WALNUT, California -- Indoor mile National Champion Miles Batty led the BYU men’s and women’s track teams through the first two days of the 53rd Annual Mt. SAC Relays, breaking the BYU and meet record in the 1500-meter race.

Batty finished the 1500m race in 3:36.25, a time that broke the BYU record of 3:38.31 and the Mt. SAC meet record of 3:37.99. Two professional runners competing for Nike also broke the meet record and finished ahead of Batty, but Batty now has the fastest time in the NCAA by more than three seconds.

Three Cougar runners placed in the top ten in the 3000m steeplechase. Reagan Frey led the way in fifth with a 9:02.56 finish and was followed closely by Josh Adams, who crossed the line in 9:04.75 to take seventh. Mitchell Briggs placed ninth in the race in 9:08.25.

In the 10000m run, Jared Ward led the way for BYU with a 12th place finish in 29:25.00. Teammate Nathan Ogden was close behind, finishing five seconds later in 29:30.67 to take 15th.

On the women’s side, senior Cecily Lemmon-Lew nabbed first in the 10000m run in 34:14.00. The race was Lemmon-Lew’s first 10000m run since placing second at the 2009 NCAA Championships and currently ranks her 23rd in the nation.

Junior Katy Andrews competed in the 3000m steeplechase for the Cougars and came away with a time of 10:12.04. Coming into the weekend, that time would have ranked Andrews third in the NCAA.

The 53rd Annual Mt. SAC Relays continue on Saturday and for live results CLICK HERE.

PROVO, Utah -- Participating in one of the most competitive meets of the outdoor season, BYU’s track teams will be heading to the 53rd Annual Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. on Thursday.

The three-day event features several of the best high school, collegiate and elite competitors in the country. Top 10 men’s teams such as No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 3 Texas Tech, No. 7 USC and No. 9 Texas will be in attendance. On the women’s side, No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 USC, No. 8 Arkansas and No. 9 Arizona highlight a competitive field.

Most of the athletes competing for BYU will be running in middle-distance or distance races. With the school semester coming to a close many student-athletes are working on finals and finishing up classes, thus limiting the number of competitors for the Cougars.

Junior Miles Batty will compete in the Elite division of the 1,500 meters while three more athletes will participate in the Open division of the same race. Senior Nathan Ogden will run in the 5,000 meters in the top-billed Elite race and four more Cougars will run the open section.

On the women’s side, senior Cecily Lemmon-Lew will compete in her first 10000-meter race of the 2011 season. Lew, who sat out the 2010 track season for health reasons, finished second at the 2009 NCAA Championships in the 10000m, earning All-American honors in the event.

Competition at the Mt. SAC Relays will begin on Thursday at 3:30 pm MT with the women’s 3000m steeplechase. Live results will be available at mtsacrelays.com.

A few athletes will also head north to Logan on Saturday to compete in the Mark Faldmo Invitational at Utah State. The meet will begin at 10:00 am MT with the men’s and women’s hammer throw and will conclude at 4:00 pm with the 4x400m relay.