LOS ANGELES -- Steve Flint and James Tracy both set career-best times in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Saturday afternoon in the USC Trojan Invitational at Loker Stadium, finishing second and third, respectively, in the event.
Flint finished the race in 8:51.08, just fractions of a second behind the first place time of 8:51.03. Tracy came in just behind the first two finishers with a time of 8:56.75. BYU head coach Mark Robison said he is hopeful the steeplechase times will be good enough to qualify Flint and Tracy for the regional meet.
“Both Flint and Tracy had a phenomenal race,” Robison said. “Overall it was a very good day for us. Some of the young kids competed well against top competition. We also realized we’ve got a way to go, but that’s a good thing. That’s why we want to go up against the best schools in the country; so we can see where we need to improve.”
Erik Harris and Jacob Cosby also ran in the steeplechase for BYU, taking seventh and eighth, respectively, with times of 9:21.86 and 9:48.91.
In the 100-meter dash, senior Fan Fan Charles took fifth overall with a time of 10.56. Jason Hinds took seventh in 10.63 while Benjamin Meyer and Jacob Arslanian took 13th and 14th, respectively, with times of 11.09 and 11.13.
Hinds took eighth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.78. Charles followed in 11th place, finishing in 21.99. Arslanian (22.42), Meyer (22.51) and transfer Bejon Bryant (23.45) also ran in the race, taking 14th, 15th and 16th, respectively.
Bryant also competed in the 110-meter hurdles, taking eleventh with a time of 15.21.
Cade Lindahl was the top performer for BYU in the 400-meter dash, taking fifth overall in 47.90. Rhyan Atrice finished the race in 48.29, good for eighth place, while Mario Harper took tenth with a time of 48.60. David Graham finished in the 12th spot with a time of 50.58.
Korey Smith set a career-best mark in the 400-meter hurdles, beating his old personal record by more than two seconds. His time of 52.64 was the best of his heat and earned him the fourth spot overall in the event.
In the 1,500-meter run, Ryan Jones took fifth overall with a time of 3:51.83. Brad Nye came in eighth with a time of 3:54.66 and Jared Rohatinsky took 11th place, finishing in 3:58.24.
The Cougars’ 4x100-meter relay team of John Lamont, Arslanian, Hinds and Charles took fifth in the event with a time of 41.29. BYU’s 4x400-meter relay “A” team of Atrice, Graham, Harper and Lindahl fared better, taking second overall with a time of 3:12.98.
In the jumps, Scott Matheson finished third overall in the long jump with a distance of 22-09.75. John Glazier finished in fifth with a mark of 22-01.50 and Jonathan Ferguson took sixth, jumping 21-11.50.
Dakoda John tied for third place in the high jump competition, clearing 6-09.75. Sam Rockwood tied for sixth with his mark of 6-08.00.
In the triple jump, Scott Matheson set a career-best mark of 47-01.00, good for fourth place. It was Matheson’s first triple jump competition in three years.
In the throws, Dennis Christensen took first overall in the shot put competition with a mark of 51-11.75. The Cougars were represented well in the discus competition by Winston Wilkinson, who took second overall with a throw of 168-11.00. Jacob Foutz came in fifth with a mark of 153-02.00 and Christensen took seventh in the competition, throwing 138-03.00.
The Cougars will split up the team next week to compete at the Texas Relays, UVU Hal Wing Collegiate Invitational and the Stanford Invitational.