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Kenny Cox | Posted: 14 May 2011 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Kenny Cox

Cougars Stay Perfect With Last MWC Crown

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The No. 15 men’s track team won the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship for the 12th and final time, making it a clean sweep of every year of competition.

"The fact we never lost is something that I will always remember," head coach Mark Robison said. "It is bittersweet to leave this great track conference with terrific coaches but I was very pleased with our kids and our performances."

Six different Cougars won individual titles, one relay team claimed a victory and BYU scored 212 points to win. New Mexico finished with 177 points in second place and Air Force took third, scoring 139.50 points.

Robison was also named as the MWC Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the meet.

Field events came up big in the scoring column. Three of the Cougar’s six individual champions on Saturday came from the pole vault, shot put and javelin throw while junior Kyle Mills (15.28m, 50-01.75) took second in the triple jump to add in points of his own.

"Kyle's jump was huge for us and scored needed points," Robison said. "The field events were big and helped us out a lot."

Senior Chris Little and sophomore Victor Weirich finished one-two in the pole vault. Both cleared 5.32m (17-05.50) for the first and second-place finish. Senior Leif Arrhenius won his second title of the meet, this time in the shot put with a mark of 18.96m (62-02.50) and junior Colby Barber grabbed third with a throw of 17.16m (56-03.75).

Arrhenius won the High Point Award at the meet, scoring a total of 26 points.

In the javelin throw, junior Chris Reno won a title with a throw of 71.46m (234-05.00). Reno’s mark defeated the next closest competitor by nearly 20 feet.

Junior Miles Batty continued to win, this time with a victory in the 1,500 meters and a time of 3:56.62. Sophomore Travis Fuller took sixth place in the race with a time of 4:02.05.

"Batty ran a tactical race and did very well," Robison said. "He wasn't feeling too great but did a good job."

Batty’s distance medley relay teammates, junior Justin Hedin won the 800-meter with a time of 1:49.60 and Brian Weirich finished fifth and clocked a 1:51.41. Coming in right behind Weirich was Batty with a time of 1:51.48.

Sophomore Cade Lindahl won the 400-meter with a time of 46.87 and sophomore James Derek McAllister took fourth in 47.72. Junior Steven Hart also competed, finishing in fifth with a time of 47.88.

In the 400-meter hurdles, the Cougars had one athlete qualify for the finals and Sean Adams finished in seventh place. With a time of 53.87 the sophomore picked up two points for BYU. Also scoring was senior Nathan Ogden in the 5,000 meters with a sixth place finish and a time of 14:24.85.

The 4x100 relay team was unable to finish the race after running out of the exchange zone but the 4x400 team redeemed the relay squads with a final MWC championship and a time of 3:09.39, edging out TCU by just over two-tenths of a second.

"It was too bad our 4x100 guys got a little excited and went out of their zone," Robison said. "But wow our 4x400 guys ran amazing and helped us out a lot."

With another MWC title in the books, the Cougars will now get ready for the NCAA West Regional meet in Eugene, Oregon in two weeks.

For complete results from today and the entire MWC Championships CLICK HERE.

 

 
Kenny Cox | Posted: 10 May 2011 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Kenny Cox

Cougars Look For Final MWC Championship

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PROVO, Utah -- In its final year in the Mountain West Conference, the No. 15 BYU men’s outdoor track and field team will compete at the MWC Conference Championships in Fort Collins, Colo. The team will try to make its exit as champs again, winning the title every year of competition since 1999.

“Our expectation is to win, we have never lost and we don’t want that to happen,” head coach Mark Robison said. “It is something no one has been able to do and I expect some very good performances and some amazing things.”

BYU has experienced tremendous success in the Mountain West, winning 10 of 11 MWC indoor meets and claiming 11-consecutive outdoor championships. The Cougars will move to competition in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) during the indoor track season and then compete independently during the outdoor season while earning both team and individual qualification for the NCAA Regional and National Championships.

“We are excited, we feel like we are in pretty good shape,” Robison said. “It has been tough to figure out who we are going to take and who we have to leave behind.”

The meet will only allow 28 athletes from BYU to compete, leaving several competitors watching from home. Coaches had to make tough decisions to bring the athletes that they felt could place the highest, even though many at home are capable of placing for the Cougars.

This year’s competition will feature several athletes across the MWC in the midst of some of the most successful campaigns in school history and BYU is no different.

“It is going be a great meet with great weather and there are some phenomenal athletes on the men’s side,” Robison said. “It is going to be a real battle.”

Junior Miles Batty won an individual indoor national championship in the mile after he broke the 31-year old school record in the mile earlier in the season at 3:55.79. During the outdoor season Batty broke the school’s 1500 meters record along with setting the nation’s fastest collegiate mark by more than three seconds at 3:36.25. Batty is also ranked 20th in the NCAA in the 800 meters with a time of 1:48.68.

Senior Leif Arrhenius also took home a national title during indoor season in the shot put and during outdoor has marks in the top six in the NCAA for both the shot put and the discus throw.

Competing in the throws is senior Oliver Whaley who enters competition with the 15th-best collegiate throw in the hammer with a 65.16m (213-9.00). Fellow senior, Sean Richardson will throw the javelin and currently ranks 25th in the NCAA with a mark of 70.38m (230-11.00).

Always a strong event for BYU, the pole vault will showcase two Cougars looking to make an impact. Senior Chris Little and sophomore Victor Weirich currently are tied for the 10th-best mark in the country, clearing 5.35m (17-6.50).

The meet will begin Wednesday and Thursday with the decathlon and heptathlon getting underway at noon MT each day. The rest of the field and running events will begin Friday at 10 a.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m with the meet concluding at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

For live stats CLICK HERE.

Video is available by CLICKING HERE on a 30 to 45 minute delay.