Cougars to open 2019 outdoor season

PROVO, Utah – BYU track and field will open the 2019 outdoor season competing at the Willie Williams Invite and the UNLV Invite March 15-16.

“We’re going to be well-represented this weekend down in Tucson and Las Vegas,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Most of the team will be transitioning from indoor to outdoor, but I know that we have a group of javelin throwers that are ready to finally start competing.”

Most of the men’s and women’s teams will be competing March 15-16 at the Willie Williams Invite at Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. A small group of athletes will compete those same days at the UNLV Invite at Myron Partridge Track Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eyestone hopes the momentum from the indoor season carries over to the outdoor season after the BYU track and field program had its best finish to the indoor season since 2012 with both the men’s and women’s team finishing in the top 15 at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships.

The Cougars will also look to build off of the success from the 2018 outdoor season where both the men’s and women’s teams combined for the most entries earned to the 2018 NCAA West Preliminary Round. The two teams combined for 58 total entries to the regional meet with the men’s team securing 34 entries and the women’s team earning 24 entries.

The BYU men’s program returns 24 athletes that competed in the 2018 regional meet this season. Six of those 24 athletes advanced to the NCAA Championships. The returnees are headlined by 2018 Outdoor All-Americans Rory Linkletter, Connor McMillan, Matt Owens, Clayson Shumway and Clayton Young.

The BYU women’s program returns 17 athletes that competed in the 2018 NCAA West Preliminary Round. Seven of the 17 returning regional qualifiers advanced to Nationals. The team returns 2018 Outdoor All-Americans Ashton Riner and Andrea Stapleton-Johnson.

Follow @BYUTFXC on Twitter for team updates from the Willie Williams Invite and the UNLV Invite. Live stats will be available on the BYU track and field schedule page by the first day of competition.