McWhorter Breaks School Record in Pole Vault

PROVO, Utah – Sophomore All-American Zach McWhorter cleared 5.76m/18-10.75 to set a new BYU indoor record in the pole vault on Saturday at the BYU Cougar Indoor Invite II.

Final Results
Video of Zach McWhorter's 5.76m/18-10.75 Clearance

McWhorter initially broke the school record with a vault of 5.71m/18-8.75 before clearing the bar 5 centimeters higher. The previous school record of 5.70m/18-8.25 was set in 2006 by the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Pole Vault Champion, Robison Pratt. McWhorter was previously No. 2 on the BYU Top 10 board with a mark of 5.61m/18-4.75, set during the 2020 season.

Clearing 5.76m/18-10.75 automatically qualifies McWhorter for the U.S. Olympic Trials. The mark also currently ranks No. 2 in the NCAA this season.

Sophomore Easton Bianchi and senior Halley Folsom Walker both moved up the BYU Top 10 board for the second time this season. Bianchi clocked a 6.68 in the men’s 60m dash to tie for the sixth-fastest time in school history while Folsom Walker scored the ninth-most points in the pentathlon with 3,864. Folsom Walker’s point total currently ranks No. 11 in the NCAA while Bianchi’s time is No. 19 in the nation.

Junior Caleb Witsken also had a career day in the men’s pole vault, clearing a personal-best 5.30m/17-4.5 to finish second. His mark is currently No. 13 in the NCAA so far this season.

Sophomore Cierra Tidwell-Allphin won the women’s high jump with a career-best 1.77m, the 23rd-best jump in the country this year. In the men’s high jump, freshman Nathan Kay jumped a season-best 2.06m/6-9 to take second.

Four Cougars recorded career-best times in the women’s 400m final. Senior Brinn Jensen won the event with a time of 55.91 while junior Kayla Perry (56.29), sophomore Anna Hart (57.56) and freshman Layne Bolli (57.88) went 3-5 while earning personal records.

In the women’s pole vault, freshman Hannah Richardson tied her personal record of 3.95m/12-11.5 to take first place. Junior Isabel Neal placed second (3.80m/12-5.5) while senior Charlotte Read and freshman Hannah Stetler each had career-best marks of 3.80m/12-5.5 to finish 3-4, respectively.

Junior Conner Kennedy won the men’s long jump with a distance of 7.27m/23-10.25 while freshman Taye Raymond had a season-best 5.91m/19-4.75 to take second in the women’s long jump.

The Cougars swept the top three spots in the women’s shot put. Freshman Gretchen Hoesktre won the event with a mark of 14.00m/45-11.25, the best toss of her career. Senior Sierra Freeland and sophomore Jessica Thompson finished 2-3 with marks of 13.65m/44-9.5 and 13.42m/44-0.5, respectively.

Junior Sable Lohmeier El-Bakri won both the women’s discus (48.90/160-5) and weight throw (16.82m/55-2.25). Junior Brandon Anderton threw a personal-best 17.27m/56-8 to win the men’s weight throw.

Freshman Meri Dunford took first place in the mile with a personal-best 5:02.93 while junior Madi Moffitt also finished with a career time of 5:04.40 to place third overall.

Sophomore Jared Davis clocked a new personal record of 21.95 in the men’s 200m final to finish second while Andrew Stuart ran a season-best 22.01 to place third.

The Cougars continue their indoor season at the UW Invitational and Texas Tech Shootout Feb. 12-13. Details for these meets can be found on the track and field schedule pages prior to the first day of competition.