Six cougars to compete in NCAA Championships

EUGENE, Ore. – Six athletes will compete for BYU in the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships beginning Wednesday at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

“We are looking for some breakthrough performances and we are capable of breaking through with a group of solid veterans,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Wednesday will be a big day for us with many of our athletes beginning their competition. We are hoping to start strong.”

Seniors Chase Dalton and Joshua Weirich will compete in the decathlon beginning Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. PDT with the 100-meter dash. Dalton comes in as the No. 8 seed with Weirich No. 19.

Freshman Shea Martinez will compete in her first championship after posting a personal record in the 800-meter last week of 2:05.98. She will look to repeat that performance in the qualifying round on Wednesday at 4:45 p.m. PDT.

Senior Andrea Harrison had an impressive come from behind race to qualify last week in the steeplechase. She ran the 19th fastest time in the nation during the season and will need to improve on that performance to qualify this week. The qualifying round of the steeplechase begins on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. PDT.

Senior Jason Witt ran third fastest 10,000-meter during the season and will look to repeat that performance in Oregon this week on the 30th anniversary of Eyestone winning the 10,000-meter race. The final is set to begin at 7:15 p.m. PDT on Wednesday.

Senior Kyle Baker posted a season best 65.45-meter throw in the javelin to qualify for the championships. He will compete on Saturday beginning at 12:35 p.m. PDT.

A full schedule of events can be found at NCAA.com and live results can be accessed at flashresults.com. ESPN will cover every day of the events with ESPN3 covering Wednesday and Thursday starting at 3:55 p.m. PDT and ESPNU broadcasting live on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2:00 p.m.