LOS ANGELES—BYU women’s track and field earned third place at the first outdoor meet of the season, the Trojan Invitational at USC this weekend. 

“We had an outstanding day today on the heels of yesterday,” head coach Ed Eyestone. “We had a number of what should be regional qualifiers. All in all, I think it was a great day all around. I’m pleased with all of our groups, our jumpers, sprinters, throwers and our distance guys all performed.“

Sophomores Rachel Stewart and Makenna Smith finished in first and second place in the 1500m with respective times of 4:28.50 and 4:29.09.

Freshman Brenna Porter debuted the first 400m hurdle race of her BYU career and earned second place with a time of 58.64.

Freshman Marissa Appiah debuted in the outdoor high jump with a mark of 1.65m.

Throwing super star Deezbaa Whaley also threw her first discus of the season with a mark of 44.70m. This was good enough for eighth place at the Trojan Invitational.

The women’s team ended in third place in what will be one of the few scored meets of the 2014 outdoor season.

At UC Berkeley, freshman Nicole Laws performed in her first heptathlon of her BYU career, where she took second place with 4,924 points. Laws finished in first place in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.43 and first in the high jump with a mark of 1.73m. Brie Simmons also competed in the heptathlon at Cal and earned second place with 4,794 points.

Read about Friday’s highlights in yesterday’s release. Full results have been attached.

Next week the Cougars will split up, sending some athletes to compete in the UVU Collegiate on Friday, March 28, some to the Texas Relays in Austin from the 27th-28th, and some to the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Calif. from the 28th-29th. 

The Texas Relays Invitational is one of the most prestigious track events in the country, and will have more than 6,000 athletes competing to earn their places at nationals and their respective regional meets. 

PROVO, Utah—Outdoor season will begin this weekend for the women’s track and field team at the USC Trojan Invitational beginning March 21.

“We are jumping into outdoor season full speed ahead,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “No rest for the weary.”

The Trojan Invitational marks the beginning of outdoor season, a nice change of pace for Cougar track and field. Outdoor season will bring the debut of the javelin, discus, steeplechase, 10,000-meter race and heptathlon for the women.

The heptathletes will split up and travel to UC Berkeley Friday and Saturday to complete their first heptathlon of the year. This will include Nicole Laws, Elizabeth Wilson, and Erin Murphy.

One of the main goals for the track and field team this year is to match the number of athletes that qualified for the regional meet in 2013. In 2013, 14 women qualified and competed in the regional meet.

The USC Trojan Invitational will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday March 21 with the woman’s hammer throw, and the distance carnival will begin with the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 6:30 p.m.