Track and field starts weekend at UVU invite

OREM, Utah — BYU track and field athletes began the UVU Invitational in a cross-town meet at the Hal Wing Track & Field on Thursday. 

Men's Recap

BYU men’s track and field qualified seven sprinters in preliminary action on Thursday. Four Cougars finished top-10 in the 200m heats. Spencer Carlile and Zac Marsden took third and fourth, respectively, each with times of 21.85. Asante Laryea-Akrong and Cortez Ruiz will join Carlile and Marsden in the 200m final Friday.

Marsden (11.27) and Laryea-Akrong (11.35) took fifth and seventh, respectively, in the 100m heats and will both compete in Friday’s final. AJ Beynon clocked 15.23 in the 110m hurdle preliminary and also advanced to a Friday final.

McKay Johns finished fifth in the 1500m with a time of 4:01.48.

Women's Recap
The Cougars began the day with two top-10 marks, one in the javelin and another in the 100m hurdles.

Nicole Freestone won the javelin throw with a personal best park of 48.92m/160-6, good for sixth all-time at BYU. Alex McAllister finished second in the event with a 48.17m/158-0.5.

With a first-place and personal best time of 13.39, Adaobi Tabugbo moved from No. 8 into a tie for fifth in school history in the 100m hurdles.

Tabugbo also clocked a 12.28 for a new personal best in the 100m prelims, advancing to Friday’s finals along with Taye Raymond (1st, 12.13), Dolita Awala-Shaw (5th, 12.49) and Emma Johnson (6th, 12.54).

Lauren Merrill was the lone Cougar competing in the pole vault. She finished fourth overall with a mark of 3.35m/11-0.

Three BYU athletes placed in the top-10 of the hammer throw: Sable Lohmeier El-Bakri (3rd, 56.49m/185-4), Jessica Thompson (5th, 50.62m/166-1) and Jayda Lee (8th 47.04m/157-8.5). Gretchen Hoekstre finished 11th with a mark of 45.45m/149-1.25.

The Cougars also had three athletes finish in the top-5 of the 200m prelims: Awala-Shaw (2nd, 24.74, PR), Layne Bolli (3rd, 24.84, PR) and My'Jah Mintze (5th, 25.00). All three will advance to Friday’s final. Awala-Shaw, Bolli and Camilla Andam (26.28) set personal bests in the event.

BYU will conclude the UVU Invitational on Friday, April 1, beginning with the men’s and women’s high jump at 10 a.m. MDT. The Cougars’ distance runners will also kick off action at the Stanford Invitational on Friday, starting with the men’s 5000m at 11:30 a.m. PDT and women’s 3000m steeplechase at 5:21 p.m. PDT.