PROVO, Utah — BYU men’s and women’s track and field opened its January home meet with the pentathlon, heptathlon and throws at the Smith Fieldhouse and Indoor Practice Facility on Thursday.

“I’m pleased, our athletes did well today and showed a lot of improvement,” said BYU multis coach Mark Robison.

The men’s team fielded three competitors on the day as multi-athletes Dallin Vorkink and Ben Barton wrapped up four of the seven total heptathlon events that will be continued Friday. Barton, a sophomore from Birmingham, Michigan, finished first twice (60m, high jump) while two-time All-American Vorkink bested all competition in the shot put (13.47m/44-2.25).

Barton's 60m time of 6.99 marked a new personal best.

Sophomore Harrison Gould represented the throwers, posting a 15.13m/49-7.75 in the shot put to take seventh overall.

Maddy Eaton and Tori Lord represented the Cougars in the pentathlon. Despite finishing seventh and 10th, respectively, Eaton and Lord showed progress after their collegiate debut in December.

Eaton set personal bests in four of five events, including a runner-up finish in the 800m as she shaved off nearly six seconds to finish at 2:26.52. Lord came in third with a personal-best 2:29.12. Eaton also finished top-3 in the 60m hurdles with a personal record 9.39.

Both BYU women also set personal bests in the pentathlon overall score with finals of 3,038 (Eaton) and 2,913 (Lord).

Jessica Thompson also competed in the weight throw and shot put, finishing third and fourth, respectively.

PROVO, Utah — BYU men’s and women’s track and field will return to action in its second home meet of the indoor season on Jan. 12-14 at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Meet Information

*All times MST

• Thursday, Jan. 12: events run from 11:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. beginning with pentathlon 60-meter hurdles.
• Friday, Jan. 13: events run from 12:30 to 3:15 p.m. beginning with men's long jump.
• Saturday, Jan. 14: events run from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. beginning with men's 60m hurdle prelims. 
• This is a non-ticketed event. Admission is free of charge with public seating available on the west side of the Smith Fieldhouse. 
• Teams competing include:
  • BYU
  • College of Southern Idaho
  • Idaho State
  • Salt Lake Community College
  • Southern Utah
  • Utah State
  • Utah Tech
  • Utah Valley
  • Weber State
  • Westminster
• Live Results
• Event Schedule

Last time out

BYU saw four new top-10 performances at its last home meet on Dec. 8-9. Sprinter Adaobi Tabugbo rose to No. 3 all-time at BYU in the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.44. Emma Johnson debuted on the women's 60m top-10 board with a fourth-place time of 7.58. 

Women's pole vaulter Rebekah Ross registered the program's sixth-highest indoor clearance at 4.21m/13-9.75. 

Sebastian Fernandez won the men's 800-meter with a resounding 1:48.84 finish. Fernandez now ranks No. 5 all-time at BYU in the indoor 800. 

Nationally ranked Cougars

Even with only two meets under their belt, the Cougars boast several athletes ranked in the top-10 nationally for their respective indoor event. 

Alena Ellsworth leads all Division I women with an 800m time of 2:06.40 set at the Boston Season Opener on Dec. 3. Meghan Hunter, Heather Hanson, Jacey Farmer and Taylor Rohatinsky all ran 800m times under 2:14.00 at the meet and give the Cougars five runners in the top-15. 

Hanson, Rohatinsky and Farmer are also featured in the top-10 for the women's mile. 

Rebekah Ross's aforementioned clearance ranks her No. 4 nationally. Dallin Vorkink stands at third in the heptathlon with a score of 5,457 in his first competition of the season at BYU's December home meet. 

Casey Clinger (5000m) and Kenneth Rooks (3000m) are ranked No. 6 and No. 7 respectively for their performances in Boston on Dec. 3.