Ward and Thatcher enter school record books with top-10 finishes

PROVO, Utah -- The Cougars wrapped up competition at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday afternoon, a meet highlighted by the late Friday night performances of Jared Ward and Tylor Thatcher in the men’s 10,000-meter run.

On Friday evening, Ward took third place in the 10,000-meter run, finishing in 28:36.15, the third-best mark in BYU history. Thatcher took 10th place with a time of 28:59.29, which moves him into eighth place all-time for the Cougars. Both times are likely to qualify the athletes for a spot at the NCAA Regional meet later this year.

“Ward and Thatcher ran extremely well for us last night,” distance coach Ed Eyestone said. “It’s really nice for distance guys to get these regional qualifying times out of the way early in the season. They both ran their fastest times ever, so it’s good to see that type of improvement.”

David Graham ran the 800-meters on Saturday in 1:51.50, good for seventh place.

Texas Relays

BYU also competed in the Texas Relays on Saturday, running in both the 4x200-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay.

In the 4x200, BYU’s team of Korey Smith, Mario Harper, Rhyan Atrice and Cade Lindahl took third with a time of 1:24.93. The same team took eighth overall in the 4x400, finishing in 3:13.17.

The Cougars head to Tempe, Ariz., next week to compete in the Sun Angel Classic.

DAY 1 RECAP