BYU heads south for Sun Angel Classic

PROVO, Utah -- The BYU men’s track and field team heads to Tempe, Ariz., this weekend for the 34th Annual Sun Angel Track and Field Classic, hosted by No. 18 Arizona State.

BYU senior Ryan Waite will make his outdoor debut in the 800-meter run on Saturday at Sun Angel Stadium. Waite finished 13th overall in the 800 meters at the 2013 indoor national championships. He took 18th overall at the 2012 outdoor national championships.

“Waite has trained well over the past month, and he should have a good race,” head coach Mark Robison said. “There will be some good competition this weekend, ASU is in the top 20 and there will be some other good schools there, too.”

The Cougars are off to a good start this season, with a number of athletes who have already delivered performances strong enough to likely earn a spot at the NCAA regional meet. Last weekend it was Jared Ward and Tylor Thatcher who stole the spotlight, submitting personal records in the 10,000-meter run and joining BYU’s all-time list in the event.

Ward ran the race in 28:36.15, the third-best mark in BYU history. Thatcher finished with a time of 28:59.29, which moves him into eighth place all-time for the Cougars.

Robison said several other Cougar athletes have already shown similarly strong performances, and he expects to see steady improvement from many more as the season progresses.

“We’re always hoping to see improvement from week to week,” Robison said. “If we can stay healthy and have our guys make progress each week, we should have a very good season.”

A recap of the Sun Angel Classic will be posted on the gameday page Saturday evening after competition wraps up.