SPOKANE, Wash. – BYU men’s track and field completed day one of two in the school’s final conference championships as part of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation as Nathan Burnett, Zach Erikson and the distance medley relay team claimed conference titles in their respective events Friday.

Burnett’s MPSF pole vault title marked the second consecutive year a BYU athlete has won the award joining Zach McWhorter. Burnett posted a clearance of 5.20m/17-0.75 and gave the Cougars their first back-to-back indoor pole vault conference winners since 2005 and 2006.

“I am proud of Nathan for winning the men’s competition,” pole vault volunteer assistant coach Rick McWhorter said. “No one works harder than he does.”

Erikson’s 5,000-meter title made him the first-ever BYU athlete to win back-to-back indoor 5000m conference championships with a time of 14:14.12. Erikson is only a sophomore, winning the award last year as a freshman. A razor-thin separation divided the other two competing Cougars as twins Garrett Stanford and Jacob Stanford finished 0.12 and 0.14 seconds behind to finish in second and third.

The distance medley relay team of Brandon Garnica, Jace Jensen, James Corrigan and Luke Grundvig became MPSF champions with a 9:53.05 finish, emphasizing the positive momentum of the event for the program as BYU also took home the award in 2022. Garnica is now a two-time DMR champion, the only returning member from last year’s top-finishing squad.

Danny Bryant broke his year-old personal record in the weight throw by over four feet to post a 18.49m/60-8 mark. The Valencia, California native finished third, just two feet shy of first overall among a field of nine competitors.

Dallin Draper led all Cougars in the 200-meters at fifth with a 21.45 finish as Jared Davis (21.51) tied his personal record and Kyler Haughton (21.80) finished 0.72 seconds ahead of his last personal best.

In the heptathlon, Ben Barton and Dallin Vorkink wrapped up the 60-meter, long jump, shot put and high jump. Barton posted new personal records in the 60m (6.93) and shot put (12.97m/42-6.75) while taking first overall in the 60m and high jump. Vorkink finished atop the shot put, registering a mark of 13.48m/44-2.75 to finish nearly a foot and a half ahead of Cal State Fullerton’s second-place Andrew Aguilar.

The Cougars also had several qualifiers for final events tomorrow, including Treyton Anderson in the 60-meter hurdles, Dallin Draper and Kyler Haughton in the 60m. Draper and Haughton both crossed the line at 6.88 while Jared Davis tied a personal-best of 6.93 seconds.

PROVO, Utah — With just three weeks to go before indoor nationals, BYU men's and women's track and field will compete in its final Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships Feb. 17-18 at The Podium in Spokane, Washington. 

The women's distance medley relay team will compete at the Arkansas Qualifier at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas Feb. 17 at 2:13 p.m. CST on SEC Network+. Meanwhile, men's distance medley relay will race at Notre Dame's Alex Wilson Invitational at the Loftus Sports Center in South Bend, Indiana on Feb. 18 at 12 p.m. EST. 

Meet Information

• 2023 MPSF Indoor Track and Field Championships
• Feb. 17-18
  • Friday events begin at 10 a.m. PST with the heptathlon 60-meters and conclude at 5:50 p.m. with women's distance medley relay.
  • Saturday events begin at 10 a.m. with the men's 60-meter hurdles final and conclude with the women's 4x400-meter relay at 1:15 p.m.
• Spokane, Washington | The Podium
• Tickets
• Live Results
• Live Stream ($)
• Women's DMR Live Results
• Women's DMR Live Stream
• Men's DMR Live Results

Distance Medley Relay at Notre Dame

Members of the men's distance medley relay team will be competing Saturday at Notre Dame. Event details:

• Alex Wilson Invitational
• Feb. 18
• M DMR starts at 12:00 p.m. EST
• Notre Dame, Ind. - Loftus Sports Center
• Live Results

Indoor Conference Championship History

BYU men's and women's track and field owns a proud tradition of indoor conference title dominance. In 2022, both programs swept their team conference crowns for the 18th time and first since 2011. 

This season the No. 23-ranked BYU women seek their first back-to-back team conference titles since 2010-2011. Women's track and field won a record 11-consecutive team championships between 1995 and 2005. The women took home nine individual or squad titles last season; their most since 2009. Women's track and field has claimed 157 all-time individual conference titles dating back to 1991.

A season ago, the BYU men won nine individual indoor titles for just the second time in program history and first since 2005. The Cougars have totaled 220 individual indoor titles since 1969. Men's track and field has also won 30 team indoor titles since 1970 and are seeking their fourth consecutive in 2023. The Cougars won a record 12 straight between 1990 and 2001. 

National Rankings

Several BYU athletes improved their national qualifying position at meets in Boston and Lubbock, Texas Feb. 10-11. 

Aubrey Frentheway set a women's 5,000-meters personal best at 15:32.82 in Boston and is now ranked sixth nationally having eclipsed runners from Colorado, Northern Arizona and Arkansas. 

Cierra Tidwell-Allphin's personal-best tying clearance in the women's high jump on Saturday was enough to set her at No. 8 nationally, surpassing Nyalaam Jok of Minnesota and Daniella Anglin of South Dakota. 

Eli Hazlett, Trey Jackson, Spencer Carlile and Joshua Taylor combined to set a school record in the men's 4x400-meter relay at Texas Tech's Jarvis Scott Open on Saturday. At 3:05.73, the Cougars jumped to 16th nationally and now rank ahead of squads from Florida State, Texas and LSU.