Robins and Kosk Claim Titles at Robison Invitational

PROVO -- A pair of Cougar sophomores posted personal best scores to sweep the women’s heptathlon and men’s decathlon titles at the 2009 BYU Robison Invitation at Clarence Robison Track on Thursday. Mindy Robins won the heptathlon and Meelis Kosk claimed the decathlon title.

Robins won the heptathlon with a career-best score of 4,795 points, the second-highest total in the Mountain West Conference this season. Kosk finished in the top four in all five events on Thursday and recorded a career-best total of 7,270, the 12th-best score in the nation this season.

“There were a lot of strong girls competing this weekend,” Robins said. “I knew that if I came out and did what I am capable of then I would have a chance to come out on top. It feels great to win.”

“I’m happy I was able to stay healthy and finish,” Kosk said. “It’s nice to set a personal record in the decathlon and hopefully it is a score that will get me to nationals. The next decathlon is at the MWC championships so hopefully I can improve on today’s score.”

Robins entered the day in fourth place with 2,831 points but quickly made up a spot in the first event of the afternoon — the long jump. Teammate Madara Dzalbe won the event with a jump of 5.59 meters and Robins was right behind in second with a leap of 5.51 meters.

Standing in third place after five events, Robins claimed first place with a throw of 34.66 meters (113 feet 8 inches), a personal-best performance in the javelin. With the victory Robins took a 67-point overall lead in the heptathlon. Dzalbe finished second in the javelin with a throw that measured 32.32 meters (106 feet).

Needing a strong performance in the 800 meters to solidify an overall victory, Robins finished the race with a personal record time of 2:29.79 in seventh place.

“Mindy did great today,” BYU women’s head coach Craig Poole said. “It’s always nice to win at home. She had personal bests in the javelin and the 800 meters. She is very competitive, upbeat and a very hard working individual. It’s great to have her in our program.”

Kosk entered the day in second place with a score of 3,677 and started strong with a fourth-place performance in the 110 meter hurdles (14.99 seconds). Teammates Tek Fish and Justin Palmer finished third (14.90) and fifth (15.17), respectively.

In the second event of the day, the discus, Kosk registered a career-best throw that measured 44.13 meters (144 feet 9 inches). Palmer was fourth with a throw of 38.02 meters (124 feet 9 inches).

In the pole vault Kosk took second place while clearing 15 feet 1 inch. Tek Fish tied for third with a vault of 14 feet 5.25 inches.

After finishing fourth in the javelin with a throw of 159 feet 6 inches, Kosk trailed Utah State’s John Strang by 26 points, 6,661 to 6,635. Kosk claimed the decathlon title in the final event, finishing third in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:47.29.

“Meelis did a great job today,” BYU men’s track coach Mark Robison said. “It was a personal best performance for him and it should be good enough to qualify him for the NCAA championships. It was a long two days of competition but all of our guys competed hard and did great."

Competition at the 2009 BYU Robison Invitational will continue Friday and Saturday at Clarence F. Robison Track.

Day One Recap

Meet Results