Women’s track heads back to California for Mt. Sac Relays

PROVO, Utah – The BYU women’s track and field team heads back to California this weekend for the 55th annual Mt. Sac Relays, where collegiate, professional and Olympic athletes will compete.

The main body of athletes set to compete for BYU comes from the distance events. The rest of the team will compete at the Utah State Mark Faldmo Invitational in Logan, Utah.

In 2012, former track star Nachelle Mackie ran one of the fastest 800-meter times of her career during the Mt. Sac Relays. Mackie finished second with a time of 2:01.11 in a heat comprised of seven professional athletes and no other collegians.

As a recap from last week, the Cougars won the Mid-Major Challenge over Sacramento State with 155 points and five first-place finishes.

During the first night of competition, Rachel Fisher led the Cougars to their first, first-place finish in the pole vault with a vault of 3.95 meters (12-11.50).

On day two, Sarah Yingling finished first in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:20.25. Yingling also broke the Mid-Major Challenge meet record in the 1,500 set by Kim Conley of UC Davis in 2009. Kelsey Brown finished first in the 800 with a time of 2:06.83, a new personal best during the outdoor season.

Allysa Hansen finished first in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.64. The final first-place finish came from Wardell in the javelin, who finished with a throw of 44.49m (145-11.00).

Even though the BYU 4x400-meter relay team finished second, the team’s performance helped BYU hold off Sacramento State to win the meet. The relay team consisting of Allysa Hansen, Nicole Rudd Bringhurst, Angela Shields and Natalie Stewart finished with a time of 3:46.34.

The Mt. Sac Relays begins with the women’s 1,500 on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. PDT at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

Results will be available at mtsacrelays.com.

The Utah State Mark Faldmo invitational begins with the women's hammer throw on Friday at 4:00 p.m. PST at Ralph Maughan Track Stadium.

Results will be available at utahstateaggies.com.