Nielson and Carlisle overcome Texas A&M runners, claim first and second

LOS ANGELES – Lindsey Sowards Nielson and Candace Eddy Carlisle came from behind to finish first and second in the 3,000-meter run at Loker Stadium Friday to lead the BYU women’s track team during day one of the Trojan Invitational.

“Lindsey and Candace both had a great finishing kick in the home stretch of the 3,000,” BYU coach Patrick Shane said. “For a moment, it didn’t look like they were going to be able to catch the girls ahead of them. They fought hard, they dug down and had enough left to pull it off.”

Nielson and Carlisle jumped out in front early and led for the majority of the race but were overtaken by Texas A&M’s Amanda Jenkins and Grace Fletcher with 200 meters to go.  As the four runners were closing in with 150m left, Jenkins and Fletcher led by 10 to 20m but Nielson and Carlisle began to narrow the gap. With 100m left in the race, Nielson and Carlisle retook the lead to finish first and second with times of 9:37.64 and 9:38.46, respectively.

Jenkins and Fletcher finished third and fourth with times of 9:38.87 and 9:39.50.

BYU’s Laura Young also competed in the 3,000, finishing seventh in 9:48.83.

In the 5,000-meter race, Nicole Nielsen and Katie Swanson were the sole competitors in the race finishing with times of 17:24.99 and 17:47.34. Without BYU’s knowledge, all other contestants in the 5,000 pulled out in order to compete in the 3,000 leaving Nielsen and Swanson on their own.

In the hammer throw, Deezbaa Whaley and Meaghan Heffelfinger each finished with new personal bests placing sixth and 13^th, respectively. Whaley finished with a throw of 54.77m (179-08.00), while Heffelfinger threw for 47.91m (157-02.00).

The Trojan Invitational will continue competition Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT beginning with the women’s pole vault at Loker Stadium.

Results from the first day of the invitational can be found at runnerspace.com.