNLV. 

The Trojan Invitational begins Friday at 1 p.m. PDT, with the hammer and discus throwing competitions. Most of the meet including the running events will take place Saturday starting at 10 a.m. PDT. Live updates can be found on the BYU women’s track schedule page.

Athletes to watch

James Tracy

Tracy comes in to the season as the top steeplechaser and will have a good shot at winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase competition Friday evening.

Max Scheible

Only a freshman, Scheible had a successful indoor season and leads a strong group of hurdlers to Southern California.

Makenna Smith

Smith is a returning regional qualifier from last season in the 10,000 meters, and will begin her outdoor season running the 1,500 meters.

Madelyn Brooks

Promising freshman Brooks had a strong indoor season to begin her college running career and will join Smith in the 1,500 meters.