NEW YORK – The BYU men’s distance medley relay team clocked the second-best time in the country this season on day one of the Columbia Challenge at The Armory Track.

The DMR team ran a 9:36.13 to finish in second place behind Oregon (9:31.87). The Cougars’ and the Ducks’ times gave them the current top-two times in the nation.

Senior Marcus Dickson started BYU off with a 2:57.29 in the 1200m leg of the race before handing the baton off to senior Max Scheible, who ran the 400m leg in 47.60. Senior Abraham Alvarado received the baton from Scheible and ran the fastest time out of all the DMR teams in the 800m with a 1:47.64. Junior Rory Linkletter finished off the strong team performance with a 4:03.59 in the 1600m.

BYU's women’s DMR team finished fourth with a time of 11:18.93. Senior Ashleigh Warner started the Cougars off in the 1200m with a time of 3:30.21 before handing the baton off to junior Brenna Porter. Porter ran a 55.15 in the 400m leg of the relay and handed the baton to senior Kristi Rush-Briggs who ran a 2:11.34 in the 800m. Sophomore Whittni Orton anchored the relay with a 4:42.23 in the 1600m leg.

Sophomore Jesus Serrano beat his personal best in the men’s 60m hurdles with a time of 8.10 and a fourth-place finish in the finals. Junior Tomi Adegoke also competed in the finals for the 60m hurdles and ran an 8.29.

Junior Keesha Miller ran a 7.58 in the women’s 60m dash for BYU and senior Nicole Lord ran an 8.87 in the 60m hurdles. Both were just outside qualifying for the finals.

Senior Kevin Nielsen finished sixth in the men’s heptathlon with a score of 4457. Nielsen's 7.09m long jump was the best among heptathletes, and his 4.60m pole vault marked ranked second. 

The Cougars will continue in the Columbia Challenge Saturday, Jan. 27. Follow BYU track and field on twitter @BYUTFXC to stay updated on the action. The schedule and live stats can be found on The Armory's website. RunnerSpace.com and USATF.tv will be streaming a live feed. The meet will be televised on NBCSN on tape delay starting at 5 p.m. EST.

PROVO, Utah – The BYU track and field team travels to New York City to compete in the Dr. Sander Invitational and Columbia Challenge at the Armory Track. Events will begin Friday, Jan. 26, and finish on Saturday, Jan. 27.

“The Columbia Challenge will be a really fun challenge for us,” said head coach Ed Eyestone. “There are a number of very good schools competing. It is always fun to run against new competition at a venue that most of the team has not competed at before.”

The Columbia Challenge will feature 15 of the top track and field teams in the country, including top 25-ranked BYU, Oregon, Ohio State, South Carolina and Wisconsin. The Dr. Sander Invitational will feature races including professionals and a selection of some of the top collegiate athletes.

“Our goal going in is to try to get qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Championships,” Eyestone said. “Fast times can be ran at the Armory, especially against this type of competition.”

Eyestone expects to see both the men’s and women’s teams compete well in the distance medley relay (DMR) on Friday. The women’s team qualified for Nationals last year, while the men’s team barely missed qualifications.

All-Americans Rory Linkletter and Connor McMillan will make their season debuts at the Armory. Linkletter, a junior, and McMillan, a senior, will compete on BYU’s men’s DMR team on Friday then both have been selected to compete in the men’s 3000m on Saturday in the Dr. Sander Invitational.

Senior Marcus Dickson has also been selected to compete in the fast-paced Dr. Sander Invitational in the mile. Eyestone understands that Linkletter, McMillan and Dickson would most likely place higher in the Columbia Challenge, but still expects all three to compete well in the mixed professional and collegiate sections.

BYU's distance runners did not make the trip to the Air Force Team Challenge last week so this will be their first opportunity of the season for them to travel. Eyestone is excited for senior Laura Young Bluth to debut. Bluth was a top distance runner for BYU last season in both the women's 3000m and 5000m events.

Eyestone also expects junior Andrea Stapleton Johnson to perform well this weekend in the high jump. Johnson has improved her marks each of the meets this indoor season and jumped a season-high 1.80m last week at the Air Force Team Challenge.

BYU will have close to 50 athletes competing in New York City at the Armory Track. A group of athletes from both the men's and women's team not traveling to New York will head up I-15 to Odgen, Utah, to compete in the Wildcat Open at Weber State on Friday, Jan. 26, and Saturday, Jan. 27.

Follow BYU track and field on twitter @BYUTFXC to stay updated on the action. The schedule and live stats can be found on the Armory's website. RunnerSpace.com and USATF.tv will be streaming a live feed of the Columbia Challenge. The meet will be televised on NBCSN on tape delay starting at 5 p.m. EST.