BYU women's track and field moves up in national rankings

NEW ORLEANS – The BYU women’s track and field team moved up to No. 16 in the most recent U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national rankings on Monday.

The Cougars jumped four spots since last week’s rankings after multiple athletes moved up the school record board and earned career bests at the Iowa State Classic and Texas Tech Shootout last weekend. Notable performances include a new school record set by Erica Birk-Jarvis in the 3000m (9:00.69), Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes’ No. 9 spot on the BYU all-time list after running 2:07.14 in the women’s 800m and Jaslyn Gardner’s ninth-fastest time in the 200m (24.45).

The BYU women’s track and field team currently has seven athletes ranked in the top 30 in each of their respective events. All-American Andrea Stapleton-Johnson leads the nation at No. 1 in the high jump, with Brenna Porter ranked No. 3 in the 500m and Birk-Jarvis at No. 9 in the 3000m.

The BYU men’s team moved down three spots to No. 16 in the country. All-American Clayton Young took first in the men’s 5000m invite and set the new school record with a time of 13:34.46 at the Iowa State Classic. All-American Connor McMillan and Conner Mantz also moved up BYU’s top 10 record board in the 5000m to spots No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. Michael Bluth ran a career-best time of 46.94 in the men’s 400m at the Texas Tech Shootout to earn a spot at No. 4 on the school record boards.

The BYU men’s 5000m squad is currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA, according to the USTFCCCA squad rankings released on Monday.

The full USTFCCCA rankings can be found on ustfccca.org.