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Braden Taylor | Posted: 30 Mar 2019 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Braden Taylor

Cougars earn 29 regional-qualifying marks

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STANFORD, Calif. –  Erica Birk-Jarvis broke her fourth school record while BYU track and field athletes totaled 29 regional-qualifying marks as the Cougars completed their four-meet weekend on Saturday.

“This was an outstanding weekend, probably one of our best outdoor weekends that we’ve ever had,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “It was a weekend full of so many highlights with good things happening left and right. I’m very happy with the outcome.”

The BYU track and field team split up to compete at the Stanford Invitational, UVU Invite, Texas Relays and Mike Fanelli Track Classic over the weekend. Regional-qualifying marks determined in this recap use the last regional qualifiers in each event over the last five years as a gauge. Qualifiers for the NCAA West Prelims are not final until the end of the regular season.

At the Stanford Invitational, Birk-Jarvis broke her fourth school record in the last three months after finishing the women’s 5000m invite with a time of 15:38.12. The All-American’s potential regional-qualifying time beat the previous record set by Whitney McDonald in 2007 by over six seconds. Birk-Jarvis adds the outdoor 5000m record to her résumé of school records that includes the indoor mile, indoor 3000m and indoor distance medley relay.

Late Friday night, All-Americans Conner Mantz and Clayton Young put themselves in position to potentially qualify for the NCAA West Prelims in the men’s 10,000m. Mantz ran the fifth-best time in school history with a 28:18.18 to win the race while Young finished in 28:18.50 for the sixth-best time at BYU.

Five other Cougars earned times in the men’s 10,000m that put them in contention to qualify for regionals. Danny Carney made his 2019 track and field debut after battling back from an injury to finish his first career 10,000m in 28:49.87. Dallin Farnsworth (28:56.02), Michael Ottesen (28:58.50), Connor Weaver (29:02.66) and Brayden McLelland (29:19.39) all ran personal-best times in the 10,000m and increased their chances to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims.

The men’s and women’s 3000m steeplechase had a combined eight runners earn times that should qualify them for the NCAA West Prelims. On the men’s side, All-American Matt Owens moved up BYU’s top 10 board to No. 5 all-time with a time of 8:36.00. All-American Clayson Shumway (8:38.62), Kenneth Rooks (8:46.67), Jacob Heslington (8:43.84) and Garrett Marsing (8:54.73) also ran times probable of qualifying. Emma Gee led the way for the Cougars in the women’s steeplechase with a career-best time of 10:11.04. Maddie Cannon ran a 10:12.37 while Sara Musselman earned a personal-record 10:25.73.

After running a potential regional-qualifying time in the 1500m (4:20.95) on Friday, Anna Camp-Bennett moved into a qualifying position in the women’s 800m with a personal-record 2:04.84 on Saturday. Kate Hunter also ran a likely region-qualifying time in the 800m and 1500m with times of 2:08.31 and 4:25.92, respectively.

Whittni Orton, Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes and Olivia Hoj ran times in the 1500m that would qualify them for regionals the past six years. Orton crossed the finish line first for BYU with a 4:15.44 followed by Ellsworth-Barnes (4:18.95) and then Hoj (4:22.88). In the men’s 1500m, Talem Franco and Marcus Dickson ran potential regional-qualifying times of 3:44.63 and 3:44.95.

In the men’s 5000m, Connor McMillan finished with a probable qualifying time of 13:50.37. Courtney Wayment joined Birk-Jarvis in gaining a potential qualifying position in the 5000m with a 16:09.44.

Jacob Foutz solidified his regional-qualifying position in the men’s hammer at the UVU Invite with a toss of 60.34m/197-11.50. At the Texas Relays, All-American Brenna Porter clocked a 58.65 in the women’s 400m hurdles final and is likely to qualify for regionals.

A recap of Thursday’s and Friday’s results from the UVU Invite, Texas Relays, Stanford Invitational and Mike Fanelli Track Classic can be found on byucougars.com. Next up for the Cougars is the Sun Angel Classic at the Sun Angel Stadium. The two-day meet begins Friday, April 5, and concludes Saturday, April 6. Details for the meet can be found two days prior to its start on the BYU track and field schedule page.

Official Results:

 

 
Natalie Lopez | Posted: 26 Mar 2019 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Natalie Lopez

BYU track and field to compete at Texas Relays, Stanford Invitational

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PROVO, Utah – The Cougars will split to compete in four different track meets this week with the majority of the Cougars traveling to Texas and California to compete in the Texas Relays and Stanford Invitational.

“The Stanford meet for the men’s and women’s distance runners is a very important meet for us,” said BYU head coach Ed Eyestone. “We’re looking to get a majority of our regional qualifiers at this meet. We’ve been preparing well for it and we’ll be running some of our top athletes. In addition to them, we have some athletes going to Texas Relays and others competing this weekend here at UVU. The majority of our track team will be competing in one of four different meets, so it’s an important weekend.”

The BYU track and field teams will have athletes competing in the Texas Relays, Stanford Invitational, Mike Fanelli Track Classic and the UVU Collegiate Invite.

A smaller squad of sprinters and field athletes will head to the Texas Relays. Events begin on Wednesday, March 27, and events continue through Saturday, March 31.

The Stanford Invitational begins on Friday, March 29, and finishes on Saturday, March 30. The meet will feature qualifying distance and middle distance runners. Those who do not qualify for the Stanford Invitational will run in the Mike Fanelli Track Classic on the same days.

Several Cougars will also compete in the UVU Collegiate Invite, including All-American Andrea-Stapleton Johnson in the high jump, Elise Romney in the pole vault and Rickey Fantroy in the triple jump. Jacob Foutz and Jefferson Jarvis will be competing in the throws, along with Sydnie Martindale. Martindale earned the No. 8 all-time mark in BYU history after tossing the javelin 48.48m/159-0 at the Aztec Invitational last weekend.

Eyestone is looking forward to the outdoor season debut of the men’s and women’s distance runners at Stanford and expects several regional-qualifying times from this weekend’s competition.

All-Americans Conner Mantz and Clayton Young will make their season debuts in the 10,000m. In the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Mantz finished 22nd overall in the 10,000m with honorable mention All-America honors. Young was ranked No. 6 in the preseason rankings in the 10,000m and ran a career-best No.5 time in school history (28:27.48) at the Stanford Invitational last year. All-American Connor McMillan is set to race in the 5000m and ranked seventh in the nation in preseason rankings.

On the women’s side, All-Americans Erica Birk-Jarvis will race in the 5000m and Whittni Orton in the 1500m. Orton placed 19th in the 1500m prelims (4:17.84) at the 2018 NCAA Championships. Eyestone is also hopeful that they contribute to the number of BYU regional qualifiers this season.

Eyestone anticipates success from the Cougars traveling to the Texas Relays as well. True freshman Cameron Bates will compete in the javelin after tossing the No. 5 javelin throw in BYU history (68.95/226-2) at the Willie Williams Invite earlier this season.

Scott Mecham and All-American Brenna Porter will make their season debuts in the men’s and women’s 400m hurdles, respectively. Mecham finished 14th in the 400m hurdles at the 2018 NCAA West Prelims and ranked No. 13 in preseason rankings. All-American Porter placed 18th overall in the 400m hurdles at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

FloTrack.com will be streaming the Stanford Invitational and the Mike Fanelli Track Classic. The Longhorn Networks will be streaming the Texas Relays. Follow @BYUTFXC on Twitter for team updates. Live stats will be available on the BYU track and field schedule page by the first day of competition.