Men Earn Another Conference Championship

LARAMIE -- Bringing home its 12th consecutive Mountain West Conference Outdoor Championship title, the BYU men’s track and field team placed first with 214 points.

The Cougars' tally beat out TCU (139), New Mexico (135), Air Force (124), Colorado State (110) and Wyoming (84) to earn championship honors.

Along with his team coming in first, BYU men’s track and field head coach Mark Robison received the MWC Coach of the Year award, with senior All-American Kyle Perry receiving the high point award with 21.25 points.

“I am very pleased,” said Robison. “We had some great performances and several conference champions. We have a great team and now we get to prepare for the next two weeks and get ready to do our best at regionals.”

In an amazing performance in the men’s javelin, sophomore Blaine Baker set the MWC all-time record along with a MWC meet and Louis S. Madrid track record with a first-place regional qualifying and personal best mark of 68.76-meter throw (225 feet 7 inches). This advances his spot in the BYU record books to second place overall.

Following in third place, sophomore Sean Richardson also earned a regional- qualifying mark and beat out the Louis S. Madrid track record with a final distance of 64.83 meters (212 feet 8 inches).

Adding another athlete to the BYU record books tied for fourth place, senior Bob Low broke the Madrid track record in the pole vault with a first-place vault, clearing a distance of 5.45 meters (17 feet10.5 inches). Low’s mark is a personal best along with a regional-qualifying mark.

Senior All-American Whitney Neves came in second with a vault of 5.25 meters (17 feet 2.75 inches).

Setting another Louis S. Madrid track record and earning another regional- qualifying mark, junior Bryan Payne placed first in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.42. Lance Walker and Rob Skidmore finished third and fourth overall. Walker also earned a regional-qualifying entry with a time of 52.16, while Skidmore finished in 52.40. Both also beat out the previous Madrid track record time of 52.54.

Continuing the first-place finishes for the Cougars, senior All-American Kyle Perry received an additional regional-qualifying mark and top-performance in the 1,500 meters. Perry finished first with a time of 3:56.54. Sophomore Miles Batty came in third with a final time of 3:57.75.

Increasing his personal best to 17.66 meters (57 feet 11.25 inches), junior Daniel Lawson placed first in the shot put. Lawson was the only competitor to place over 57 feet.

After advancing three to the finals in the 800-meter run, BYU freshman Justin Hedin placed second with a time of 1:57.37. Junior Brian Weirich followed in fourth with a time of 1:56.32.

In the final round of the 400-meter dash, freshman Rhyan Atrice placed third with a time of 47.14, while junior All-American Kevin Biesinger followed close behind in fourth at 47.16.