COLUMBIA -- Seven individual athletes on the BYU women's track and field team finished in first place at the Tom Botts Invitational on Saturday.
Sophomore Stacy Slight won the 1500 meters (4:40.38), senior Angela Petersen won the 3000-meter steeplechase (11:05.00), freshman Mindy Robins won the 100-meter hurdles (14.04), senior Nicole Rasmussen won the 400-meter hurdles (1:02.45), sophomore Kindy Longmore won the 200 meters (25.33), junior Ashley Payne won the high hump (5-05.00) and sophomore Madara Dzalbe won the triple jump (38-06.75).
"These were probably the coldest conditions I've ever seen in my 28 years of coaching, but the athletes really put out an effort and I was very pleased with their competitive nature," BYU women's coach Craig Poole said.
For the No. 8 men's team, three Cougar pole vaulters swept the top-three spots. After moving the pole vault indoors because of the 40-degree weather and strong winds, Senior Matt Weirich won the event with a jump of 17 feet 0.75 inches, junior Whitney Neves and sophomore Chris Little took second and third, respectively, with a vaults of 16 feet 6.75 inches.
Sophomore Kevin Biesinger also had a good day, finishing first in the 200 meters in 21.83 seconds and second place in the 100 meters with a time of 11.08 seconds. BYU's Nick Herold finished first in the 100 meters in 10.95 seconds.
Freshman Aaron Powell rounded out BYU's top performers with a first-place and season-best mark of 46 feet 7.5 inches in the triple jump.
"The thing I was most pleased about was that we realized the conditions weren't completely conducive to good marks, but everybody gave their best effort," BYU men's coach Mark Robison said.
Five BYU men's athletes also competed in the Javier's Wildcat Open at Weber State on Saturday. Junior Justin Palmer won the javelin with a season-best throw of 171 feet 7 inches and junior Dustin Lawrenson threw 165 feet in the discus to finish first.
The Cougars will next be in action at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 17.