Wayment, Clinger and Garnica take top-10 marks at Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. — BYU track and field began the Stanford Invitational with a bang as three athletes recorded top-10 performances at Cobb Track on Friday. 

"Stanford was a great opener for our outdoor season," BYU associate director of track and field Diljeet Taylor said. "I’m really happy with how the women performed overall. We had some good marks that put us in a good position going into the season. I’m excited to continue to work hard with this group as we prepare for the latter part of the season."

Women's Recap
The Cougars began the evening with the 3000m steeplechase. In Section 2, Madi Moffitt (10:35.80), Allie Warner (10:39.17) and Lizzie Dildine (10:51.47) finished second, fourth and seventh, respectively.

In the Invitational steeplechase, Lexy Halladay placed third, clocking a 10:06.09. Warner, Dildine and Halladay each set personal bests in the event.

BYU athletes raced in three sections of the 1500m. Claire Seymour won Section 3, running a 4:20.78. Sadie Sargent (6th, 4:25.73) set a personal best, and Anastaysia Davis finished ninth with a time of 4:28.30.

Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes won Section 2 of the 1500m, running a personal best 4:15.43. Carmen Alder (4:16.30) placed second and Heather Hanson clocked a 4:24.24 for ninth place.

Courtney Wayment’s personal best time of 4:12.81 in the Invitational 1500m was good for third overall, but put her at No. 5 all-time in school history. Also racing in the Invite heat was Kate Hunter (8th, 4:15.93).

"Courtney can compete at an elite level in races from 800m to 5000m," said Eyestone. "For her to drop down and do some speed work shows that she is off to a great start this season." 

In the 5000m, Destiny Everett (23rd, 17:26.57) and Eliza Arrington (26th, 17:48.00) represented the Cougars.

Closing out the night in the 10,000m, Aubrey Frentheway (8th, 33:18.36) and McKenna Lee (14th, 33:43.51) competed in the Invite heat, while Anna Martin (8th, 34:48.59), Haley Johnston (11th, 35:03.19), Julie Sumsion (14th, 35:14.43) and Rachel Morrin (15th, 35:44.17) raced in Section 2. Lee, Sumsion and Morrin all set personal best times in the event.

On Saturday, Ali Baker made her outdoor debut in Section 6 of the 800m, running a 2:16.73 for an eight-place finish.

Men's Recap
Casey Clinger and Brandon Garnica were shone under the lights as a night of distance running came to a close for the No. 17 BYU men at Stanford. Clinger and Garnica each put on some of the program’s top-10 all-time performances as they finished third and sixth, respectively, in the 10,000m.

Clinger podiumed with Victor Kiprop of Alabama and winner Mohamed Mohumed of Germany. The sophomore from American Fork, Utah fought-off Northern Arizona’s Abdihamid Nur for third, beating Nur by over a second. Clinger’s time of 28:16.15 was good for No. 7 all-time at BYU, surpassing a 2019 mark set by Clayton Young.

Garnica followed close behind at sixth with the program’s No. 9 all-time 10,000m time of 28:19.60. This surpasses Clayson Shumway’s 28:36.07 from 2019.

"Casey and Brandon's performances and times were excellent, particularly when they were the pace-setters over the last two-thirds of the race," BYU director of track and field Ed Eyestone said. "In the right circumstances I believe they will drop well under the 28 minutes required to score points at nationals." 

Despite competing in his first collegiate outdoor 10,000m, freshman Joey Nokes came in 18th and just 1.82 seconds shy of the top-10 board. 

Adam Wood (8:49.26) finished runner-up in section two of the steeplechase, overtaking Utah State’s Mark Crandall by seven seconds and coming in just 0.15 behind winner Bryce Lentz of Air Force.

Davin Thompson also saw success in the steeplechase as he shaved off 11 seconds for a new personal best of 8:57.48 and finished sixth.

Zac Jacklin rounded out the Cougars’ best finishes of the day as he took 10th in the 5000m at 14:33.83.

Check back Saturday to see the results from the Cougars' final two events at the Stanford Invitational with men's and women's 800m.