OGDEN, Utah – In the first midweek meet of the season, the BYU women’s track and field team recorded top-three finishes in 12 events at the Weber State Twilight on Wednesday.

The Cougars dominated the sprint events by picking up wins in the 200-meters, 400m, 800m and 100m hurdles. Danielle Figgins led the way in the 200m by finishing first at 25.12, while Arlene Gowar nabbed second in 25.63.

Senior Lacey Bleazard competed in the 400m for the first time this outdoor season and won the event in 55.74. Jenessa Carlson crossed the line in third in 56.88.

Amy Thornton set a new career best in the 800m by finishing first in 2:11.86. Teammate Candace Eddy was close behind and finished second in 2:12.84.

Four Cougars placed in the top eight in the 100m, with Aubrey Hale leading the group at 12.30 for third place. Senior Fatima Makakala won the 100m hurdles in 13.82 while Taylor Stapley and Brooke Jensen finished third and fourth, respectively.

BYU also managed to earn a first-place finish in the 4x100m relay. The team of Makakala, Kassie Jensen, Gowar and Aubrey Hale finished the race in 45.77 to pick up the win.

In the middle distances, Jessica Hilton led the team with a win in the 1500m. Hilton finished in 4:43.56 and was followed closely by teammate Shay Baugh, who finished second in 4:47.99.

Melissa Keltner picked up victories in both the long jump and triple jump. Keltner leapt 5.71m (18-9.00) in the long jump and nearly set a new career best with a 12.24m (40-2.00) in the triple jump. Elizabeth Wilson finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 11.93m (39-1.75).

Senior Diana Blauer grabbed a win in the high jump with a leap of 1.72m (5-7.75). Freshman Lexi Eaton cleared 1.69m (5-6.50) to finish second.

In the pole vault, freshman Nicole Naatjes set a new career best with a vault of 4.10m (13-5.25). Naatjes finished second in the event, while teammate Christen Guenther ended in third with a mark of 4.00m (13-1.50). Rachel Fisher also cleared 4.00m to finish fourth.

Martha Shephard was the lone Cougar to finish in the top three of a throws event. Shephard nabbed third in the hammer throw with a toss of 53.47m (175-05).

The Cougars will conclude the regular season on May 11-12 at the Georgia Tech Invitational. The meet at Georgia Tech takes the place of a conference championship meet in the 2012 schedule.

Finals results from the Weber State Twilight are available at weberstatesports.com.

PROVO, Utah – The BYU men’s and women’s track and field teams will head north on Wednesday to compete at the Weber State Twilight meet.

The annual Twilight meet is an opportunity for athletes to improve their marks before engaging in postseason competition. It is typically used as a final chance to qualify for the NCAA West Region meet, but the Cougars will also be competing at the Georgia Tech Invitational on May 11.

In order to compete at the NCAA West Regional, athletes must rank in the top 48 in their respective events. The BYU men’s team currently has 33 athletes that would be eligible to compete at the meet, while the women’s team features 19 eligible athletes.

The top-12 finishers in each event at the West Regional will move on to nationals. Junior Nachelle Mackie, currently ranked first in the NCAA in the 800-meters, and Victor Weirich, ranked third in the pole vault, are the highest ranked athletes for the women’s and men’s teams, respectively.

As the athletes look to improve their marks at Weber State, they will face competition from Idaho State, Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley and Westminster College, along with the host Wildcats.

Field events will kick off the meet at 3 p.m. MT while the first running event, the women’s steeplechase, will begin at 4:30 p.m. The final event will be the men’s 4x400m relay, which is scheduled to begin at 8:35 p.m.

A full schedule is available at weberstatesports.com. Final results will be posted following the conclusion of the meet.