14 Qualifying Marks for Cougs

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PROVO -- The BYU women's and No. 17 men's track and field team compiled 14 regional qualifying marks on Saturday at the 2008 Robison Invitational.

"This was a great meet," BYU men's coach Mark Robison said. "We performed extremely well today. I was really impressed with our pole vault and steeplechasers."

BYU senior Matt Weirch concluded his last Robison Invitational with a bang, clearing 17 feet 4.5 inches in the pole vault, and the Cougars had three regional qualifiers in the steeplechase.

Weirich, from Lindon, Utah, won the event, setting the 10th-best mark in the nation.

"The conditions weren't ideal, but I'm ecstatic to jump 17-04 into a headwind," Weirich said.

BYU junior Whitney Neves finished in second place, also with a 17-04.5 jump. Junior Bob Low, the current No. 4-ranked pole vaulter in the nation, finished third and sophomore Chris Little finished fourth. All four Cougar vaulters posted regional marks.

"Having three or four top pole vaulters in the nation on my same team gives me a lot of motivation," Weirich said. "We're all there to support each other, and to practice everyday with some of the best pole vaulters in the nation is unbelievable."

BYU senior Derek Taylor won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:05.92. All-American senior Chandler Goodwin finished second in 9:08.65 and sophomore Ryan Merriman finished third, crossing the line in 9:14.47.

Meanwhile, Leif Arrhenius qualified for regionals in the hammer throw with a toss of 189 feet. With that mark, Arrhenius has now regionally qualified in the discus, shot put and hammer.

WOMEN

"All in all, this was a very good meet," BYU women's coach Craig Poole said. "Sometimes the athletes don't perform as well because of finals and graduation, and today some of the underclassmen didn't perform as well as they would've liked because of those distractions."

Seniors Amy Fowler-Layne and Ashley McAllister set qualifying marks.

Veterans like All-American Fowler-Layne qualified in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after winning the event in 10:40.26.

"That was an important, break-through race for Amy because she has been suffering from some chronic fatigue," said Patrick Shane, the BYU women's distance coach. "To see one of our poster girls struggle is difficult for us, and I was happy to see her run so well."

And although McAllister already qualified for regionals earlier this season, she finished in second place behind Olympic gold medalist Stacy Dragila with a jump of 12-07.50.