TUCSON, Ariz. — No. 14 BYU women’s track and field achieved 12 personal bests and a school record time in the 4x100-meter relay during competition at the Desert Heat Classic on Saturday at Roy P. Drachman Stadium.

The 4x100 squad of Adaobi Tabugbo, Emma Johnson, Marianne Barber and Jaslyn Gardner combined to clock a school-record 44.57, taking fifth in a talented field that included No. 11 Oregon.

Saturday marks just one year since the Cougars last notched a school-record in the 4x100. Tabugbo combined with Taye Raymond Holker, Dolita Shaw and Annalise Hart to do so at the 2022 Desert Heat Classic with a time of 44.63.

The Cougars’ closed the night with the 4x400-meter relay squad of Barber, Hart, Shaw and Brilee Pontius finishing third at 3:38.67.

BYU sprinters saw plenty of individual success in Tucson as well.

Gardner and Barber followed-up their 4x100 performance with top-10 finishes in the 100-meters shortly thereafter. Gardner took sixth at 11.62 and Barber seventh at 11.74. With that new personal-best, Barber is just four-hundredths of a second off surpassing Keesha Miller (2018) for No. 10 all-time at BYU.

Tabugbo took the Cougars’ top spot in the 100-meter hurdles with a 15th-place finish at 13.92. Zoey Bonds, Maddy Eaton, Tori Lord and Eva Chenn each finished behind Tabugbo but each with a personal best.

Tabugbo, Eaton, Lord, Bonds and Chenn also set personal bests in the 200-meters with Tabugbo as  BYU’s top-finisher yet again. The senior from Laurel, Maryland cut 0.14 seconds off her previous best to finish 16th at 24.07 on Saturday.

BYU women’s track and field is back on the road next weekend with distance runners competing at the Oxy Invitational in Los Angeles, California on May 6.

PROVO, Utah — Fresh off hosting several schools while earning 18 combined event wins at the annual Robison Invitational, No. 8/14 BYU men’s and women’s track and field travels to Arizona’s Desert Heat Classic at Drachman Stadium this Saturday.

Meet Information

• Host: Arizona
• Location: Drachman Stadium
• Date(s): Saturday, April 29
• Women’s events begin with the hammer throw at 12:00 p.m. MST and conclude with the 4x400-meter relay at 9:35 p.m.
• Men’s events also begin with the hammer throw at 2:30 p.m. and conclude with the 4x400-meter relay at 9:45 p.m.
• Live Results
• Tickets
• Tentative Schedule of Events
• Additional Information

Cougars in the Rankings

Claire Seymour (No. 2, 800-meters), Cierra Tidwell Allphin (No. 3, high jump) and Kenneth Rooks (No. 5, 3,000-meter steeplechase) all rank in the top 5 in the nation in their respective events. 

Cailee Faulkner joins BYU athletes in the top 10 at No. 10, clearing the bar at 4.32m/14-2 in the pole vault last Friday. Fellow vaulter Rebekah Ross moved up to No. 15 after tying with Illinois’s Tori Thomas last week (4.27m/14-0).

Defending javelin national champion Ashton Riner-Lunt tossed a 53.96m/177-1 Saturday afternoon to become No. 15 at the midpoint of the outdoor season.

Among other Cougars with top-25 performances last weekend include the men’s 4x100-meter relay squad of Kyler Haughton, Trey Jackson, Easton Bianchi and Dallin Draper. The group clocked a 39.33 last Saturday to check in at No. 19, with the finish just 0.45 seconds away from BYU’s school record. Jackson and Hazlett are members of the 4x400m team that broke a school record this season after posting a 3:03.19 at the Texas Relays on April 1.