Cougars Send Eight to NCAA Championship Meet

PROVO -- The BYU men's and women's track teams will send a total of eight athletes to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. The meet, to be held at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., will take place Friday and Saturday.

The BYU men will be sending two representatives to the NCAA meet. Senior All-American Jim Roberts currently holds the third best throw in the shot put. His mark of 66'10" (20.37m) is a personal best, set back on Feb. 3 at the Mountain States Games in Pocatello, Idaho. Roberts has earned All-America honors at the past two NCAA Indoor meets, finishing 6th in 1999 and 4th in 2000. With a time of 6.66 seconds, senior All-American Kenneth Andam is No. 8 in the rankings in the 60 meters.

For the BYU women's team, the distance squad placed four runners in three different races. Senior All-American Melanie Steere qualified for the 1 mile run with a time of 4:45.55, which puts her 16th on the list of competitors in that event. Senior All-American Sharolyn Shields-Thayer will be running in the 3,000 meters, an event in which she took 3rd place at the 1999 NCAA Indoor meet. Her time of 9:24.46 ranks No. 12 heading into this year's meet. Senior All-American Elizabeth Jackson and sophomore Lindsey Thomsen will compete in the 5,000 meters for BYU. Thomsen has the No. 7 time with a 16:25.82, while Jackson's time of 16:27.72 places her in the No. 10 spot.

In the field events, Senior All-American Jeana Bingham enters the championships with the second best high jump in the country. Her mark of 6'00.75" (1.85m) makes her one of only nine athletes to clear six feet or better this year. Senior All-American Kirsten Bolm set a meet record with a mark of 20'09.00" (6.32m) on Feb. 17 at the Air Force Open. Her jump puts her at No. 12 heading into the championships.

The NCAA Indoor meet will begin Friday at 12:00 noon, with events running through 9:00 p.m. Action resumes Saturday at 2:00 p.m., with the final event scheduled for an 8:10 p.m. start. For complete results go to www.trackwire.rivals.com