Cougars set personal bests at UVU Invitational

OREM, Utah — BYU track and field athletes concluded the UVU Invitational at Hal Wing Track & Field with solid performances by sprinters, throwers and jumpers on Friday.

Women's Recap
The Cougars took first place in seven of the eight events they competed in, beginning with the shot put, where Gretchen Hoekstre (15.88m/52-1.25) and Sierra Freeland (15.55m/51-0.25) finished first and second, respectively.

Adaobi Tabugbo followed up her personal best time in Thursday's 100m hurdles qualifiers with another first-place finish, clocking a 13.46 in the final.

Cierra Tidwell-Allphin won the high jump with a mark of 1.75m/5-9. Freshman Maddie Lempka (1.65m/5-5) made her outdoor season debut, placing fourth, while Christina Blackmon (1.60m/5-3) finished sixth.

Representing BYU in the 400m were Layne Bolli (3rd, 55.83), Sami Oblad (4th, 56.86), Kayla Perry (5th, 56.88) and Georgi Ana Wilson (18th, 1:02.46). Bolli set a new personal best in the event. 

Four Cougars filled the top-8 in the 100m final, including Taye Raymond who won with a personal best time of 11.79. Raymond was joined by Tabugbo (3rd, 12.08), Awala-Shaw (6th, 12.25) and Emma Johnson (8th, 12.47). Tabugbo and Johnson also set personal bests in the event. 

Awala-Shaw (24.36) and Bolli (24.76) then finished first and second, respectively, in the 200m final. Both athletes set new personal bests.

Raymond won her second event of the day after jumping 5.61m/18-4.75 in the long jump. Camilla Andam placed ninth with a mark of 5.33m/17-5.75.

Sable Lohmeier El-Bakri (50.74m/166-5.75) closed out the meet with a first-place finish in the discus throw. Freeland set a new personal best with a toss of 47.70m/156-6, and was followed by Gretchen Hoekstre (4th, 45.51m/149-3.75), Jayda Lee (6th, 43.94m/144-2) and Sabrina Hartmann (13th, 40.78m/133-9.5).

Men's Recap
The BYU men finished the UVU Invitational with four first-place finishes, one on the track and three in field events.

In his first collegiate action, sprinter Asante Laryea-Akrong set personal bests in the 100 and 200m in addition to winning the 200m final. Laryea-Akrong improved his preliminary 200m time by 0.18 seconds to take first on Friday at 21.69, less than a second off the program’s top-10 board. The freshman from Accra, Ghana also finished runner-up in the 100m with a personal best of 11.05.

Dallin Shurts and Danny Bryant finished first and fifth, respectively, in the discus throw. Shurts’ winning mark came at 55.18m/181-0.5. Bryant won the shot put with a mark of 16.92m/55-6.25 and the hammer throw with 53.54m/175-7.75.

Sprinter Cortez Ruiz recorded two runner-up finishes in Orem. Ruiz set a personal best of 21.82 as he finished right behind Laryea-Akrong in the 200m. The sophomore from Pasco, Washington took second in the 400m with a time of 48.04.  

The Cougars are also competing at the Stanford Invitational on Friday and Saturday, April 1-2. BYU athletes are slated to begin in California on Friday with the women's 3000m steeplechase at 6:06 p.m. PDT.