Big weekend for BYU secures spots for runners at regionals

PROVO, Utah – A five-meet weekend kept the BYU men’s and women’s track and field teams busy as the Cougars competed in the Stanford Invitational, Texas Relays, Texas State Bobcat Invitational, UVU Collegiate Invite and the San Francisco State Distance Carnival. The weekend was highlighted by regional-qualifying performances at Stanford and Texas on March 27-April 1.

“We came here to get as many additional people qualified for regionals as possible,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “I think it was 'mission accomplished'. The underlying theme at this time of the season is if you have a regional mark, you are improving on that, and if you don’t have a regional mark, let’s get a regional mark. So, that was our mission this weekend, and I think it was accomplished.”

The Cougars gave an impressive showing at the Stanford Invitational with several distance and middle-distance athletes logging regional-qualifying marks in their respective events. In the 10,000m race, Clayton Young and Jonathan Harper improved upon their personal bests, finishing in 28:45.36 and 29:05.50, respectively, with Young claiming the second-best time in the West and Harper in 14th currently. Young also broke into the top 10 all-time at BYU in the 10,000m and is now in fifth place.

Chase Horrocks now sits in sixth place nationally in the 1500m after running a 3:43.51 at Stanford, and is in good company with Trevor Fuhriman in 22nd and Talem Franco in 26th after recording times of 3:46.60 and 3:47.10, respectively.

Daniel Carney and Mitchell Briggs recorded regional marks of 8:51.78 and 8:52.44 in the 3000m steeplechase and sit in fifth and 11th on the regional lists. Porter Reddish is now close behind in 18th with a time of 8:59.22 after Stanford.

Also worth noting is Jacob Heslington’s 3000m steeplechase debut performance at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival, where he finished with a time of 8:51 for a sure regional qualifier, putting him in 10th place overall.

Courtney Wayment gave yet another outstanding performance in the 3000m steeplechase at Stanford, taking nearly 15 seconds off her previous personal best with a time of 10:04.43. She now sits in second place overall on the regional list in her event.

Shea Collinsworth, Whittni Orton and Erica Birk all now reside in the top 10 on the regional list of the 1500 meters after the Stanford Invitational. Collinsworth recorded a time of 4:15.81, Orton one of 4:17.50 and Birk a time of 4:19.34. Ashleigh Warner and Anna Camp are close behind in 24th and 38th with times of 4:23.78 and 4:26.08.

At the Texas Relays, Zachary Stetler finished in second place in the shot put with a personal best of 18.58m, a regional qualification, while Tatenda Tsumba ran a 10.19 in the men’s 100 meters to put him in sixth place on BYU’s all-time list. Brenna Porter recorded a 14.61 in the 100m hurdles, a new personal record, while she qualified for regionals in the 400m hurdles with a time of 59.20.

Kevin Nielsen took fourth place overall at the Texas Relays with a total score of 7439 which puts him in fourth place on the regional lists and should also qualify him for the national meet.

Meanwhile at the UVU Invitational, Ricky Fantroy jumped a personal best of 15.02m in the triple jump for a regional qualification and a personal record, meanwhile running a personal best in the 100m of 10.81. Lindsay Yetter also recorded a personal best in the high jump with a mark of 1.80m, a sure regional qualifier.

See links below for full lists of results from all BYU meets this weekend.

Next, the Cougars will travel to Tempe, Arizona, to compete in the Sun Angel Classic on April 7-8.