Eight Cougars Finish in Top Five

NEW YORK -- The No. 7 ranked BYU women’s track and field team got off to a fast start Friday at the New Balance Invitational, ending the day with eight top five finishes and an overall team lead.

"We had a lot of great performances today," BYU head coach Patrick Shane said. "We overcame a rough start in the medley relay and also had a great group finish in the 1000m. We have put ourselves in good position to win the meet."

Juniors Lacey Bleazard, Katie Palmer, Natalie Stewart and freshman Kari Hardt had one of the top performances of the day, taking second in the championship division of the distance medley relay in 11:03.70. The time ranks third in the NCAA.

In the championship division of the 1000m, junior Sarah Edwards took home the win for the second consecutive year, finishing in 2:45.73, over three seconds faster than the second-place runner.

Ashlee Thomas also nabbed a spot in the top five of the 1000m race, finishing in 2:51.92. Senior Stacy Slight took ninth in the race with a time of 2:52.70.

Also placing in the top five of a championship division competition was sophomore Rachel Fisher. Fisher cleared 4.10m in the pole vault to take third place overall. Teammate Kelli Ehardt took 11th in the event, clearing 3.80m.

Another top race for the Cougars was the 5000m run. Morgan Haws ran a season best time of 16:20.24 to take second in the event, while teammates Kate Bowen (16:25.94) and Katy Andrews (16:26.42) took fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the college division of competition, Alyssa Christensen led BYU with a second place finish in the 60m hurdles in 8.67. Also finishing in the top 10 in a college division race was freshman Aubrey Hale, who snagged seventh place in the 60m dash with a time of 7.78.

The New Balance Invitational continues Saturday at 6:55 am MDT.

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