Men Lead After Day One at Nationals

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Getting the No. 10 BYU men’s track team on the board early, seniors Leif Arrhenius and Chris Little, along with sophomore Victor Weirich scored 17.5 total points on the first day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

The early scoring puts the Cougars in first place after three scored events. All three scorers earn US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association First Team All-America honors.

“We were able to score a lot of points today,” head coach Mark Robison said. “It was a good day, I was very pleased with how everyone performed. We will have to see how the next few days go but we can do some really good things.”

Arrhenius competed in his first of two events, the discus throw. He finished in second place with a best throw of 61.36m (201-03.00). His second event, the shot put, will take place on Friday at 4:30 MT.

With three competitors in the pole vault, BYU was hoping to get a strong performance and cashed in with a third and fourth-place finish from Little and Weirich. Little cleared 5.35m (17-06.50) while Weirich managed to hit a mark of 5.25m (17-02.75). Senior Tanner Emrich also competed, but battled an ankle injury and couldn't pick up any points.

Two other athletes competed on day one. Junior Justin Hedin ran in the 800 meters, finishing the semi-finals with a personal-best 1:48.52. In 20th place he missed out on qualifying for the finals. Sophomore Jacob Cosby turned in a 9:02.09 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for a 19th place finish in the semi-finals.

The NCAA Championships continue tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. MT. Junior Miles Batty will be running in his qualifying heat of the 1,500 meters at 5:15 MT.

For results from today’s action and to follow tomorrow’s live results CLICK HERE.

To watch a live webcast CLICK HERE.