4x400 clinches school record at MPSF Championships

SEATTLE—The 4x400m relay team smashed a school record and led the BYU women’s track and field team to tie for a seventh place finish at the MPSF Championships in Seattle.

“The real highlight this weekend came from the women’s 4x400 which earned a school record,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “Brenna Porter had an amazing leg. Angela Shields started it off to Porter, to Lauren Baxter to Kensey Berry and it was pretty exciting.”

The 4x400m relay team broke BYU’s indoor school record and earned the team fifth place overall. The team consisted of Angela Shields, Lauren Baxter, Brenna Porter and Kensey Berry with a time of 3:40.93.

Junior Elizabeth Wilson, who is ranked No. 34 in the nation, earned second place in the pentathlon with 3872 points.  She championed the long jump event in the pentathlon with a mark of 5.58m (18-03.75). Wilson also championed the shot put event in the pent, with a throw of 12.36m (40-06.75). She also excelled in the 800m race of the pentathlon, where she earned third with a time of 2:20.55.

Freshman Nicole Laws finished in fourth place in the pentathlon. She championed the 60m hurdles race with a time of 8.50. Out of the five pentathlon events, BYU athletes Laws and Wilson won three of them.

Senior Deezbaa Whaley didn’t disappoint and took fourth place in the weight throw with a mark of 18.92m (62-01.00).

Andrea Nelson Harrison secured sixth place in the 3,000m race with a time of 9:23.65.

BYU’s No. 39 nationally ranked distance medley relay, earned third place with a time of  11:21.77, only .11 seconds behind second place team Arizona.  The DMR consisted of athletes Shea Martinez, Allysa Hansen, Kensey Berry and Sarah Yingling.

No. 20 Rachel Fisher finished in tenth place in the pole vault with a mark of 3.96m (12-11.75).

“I thought the troops rallied really well, and it was a successful meet,” Eyestone said. “We closed it out with a  great 4x400 and the girls getting the school record, that was a nice exclamation point at the end of the indoor season.”

Fisher is the only female athlete with the potential to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 14. Currently she is ranked No. 20, and the top 16 are invited to compete.  If Fisher does not qualify, the women will rest and transition to outdoor season which will begin with the Trojan Invitational at USC on March 21.