Birk-Jarvis breaks fifth school record

SACRAMENTO – Erica Birk-Jarvis broke the school steeplechase record and BYU track and field added eight more national qualifiers at the NCAA West Preliminary on Friday.

“So many good things happened tonight,” Ed Eyestone said. “It was very exciting to have eight athletes punch tickets to nationals tonight. Erica especially was phenomenal in her record-breaking performance. She looks so strong right now."

Birk-Jarvis won her heat of the 3000m steeplechase in 9:42.54 to break the BYU record and advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The All-American has already broken school records in the indoor mile, indoor 3000m, indoor distance medley relay and outdoor 5000m.

The BYU men’s steeplechase squad qualified four athletes for the semifinal at Nationals. Kenneth Rooks (8:36.08) won his heat to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships while also moving up the school record board to No. 6 all-time. Matt Owens (8:39.95) finished second in his heat to return to Nationals for the second year in a row while both Clayson Shumway (8:36.25) and Jacob Heslington (8:39.58) advanced off of their times.

Anna Camp-Bennett advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 800m. Her time of 2:03.89 is now the eighth-fastest time ran in BYU history. Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes also moved on to Nationals after taking second place in her heat with a time of 2:05.10.

Brenna Porter will compete in the 400m hurdles at the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row. The All-American won her heat with a time of 56.98 to advance.

Michael Bluth clocked the seventh-fastest outdoor 400m in BYU history with a 46.01. Bluth was the last athlete out finishing two-hundredths of a second behind the final national-qualifying time. 

In the pole vault, Elise Romney cleared a career height of 4.17m/13-8.25 for the eighth-best mark in BYU history.

Freshman javelin thrower Cameron Bates barely missed qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor by two spots after finishing 14th overall with a mark of 67.03m/219-11. Senior Kraymer Eppich finished his career at BYU on a high note with a season-best 64.44m/211-5.

The eight national qualifiers from today boost BYU track and field's total to 15 heading into the final day of events. A recap for the first day of the meet can be found here.

The Cougars will wrap up competition at the NCAA West Prelims on Saturday, May 24. Official results from the first two days as well as live results for the final day can be found here. For team updates, follow @byutrackfieldxc on Instagram or @BYUTFXC on Twitter.

Thursday's Results, May 23

Friday, May 24

Saturday, May 25

* -- If qualified