PROVO -- When the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships get under way this week in Sacramento, Calif., 17 athletes from BYU will be ready to compete in 16 different events.
The men's team is currently ranked No. 6 by Trackwire and is projected to score 30 points at this year's championships. The men have not finished in the top-10 since 1991, when they finished fourth.
The women's team is currently ranked No. 8 and is projected to score 28 points.
The women managed a sixth-place finish at this year's NCAA indoor championships. The women have finished in the top-10 five times since 1997.
The Cougars are expecting strong performance from all 17 athletes. The following athletes are projected to score team points: Bryan Lindsay (1,500m), Robbie Pratt and Trent Powell (pole vault), Rodrigo Mendes (triple jump), Aneta Lemeisz (800m), Heidi Magill (1,500m), Rena Chesser (steeplechase) and Amy Menlove (long jump).
Several more Cougars are ranked just out of scoring contention and are poised to pick up team points.
The men have not picked up an individual title since current sprints coach, Leonard Myles-Mills, won the 100-meter dash in 1999. Currently, Mendes and Pratt are ranked No. 1 in their respective events.
The women's team, meanwhile, has three of the last four NCAA champions in the steeplechase. This year's race will feature Chesser and Lisa Pratt. Chesser is currently ranked seventh in the event. Lemeisz is the highest ranked BYU woman, projected to finish second in the 800 meters.
The Cougars will have athletes competing during all four days of the meet. Other Cougar athletes scheduled to compete this year are Nik Arrhenius (discus), Ben Gardner, Jake Garlick and Bryan Payne (400mH), Josh McAdams (steeplechase), Josh Rohatinsky (10,000m), Lindsey Metcalf (high jump) and Kamila Rywelska (triple jump). Menlove will also compete in the heptathlon.
The Cougars should also receive a number of All-American citations.
The women earned four All-American honors at last year's championship. High jumper Metcalf is going for her fourth consecutive outdoor citation in the high jump. She also three indoor citations to her name as well.
Lisa Pratt received All-American honors in the steeplechase is 2003, while
Rywelska has two indoor triple jump citations.
Last year, the men received three All-American citations are poised to earn more than that this year. Arrhenius and Powell have previously received outdoor All-American honors, while Mendes has received an indoor citation.
Sacramento State will host this year's meet. For the first time since World War II, the NCAA meet has a semi-permanent home. The NCAA track and field committee broke with tradition in awarding the 2005, 2006 and 2007 collegiate track championships to Sacramento. The NCAA meet hasn't been held at the same site in successive years since Marquette University in Milwaukee played host to the 1944-45 championships.
Sacramento State hosted the 2003 NCAA meet, attracting 31,900 fans over four days of competition at the AG. Spanos Sports Complex. Sacramento averaged more than 20,000 spectators over 16 days of competition at the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials.
This year's NCAA competition begins Wednesday, June 8, at 11 a.m. with qualifying in the women's discus. The first day of competition includes the first five events of the decathlon. Thursday's schedule features five finals, including the men's and women's 10,000 meters. Friday's schedule has 14 finals, and Saturday features a nonstop slate of finals from 1:30 p.m. (women's hammer) through 8:45 p.m. (women's 4 x 400 relay).
Stay tuned to www.byucougars.com for daily recaps of all the Cougar athletes in action at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.