Cougars Off to Arizona

PROVO -- The Cougar track and field teams will gravitate towards the sun this weekend as they compete in Tempe, Ariz. at the second meet of the season.

The weekend will begin early for the decathletes as they compete at the University of Arizona Decathlon Thursday and Friday. The rest of the Cougar men and women will follow them to Arizona and will compete at Arizona State University Friday and Saturday.

"The second meet of the season should be a whole lot better for us," Coach Mark Robison said. "We're hoping the weather's a bit better than last week and there's some really good competition."

Looking forward to the weekend, great things are in the wings for the throwing squad. Not only did two new talented freshmen, Blaine Baker and Chris Reno, finish second and third in the javelin at their first collegiate meet in Arizona last weekend, but also throwing threat Niklas Arrhenius completed his indoor season redshirt and is back in full force.

In his first meet of the season last weekend, Arrhenius threw the discus for 204 feet 7.5 inches, among the top-10 All-time BYU throws and currently one of the farthest throws in the nation. And the season's only just begun. Arrhenius, a graduate of Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah, will throw both discus and shot put at ASU. He hasn't competed in the shot put since he took the title in the event at the MWC Outdoor Championships in 2005.

With the whole outdoor season ahead of them, both teams are looking forward to top performances in the upcoming meets. The first of five 2006 home meets will be next week. Provo will also play host to the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championships and NCAA Regionals.

Results will be posted following Saturday's competition.