BYU shows off distance strength at Mt. SAC Relays

WALNUT, California – All-American athletes Shea Martinez and Jason Witt ran personal bests as BYU competed in the Mt. San Antonio College (SAC) Relays this weekend.

“This weekend was a sign of some of the good things going on with BYU track and field,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “As forecasted, this was a phenomenal race for some of our middle-distance and distance runners.”

Full results

Already owning nation's seventh-best 800-meter time coming into the race, Martinez came in at 2:04.35—good for fifth in the nation this season.

“That was a particularly gutsy race for her,” Eyestone said of Martinez. “She had some physically nagging stuff this week and took a couple days off, so to come out and run a time like that is great.”

Witt placed first among attached runners and third overall in the 5,000 meters with his time of 13:34.96. The senior's time is the fifth-best in school history and fourth-best in the nation this year.

“He ran a superlative race,” Eyestone said of Witt. “He raced against professionals and some of the best distance runners in the country and competed extremely well.”

In the same event, super freshman Connor McMillan ran a 13:59.91, which is now the 47th-best time in the nation.

“McMillan's time is one of the fastest by a true freshman ever at BYU,” Eyestone said.

The Cougars turned heads in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with James Tracy running a new personal best of 8:51.26 and Steve Flint running an 8:51.37 in his first steeplechase of the season. Tracy's and Flint's times are now the 19th- and 20th-best in the nation this year. On the women's side, Jennica Redd finished fifth in the same event with a time of 10:23.93.

BYU hosts its home meet, the Robison Invitational, next week starting Wednesday. The schedule of events and details for the meet can be found on the home meet page of byucougars.com.