Cougars earn 29 regional-qualifying marks

STANFORD, Calif. – Erica Birk-Jarvis broke her fourth school record while BYU track and field athletes totaled 29 regional-qualifying marks as the Cougars completed their four-meet weekend on Saturday.

“This was an outstanding weekend, probably one of our best outdoor weekends that we’ve ever had,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “It was a weekend full of so many highlights with good things happening left and right. I’m very happy with the outcome.”

The BYU track and field team split up to compete at the Stanford Invitational, UVU Invite, Texas Relays and Mike Fanelli Track Classic over the weekend. Regional-qualifying marks determined in this recap use the last regional qualifiers in each event over the last five years as a gauge. Qualifiers for the NCAA West Prelims are not final until the end of the regular season.

At the Stanford Invitational, Birk-Jarvis broke her fourth school record in the last three months after finishing the women’s 5000m invite with a time of 15:38.12. The All-American’s potential regional-qualifying time beat the previous record set by Whitney McDonald in 2007 by over six seconds. Birk-Jarvis adds the outdoor 5000m record to her résumé of school records that includes the indoor mile, indoor 3000m and indoor distance medley relay.

Late Friday night, All-Americans Conner Mantz and Clayton Young put themselves in position to potentially qualify for the NCAA West Prelims in the men’s 10,000m. Mantz ran the fifth-best time in school history with a 28:18.18 to win the race while Young finished in 28:18.50 for the sixth-best time at BYU.

Five other Cougars earned times in the men’s 10,000m that put them in contention to qualify for regionals. Danny Carney made his 2019 track and field debut after battling back from an injury to finish his first career 10,000m in 28:49.87. Dallin Farnsworth (28:56.02), Michael Ottesen (28:58.50), Connor Weaver (29:02.66) and Brayden McLelland (29:19.39) all ran personal-best times in the 10,000m and increased their chances to qualify for the NCAA West Prelims.

The men’s and women’s 3000m steeplechase had a combined eight runners earn times that should qualify them for the NCAA West Prelims. On the men’s side, All-American Matt Owens moved up BYU’s top 10 board to No. 5 all-time with a time of 8:36.00. All-American Clayson Shumway (8:38.62), Kenneth Rooks (8:46.67), Jacob Heslington (8:43.84) and Garrett Marsing (8:54.73) also ran times probable of qualifying. Emma Gee led the way for the Cougars in the women’s steeplechase with a career-best time of 10:11.04. Maddie Cannon ran a 10:12.37 while Sara Musselman earned a personal-record 10:25.73.

After running a potential regional-qualifying time in the 1500m (4:20.95) on Friday, Anna Camp-Bennett moved into a qualifying position in the women’s 800m with a personal-record 2:04.84 on Saturday. Kate Hunter also ran a likely region-qualifying time in the 800m and 1500m with times of 2:08.31 and 4:25.92, respectively.

Whittni Orton, Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes and Olivia Hoj ran times in the 1500m that would qualify them for regionals the past six years. Orton crossed the finish line first for BYU with a 4:15.44 followed by Ellsworth-Barnes (4:18.95) and then Hoj (4:22.88). In the men’s 1500m, Talem Franco and Marcus Dickson ran potential regional-qualifying times of 3:44.63 and 3:44.95.

In the men’s 5000m, Connor McMillan finished with a probable qualifying time of 13:50.37. Courtney Wayment joined Birk-Jarvis in gaining a potential qualifying position in the 5000m with a 16:09.44.

Jacob Foutz solidified his regional-qualifying position in the men’s hammer at the UVU Invite with a toss of 60.34m/197-11.50. At the Texas Relays, All-American Brenna Porter clocked a 58.65 in the women’s 400m hurdles final and is likely to qualify for regionals.

A recap of Thursday’s and Friday’s results from the UVU Invite, Texas Relays, Stanford Invitational and Mike Fanelli Track Classic can be found on byucougars.com. Next up for the Cougars is the Sun Angel Classic at the Sun Angel Stadium. The two-day meet begins Friday, April 5, and concludes Saturday, April 6. Details for the meet can be found two days prior to its start on the BYU track and field schedule page.

Official Results:

Conner Mantz - M Track & Field Matt Owens - M Track & Field