SAN DIEGO – Sydnie Martindale threw the eighth-best javelin mark in BYU track and field history as the Cougars finished competition at the Aztec Invitational on Saturday.

"There was some great competition against schools like Oregon, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin," BYU associate head coach Mark Robison said. "It was great because we matched up well with them. However, the biggest outcome from it all is that most of our athletes improved from where they were at last week."

In her second collegiate meet, Martindale tossed the javelin 48.48m/159-0 to earn the No. 8 mark in school history while also taking second place in the event. The former BYU women’s volleyball defensive specialist joined the BYU track and field team for her senior season and improved her position to potentially qualify for the 2019 NCAA West Prelims.

Throwers Elyse Cuthbertson and Sydnee Muhlestein finished 5-6 in the women’s javelin invite with marks of 42.53m/139-6 and 42.50m/139-5, respectively. In the men’s javelin invite, Matt Kitchen threw for 62.32m/204-5 for fifth place.

After taking eighth at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, All-American Andrea Stapleton-Johnson made her outdoor debut on Friday in the women's high jump open. The senior took first place in the open and earned a potential regional-qualifying mark of 1.81m/5-11.25. Stapleton-Johnson followed up her Friday performance with a first place in the women's high jump invite on Saturday with a clearance of 1.77/5-9.75. 

Rickey Fantroy Jr. took first place in his season debut in the men’s triple jump invite with a distance of 14.96m/49-1. The junior is coming off a career indoor season in the triple jump where he broke his career best with a mark of 15.30/50-2.5 at the 2019 MPSF Championships.

Both Ben Barton and Dylan Kay jumped 1.96m/6-5 in the men’s high jump. Due to the number of attempts, Barton tied for fourth overall and Kay placed seventh. Barton also finished in the top five in the 110m hurdles after clocking 15.01 to take third place.

Haley Rogers (24.90) and Jaslyn Gardner (24.93) finished 6-7 for BYU in the women’s 200m invite. Ramarco Thompson ran 21.57 to take sixth in the men’s 200m invite.

In the shot put, Jefferson Jarvis took third place with a toss of 17.64m/57-10.5 and Austin Carter placed fourth with a personal-best throw of 17.15m/56-3.25. Jarvis earned a career-best 53.78m/176-5 in the men's discus invite on his way to a third-place finish that puts him in position to potentially qualify for regionals. Sable Lohmeier finished seventh in the women’s discus with a career-best mark of 48.28m/158-4.

Jameson Shirley took third place in the men’s pole vault invite after clearing 4.97m/16-3.5 while Elise Romney finished seventh in the women’s pole vault invite with a height of 4.02m/13-2.25. Romney cleared the same height on Friday in the women's pole vault open to put herself in position to potentially qualify for the NCAA West Prelims.

The Cougars will participate in four different meets next week. The team will compete at the Texas Relays (March 27-30), Stanford Invitational (March 29-30), San Francisco State Distance Carnival (March 29-30) and UVU Invite (March 30). Details can be found on the BYU track and field schedule page leading up to each meet.

Notables:

• Day One Recap
• Aztec Invite Results

PROVO, Utah – The BYU track and field teams will travel to San Diego to compete in the Aztec Invitational this week at the SDSU Sports Deck. Events will begin Friday, Mar. 22 and continue through Saturday, Mar. 23.

“The first outdoor meet last week was great and that momentum spins off to this weekend,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “We have some athletes competing that didn’t compete last week. It will be a select, smaller group in San Diego–mainly our short sprints, jumps, pole vaulters, some of our high jumpers and throwers.”

All-American Andrea Stapleton-Johnson will open her outdoor season this weekend after finishing eighth overall in the high jump with a mark of 1.81m/5-11.25 and earning first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Eyestone anticipates a strong start to the outdoor season for Stapleton-Johnson as she continues to reach her record goals.

“It’s a great venue for pole vaulting so we are excited to see how our pole vaulters do–in particular, Elise Romney,” said Eyestone. “She has been performing extremely well lately and good things are coming her way this season.”

Last week, Romney cleared a mark of 4.10m/13-5.25 to finish first in the pole vault and tie for the No. 9 BYU all-time mark. Alex Rios and Jameson Shirley will also be competing in the pole vault. Rios recently set a career-best 5.20m/17-0.75 in the pole vault during the 2019 indoor season at the BYU Indoor Invitational. Shirley took second in the pole vault at last weekend’s UNLV Invite with a mark of 4.95m/16-2.75.

Eyestone is looking forward to Rickey Fantroy Jr.’s first outdoor meet of the season competing in the triple jump. In the 2018 outdoor season, Fantroy took fourth in the triple jump (14.49m/47-6.5) at the Aztec Invitational last year. Fantroy recently finished fourth at the 2019 MPSF Indoor Championships with a career-best 15.30m/50-2.5 in the triple jump. Jake Peister is also set to compete in the triple jump after placing second (14.84m/48-8.25) in his first meet in BYU uniform at the 2019 Willie Williams Classic.

Eyestone expects to see strong races from sprinters Jaslyn Gardner, Haley Rogers and Derek Sorensen. Freshman Gardner placed second and set a career-best 11.82 in the 100m in her collegiate outdoor season debut in the Willie Williams Classic last weekend. Rogers is set to compete in the 200m. In the 2018 indoor season, Rogers clocked a career-best time of 24.08 to finish eighth in the 200m at the Aztec Invitational. Sorensen will race in the 100m and 200m. Last weekend, Sorenson won the men’s 100m with a time of 10.53 in the Willie Williams Classic.  

Eyestone noted that several throwers will be competing as well, including Jefferson Jarvis in the shot put. In the first meet of the 2019 outdoor season, Jarvis threw a potential regional-qualifying mark and placed second in the shot put (17.72m/58-1.75). Jarvis is looking to break 18m/59-0.6 at the Aztec Invitational. 

Follow @BYUTFXC on Twitter for team updates from the Aztec Invitational. Live stats will be available on the BYU track and field schedule page by the first day of competition.