BYU Men's DMR Finishes Fifth at Indoor Championships

COLLEGE STATION -- Finishing up day one of the NCAA Indoor Championships, the BYU men’s track and field team placed fifth nationally in the distance medley relay earning All-America honors.

“To finish fifth in the nation is great,” said BYU men’s track and field Mark Robison. “I’m really proud of our athletes. Earning All-America is a huge accomplishment, and they all performed really well.”

Going into the competition ranked fifth with a qualifying time of 9:29.97, All-American seniors Keith Jensen, Kyle Perry and Jacob Gustafsson along with junior Kevin Biesinger, finished with a final time of 9:35.36.

“We got out there and we fought tough,” said Perry. “We gave it a good shot; I’m not disappointed at all. To finish fifth in the nation is great and in now way depressing.”

Coming in with the first-place finish was Oregon with a time of 9:29.59, followed in second by Arkansas in 9:30.31, with third and fourth going to California in 9:30.39 and Texas in 9:32.77.

“I’m so proud of all my teammates,” said Biesinger. “I also appreciate our coaches and everything they did to help us get here at the right time and in the best shape we could to perform well. It feels great to be an All-Amercian.”

This marks Perry’s fourth All-America title, second for Gustafsson and Jensen and first for Biesinger.

Despite having a top-five finish in the DMR, senior All-American Bob Low was unable to claim his final All-America title in the pole vault due to health problems.

“Bob’s been sick and had a hard time getting in the right place,” said Robison. “I was sad that he didn’t get to earn the title he deserved, but we still have another day of competition, so hopefully tomorrow goes a little better.”

Low entered the competition in a three-way tie for fifth place nationally with a vault height of 5.45 meters.

The BYU men’s team will enter day two of competition in a five-way tie for 23rd with Alabama, Auburn, Miami and Oral Roberts with four points.

Events resume Saturday at noon CT with the conclusion of the heptathlon. Finishing up for the Cougars in the weight throw will be junior All-American Leif Arrhenius. The weight throw is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. CT.

For full results of the NCAA Indoor National Championships go to www.trackshark.com.