PROVO, Utah – Several BYU track and field athletes set personal records and improved regional-qualifying marks at the 2017 BYU Cougar Invitational at the Clarence F. Robison Track on Friday and Saturday.
The "Last Chance Meet" provided an opportunity for athletes to improve records and boost confidence heading into the NCAA West Preliminary in Austin, Texas, where only the top 48 from each event in the West Region will compete for a spot at the NCAA Championships.
“Our athletes took advantage of the fact it was a ‘last chance meet’,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “A lot of people got qualified in the meet. It’s been an amazing season and it was fun to see people on the bubble rise up and punch their ticket to Austin. I was very pleased.”
In the field events, Ricky Fantroy Jr. hit a personal best 50’2.25” (15.30m) in the triple jump while Jacob Barnes threw 217’0.75” (66.16m) in the javelin, a personal best by more than 20 feet. Andrea Stapleton and Ellyana Long each recorded personal bests in the high jump, with 5’11.75” (1.82m) and 5’9.25” (1.76m), respectively, to also move up on the regional qualifying list.
In the 800m, senior Chase Horrocks set a personal best with 1:49.94.Tatenda Tsumba ran 20.59 in the men’s 200m, a personal best time that is now ranked No. 4 all-time in BYU history. Derek Sorensen finished close behind with a time of 21.11. Clark Brown added a personal best in the 100m with a time of 10:31.
Korey Smith is now ranked No. 5 all-time in the 400m hurdles with a time of 50.54. Scott Mecham followed closely behind with a mark of 50.58. On the women’s side, Brenna Porter ran a personal best 57.76 in the 400m hurdles to move up in the regional rankings.
The men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams also improved their previous times. The women’s team finished in 3:40.53 while the men’s team went 3:07.73 to solidify its regional qualifying mark.
Jackson Walker set a personal best 7483 in the Decathlon, a score Eyestone said should be good enough to get him to nationals.
"It was a great couple of days we had here," Eyestone said. "We appreciate Youngstown State making the 1800-mile trip to give us some competition."
For a full list of results from this weekend's meet in Provo, click here.