Riner wins javelin title at NCAA Track & Field Championships

EUGENE, Ore. — Ashton Riner took home the Cougars’ first ever javelin national title as No. 14 BYU women’s track and field opened competition at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on Thursday.

“I’m super proud of Ashton,” BYU throws coach Niklas Arrhenius said. “ I always felt that she had this capacity, so it’s amazing that she’s been able to have this great, year, stay healthy, and be able to win this championship.

The nation’s leader coming into the final, Riner launched a 58.24m/191-1 opening mark, that no other thrower would touch in the 24-athlete flight. The junior would win the event by just under two feet, earning the Cougar’s first women’s field title since Anna Mosdell’s discus title in 1992.

"Ashton demonstrated tonight why she was the No. 1 ranked javelin thrower in the nation," BYU director of track and field Ed Eyestone said. "She took the lead in dominant fashion on her very first throw and was never challenged. I'm so happy for her and Coach Arrhenius, who with his three javelin entries has become one of the top javelin coaches in the country."

Riner is also the first BYU field athlete, men’s or women’s, to win an individual national title since Arrehnius did so in 2007. Alex McAllister competed in the javelin as well, placing 18th overall with a mark of 50.71m/166-4.

Senior Courtney Wayment opened the evening in the 3000-meter steeplechase semifinal, taking care of business by running a 9:41.21 to advance to Saturday's final.

Wayment led nearly the entire way before giving way to Akransas’ Logan Jolly, Notre Dame’s Olivia Makrezich and West Virginia’s Ceili McCabe during the bell lap to finish fourth in her heat, and overall, securing an automatic bid.

The Bowerman award watch list member will race in the steeplechase final on Saturday at 2:54 p.m. PDT for a shot at the third invitational national title of her career.

Freshman Lexy Halladay also competed in the steeplechase, finishing 23rd with a time of 10:31.38. In the 800-meters semifinal, junior Claire Seymour finished 18th after running a 2:04.91, and junior Aubrey Frentheway’s 34:31.59 was good for 22nd place in the 10,000-meters.

Men's Decathlon
Dallin Vorkink won the concluding event of the decathlon with a 4:22.92 time in the 1,500-meters, earning 792 points and jumping to an 11th-place finish with a total of 7,592.

Vorkink struggled to begin day two of the decathlon, finding himself mired in 20th after the 110-meter hurdles. The junior from Kirksville, Missouri went on to finish top-5 in three of his final four events, including fifth in the discus throw (42.63m/138-10) and second in the pole vault (4.91m/16-1.25). Vorkink still had plenty left in the tank for the 1,500m as he plowed into the lead and staved off UT-Arlington’s Lucas Van Klaveren for the win.

At 11th overall, Vorkink finishes the season as a Second Team All-American, improving from his 17th-place and Honorable Mention All-American finish a season ago.

Day 3
Halley Folsom Walker begins day three in Eugene with the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles on Friday at 1 p.m. PDT on ESPN3. Kenneth Rooks, Colten Yardley and Casey Clinger will each compete in the their respective finals beginning on Friday at 6:24 p.m. PDT on ESPN2.