Team effort earns MPSF Championships for BYU men's track and field

SEATTLE – The BYU track and field team concluded a successful weekend of competition as the men’s team took first overall and several athletes moved up the BYU all-time record boards at the 2019 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on Saturday.

“This was a huge win for us,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “The coaches all recognized that we have a really deep men’s team and made a goal to win the MPSF Championships. This has been a great meet for the team to rally together. Across the board from every event we had athletes contributing which is excellent because we want to be a well-rounded program so we can be competitive with the best in the country.”

BYU men’s team was named MPSF Champions after finishing first out of 14 teams with a team score of 93 points, rising above Pac-12 schools including UCLA, Oregon and USC. The women’s team tied for seventh out of 19 teams with a team score of 46 points.

The Cougars had a strong start to the MPSF Championships on Saturday with multiple athletes earning career-best marks to contribute to the final team scores.

Erica Birk-Jarvis ran a 4:34.59 in the women’s mile to break BYU’s all-time mark and take first place. This is Birk-Jarvis’ second No. 1 BYU record after clocking 9:00.69 in the women’s 3000m at the Iowa State Classic earlier this season. Anna Camp finished seventh in the women’s mile with a time of 4:43.38 and Kate Hunter took 13th (4:48.96).

On the men’s side in the mile, Clayton Young clocked 4:00.77 mile for a fourth-place finish and the No. 7 BYU all-time mark. Teammate Marcus Dickson followed in fifth place to record the eighth-fastest time in school history (4:01.02). Connor McMillan finished eighth with a time of 4:04.00.

Michael Bluth won the men’s 400m with a career-best 46.58 to move up two spots to No. 2 all-time. All-American Brenna Porter finished fifth in the women’s 400m dash (54.37). Cassidy Pinnock clocked 55.21 for a ninth-place finish in the 400m and the No. 8 spot on the BYU record board. Brinn Jensen ran the 10th-fastest time in program history (55.87) to take 11th place in the women’s 400m.

Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes and Anna Camp had a strong showing in the women’s 800m. Ellsworth-Barnes ran a career-best 2:06.48 for a first-place finish and No. 8 BYU all-time mark. Anna Camp took seventh place and tied for the 10th-fastest time in program history with her personal-best 2:07.32. In the men’s 800m, Patrick Parker finished third and clocked the eighth-fastest time in BYU history (1:49.32).

Conner Mantz ran a career-best 7:50.90 in the men’s 3000m to earn second place and the No. 5 spot on the BYU record board. Eyestone hopes that his time is enough to qualify in the event for Nationals.

Brian Matthews finished second in the men’s heptathlon with 5287 points and freshman Ben Barton followed in fifth place with 4996 points. Matthews earned multiple season-best marks on Friday including 6.61m/21-8.25 in the long jump and 12.86m/42-2.25 in the shot put.

After being ranked eighth going into finals, Rickey Fantroy took fourth in the triple jump with a career-best mark of 15.30m/50-2.50. All-American Andrea-Stapleton Johnson took third in the women’s high jump after clearing 1.79m/5-10.50.

The Cougars will now wait to confirm qualifiers and continue preparation for the NCAA Indoor Championships. The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships begin Friday, Mar. 8, at CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama.

Notables: