COLUMBIA -- BYU discus thrower Leif Arrhenius unleashed the longest throw in the nation at the Tom Botts Invitational on Friday afternoon.
Arrhenius' throw of 207 feet 1 inch qualifies him as the fifth-best thrower in BYU history. His throw was more than two feet farther than Liberty's Clendon Henderson's mark of 204 feet 3 inches, the previous best mark in the nation.
"Leif was unbelievable today," BYU men's coach Mark Robison said. "He had four throws over his lifetime best."
Arrhenius' brother, Niklas, was the 2007 Outdoor National Champion in the discus with a throw of 206 feet 2 inches. Niklas has been training with Leif for the past few months.
"Niklas has been helping out all the throwers," Leif said. "There's nothing better than having your brother there to help you out."
With a crosswind of more than 20 miles per hour and temperatures dipping into the low 40s, the conditions weren't ideal for consistent throwing.
"The wind was really strong, which can sometimes hurt you," Leif said. "But a few of my throws hit the wind just right and it carried them."
After not throwing the discus for almost three years because of an LDS mission to Taiwan, Leif got a mark of 196 feet 5 inches two weeks ago at the ASU Invite. He earned MWC Athlete of the Week honors for that throw.
Some of Leif's distance rubbed off on BYU Sophomore Megan Tyler who threw the discus 152 feet 5 inches, a personal best by seven feet. Tyler finished in second place behind Missouri's Shernelle Nicholls.
"Megan really had a good meet," BYU women's coach Craig Poole said. "She had an even better throw, but it just went out of bounds."
Because of the inclement weather, all of the running events that were scheduled for Friday were rescheduled for Saturday. This moved the men's and women's discus and men's and women's shot put to Friday.
"The people here at Missouri have been very hospitable," Poole said. "The athletes are learning how to compete well in adverse conditions."
Competition will resume on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT with the women's 3000-meter steeplechase. In addition, a few athletes on the men's team will be competing in the Javier's Wildcat Open at Weber State on Saturday starting at 10 a.m.
Click here for a schedule of events and live results of the Tom Botts Invitational
Click here for a schedule of events and live results of the Javier's Wildcat Open