Another Record-breaking Weekend for Track

The No. 12 men's and No. 18 women’s track teams continued to roll this weekend at the Medalist Invitational, Air Force Invitational and the Husky Classic.

“We had tremendous results today,” said BYU women’s distance coach Patrick Shane. “It was really exciting to see Lacey Cramer perform so well in the 800-meter. Overall it was a great meet.”

Cramer, a freshman standout from Cedar Hills, Utah set a new BYU and Mountain West Conference record in the 800-meter run (2:05.77) finishing first at the Husky Classic in Seattle. Her provisional qualifying time ranks eighth in the nation and was nearly an automatic qualifying mark (2:05.00).

Katie Palmer who previously owned the school’s 800-meter record, which she set last week in New York, continued her sophomore success this weekend in the 1 mile event. Palmer an All-American on last year’s distance medley relay team set a MWC season best time of 4:42.39 at the Dempsey Indoor Facility. Her time ranks fifth on the MWC all-time list. Palmer was closely followed by fellow All-American teammate Angela Wagner, who finished with a provisional qualifying time of 4:43.34.

In the 5,000-meter event junior Cecily Lemmon created more distance at the top of the MWC standings with a provisional qualifying time of 16:33.47.

The women’s team was equally impressive at the Air Force Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colorado finishing first in the scored meet.

“We competed very well this weekend, “said BYU women’s track and field head coach Craig Poole. “This was a good meet to have right before Conference Championships.”

The Cougars got off to a quick and dominant start in the 200-meter event, where BYU took first through third. MWC Player of the Week Natalie Stewart won the race with a time of 24.06 placing her second on BYU’s All-Time list. All-American Mindy Neeley took second (24.07), which places her third on BYU’s All-Time indoor list and All-American Amy Menlove rounded out the top three with a time of 24.47. Stewart and Neeley’s times in the 200-meter event currently rank first and second in the MWC.

Neeley and Menlove carried the momentum into the long jump event and 60-meter hurdles. Neeley took first in the long jump with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 20-02.25, followed by Menlove who jumped 19-10.25. Menlove however, had even more impressive results in the 60-meter hurdles where she recorded a personal best time of 8.21. Menlove’s NCAA provisional qualifying time ranks first on the 2009 Mountain West Conference descending order list and is the seventh best time in the nation.

Junior sprinter Kindy Longmore brought the Cougar success to the Medalist Invitational in Pocatello, Idaho taking first in both the 60-meter dash (7.84) and the 200-meter dash (25.57).

The men also were successful in all meets setting many new season best marks, despite some athletes getting sick before competition.

“We did well this weekend,” said BYU men’s track and field head coach Mark Robison. “We had a few athletes get sick and weren’t able to compete, but we still performed well. It will be interesting to see who will go to the MWC Championships in two weeks.”

In the field events, BYU took home the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the shot put, with juniors Leif Arrhenius placing first with a distance of 58 feet 6.75 inches and Daniel Lawson placing second with 56 feet 8.75 inches, a personal season-best.

Banking off Friday’s preliminary meets, sprinters Rhyan Atrice and Kevin Biesinger went on to place second and third in the 400-meter at the Air Force Invitational. Atrice finished in 48.37 with Biesinger closing in with 48.50.

Senior Bob Low had another successful weekend in the pole vault with a second-place finish clearing a height of 17 feet 6.50 inches.

The Husky Classic was a strong meet for the distance runners, setting seven new season best marks in the mile and 3000-meter. Travis Fuller placed first for the Cougars in the mile with a time of 4:10.32 while Dylan Shawhan finished third overall in the 3000-meter with a final time of 8:19.02.

At the Medalist Invitational, freshman George Barlow represented the Cougars taking a first-place victory in the 3000-meter with a time of 8:44.55 while Reagan Frey followed it up landing the second-place finish with a time of 8:48.67.

Leading the sprinters, Thomy Bosquet placed second in the 400-meter dash (53.31) and third in the 60-meter dash (7:32).

The Cougars are idle this weekend as they take the next two weeks to prepare for the MWC Indoor Championships in Colorado Springs.

CLICK HERE for day one recap.