PROVO, Utah – The BYU track and field team heads to Colorado to compete in the Air Force Team Challenge at the Cadet Field House this Friday, Jan. 19.
The meet will feature teams from BYU, Air Force, Colorado State and Wichita State.
“It’ll be nice because we’ve already had a rust-buster meet so now we’ll be going and trying to improve those marks, particularly in our sprint events,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “This will be a scored meet so we want to take a big enough group that we can still score well even though we’ll probably take points off the table by leaving some of our distance people at home.”
The BYU team will feature sprinters, jumpers and throwers. No middle-distance or distance runners will compete because the Cougars head to the Dr. Sander Invitational in New York the following week and they are saving those athletes for that meet.
Noting that many of the top runners will not compete, Eyestone said that there are many athletes to watch at this meet.
Sprinter Cassidy Pinnock is one of these. Pinnock has been running well thus far and Eyestone is excited to see her run the 400m instead of the 500m. The last meet featured a 500m race to give sprinters an over distance workout. Sophomore Ellie Heiden, a 200m and 400m runner, is another sprinter to watch.
Sophomore Jesus Serrano finished first in the 60mH (8.15) at the most recent meet and Eyestone looks forward to seeing him compete.
Senior Sierra Hansen consistently finishes as one of BYU’s top pole vaulters. Eyestone explained that the Air Force facility is usually a good facility for pole vaulters to do well so he’s excited to see her performance.
In addition, Brian Matthews and Kevin Nielsen will compete in the heptathlon. Matthews took 11th place overall at the MPSF Indoor Championships last year with a personal best of 4922. Nielsen holds the BYU all-time record with a score of 5728 and took 10th at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year.
“Colorado State and Air Force are two powerhouse teams from the Mountain West Conference so it’ll be fun to match up against them and see how we do,” Eyestone said.
Live results for the meet can be found on the Air Force's website.