May 07 | 12:00 AM
Brigham Young University

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Jenessa Mann | Posted: 7 May 2016 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Jenessa Mann

Relay team races strong with regional qualifying mark

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LOS ANGELES — BYU track and field athletes continue to improve with stand out performances. Derek Lord, Drew Tingey, Tatenda Tsumba and Michael Abbott, the men’s 4x100 relay team, raced a regional qualifying time of 40.12 seconds.

“The big news is that the 4x100 team had a qualifying mark,” BYU track and field head coach Ed Eyestone said. “The mark should put them solidly in the top 24 and it was a nice performance. The team had some very great hand offs and got around the track in great speed. After the fact we realized we could have been a little more aggressive, but quite frankly, until you get that qualifying mark you want to make sure you get that baton safely around the track and they did a very nice job of doing that without losing momentum. It was all about teamwork and that’s what it’s all about in a relay so that was great.”  

Aaron Fletcher ran a time of 8:39.10 in the steeple chase to place him number eight all time at BYU. This time will also rank as one of the top 10 time in the country. 

Other highlighted events on the men’s side included Jesse White, who ran 46.22 in the 400-meter dash to take third place overall. White is currently ranked number 15 in the nation with a time of 45.92, previously recorded at the Sun Angel Classic.

Chase Horrocks had a strong performance in the men’s 1500-meter run to take eighth place overall. Max Shieble and Mark Carlson placed fourth and fifth overall in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Shieble and Carlson have both previously recorded times to get them to regionals. Tatenda Tsumba took third in the 200-meter dash and Craig Merkley placed third in the discus with a personal college best mark of 52.71 meters.

Kristi Rush and Ashleigh Warner led the women’s side with standout performances in their event. The two athletes raced in the 1500-meter run and both recorded season best times. Rush placed fourth with a time of 4:22.16 and Warner placed fifth with a time of 4:22.36.

Shea Martinez-Collinsworth continued her solid performances with a time of 53.45 in the women’s 400-meter run. This is a season best for Collinsworth and the time has the potential to rank her in the top 20 in the west.

Madison Pachner and Kassie Nagel had strong marks in their respective events. Pachner placed first in the women’s discus with a mark of 49.93 meters and Nagel took second place in the women’s shot put with a personal best mark of 14.37 meters.

Next week the BYU track and field team will host the final meet of the season, BYU Last Chance, on May 12-13.

 

 
Blake Dorton | Posted: 6 May 2016 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020
Blake Dorton

Weekend meet in Los Angeles

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PROVO, Utah – For the second time this week, BYU track and field will compete in a meet away from home when it travels to Los Angeles for the 2016 Oxy Invitational on Saturday.

“It’s a fantastic meet with great competition,” BYU track and field head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Collegiate, post-collegiate and international athletes will be at this meet. Our athletes are excited for the opportunity, particularly our middle distance and distance runners who in some cases haven’t raced for a while.”

Aaron Fletcher and Shea Martinez-Collinsworth are notable athletes who have already qualified for regionals that will get some work in this weekend. Fletcher will run the 3000-meter steeplechase and he currently sits at No. 11 in the West Region in the event. Martinez-Collinsworth will be running either the 400 meters or the 800 meters. She is ranked No. 4 in the 800 meters in the West.

“Some of our athletes are guaranteed a spot (at regionals), but they really want to improve upon their marks for their own confidence,” Eyestone said.

This is the second to last event for the Cougars before NCAA competition begins at the NCAA West Prelims in Lawrence, Kansas.

“We’re approaching this weekend as if it were our conference meet,” Eyestone said. “The great thing is that it’s three weeks away from the first round of the NCAA’s. This allows our athletes to go 100 percent to try to get some of their best marks of the year. It helps them get the confidence, as well as the ranking in their events, they need to go into the national meet and do well. It’s also a nice chance for some of our athletes who are right on the border of getting in to improve upon their marks.”

Many athletes on the border of regional qualification will be in action in California. Athletes must be in the top-48 in the West Region in their respective events to qualify for the first round of NCAA competition.

On the men’s side, Connor Ross currently sits at No. 84 in the 800 meters and needs to improve his time by just over a second. Rory LinkletterDylan Shawhan and Clayton Young rank Nos. 64, 68 and 85, respectively, in the 5000 meters. For perspective, Young’s time is about 14 seconds off the pace required. Ian McGetrick is ranked No. 73 for the 400-meter hurdles and is 0.58 seconds away from a qualifying mark.

UCLA currently occupies the last available spot for the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 40.36. BYU is No. 73 with a time of 40.62. Stephen French has the chance to make up ground in the pole vault. He needs a vault of 5.11 meters or better to qualify. Blake Steeves’s best long jump of the season is 7.08 meters. He needs a mark of 7.33 meters or better. A few other men’s athletes on the outside looking in also have a chance to move up.

For the women, Diamond Thomas is No. 75 in the 100 meters, 0.12 seconds shy of a qualifying spot. Madelyn Brooks will run the 800 meters, an event in which she is ranked No. 94. She is less than two seconds off the regional-pace. Kristi Rush will run the 1500 meters and must improve by a little more than two seconds to claim a spot.

Emma Gee is just outside the top-48 at No. 59 in the 3000-meter steeplechase and needs a four-second improvement. The women’s 4x100-meter relay team is 0.6 seconds away from qualification. Chloe Richardson has a season-best mark of 1.71 meters in the high jump. A mark of 1.73 meters would get her in. Kylee Trageser needs a 0.02 meter-improvement to qualify in pole vault.

“We’re going to go in and hopefully get some of our best marks of the year,” Eyestone said.

Complete results from the Oxy Invitational can be found on the BYU women's track and field schedule page.