NEW ORLEANS — The BYU women’s track and field team was named No. 25 in the nation in the USTFCCCA’s Week 1 ranking on Tuesday.
The 2020 indoor season is off to a stong start for the Cougar women as they won the 2020 Air Force Invitational, defeating No. 12 Colorado in the process. They also had strong performances at the 2020 BYU Indoor Invitational as well as a seventh-place finish at the Dr. Sander Invitational in New York.
Three school records have already been broken this season — Whittni Orton in the women’s mile (4:29.76) and 5000m (15:22.98) and Jaslyn Gardner (7.39) in the women’s 60m.
Sable Lohmeier also cracked into the top-10 all-time at BYU as her weight throw of 17.63m/57'10.25 sits at No. 6 in program history. Junior Sierra Freeland also tossed 15.28m/50' 1.75 in the women’s shot put, good for No. 7 all-time.
Orton is currently ranked first in the women’s mile and 1500m as well as third in the 5000m. Gardner ranks 37th in the country in the women's 60m.
Several Cougars are also currently ranked among the country’s elite: Anna Camp-Bennett (2:06.71) at No. 8 in the 800m, Lauren Ellsworth (2:08.52) at No. 17 in the 800m, freshman Cierra Tidwell (1.76m/5’9.25) at No. 22 in the high jump and Claire Seymour (1:14.82) at No. 25 in the 500m.
Last season the BYU women finished seventh at the MPSF Regional Championships and 14th at the NCAA Indoor National Championships.
The Cougars are set to compete this weekend at the University of Washington Invitational on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Live updates can be found on the @BYUTFXC Twitter account, and post-meet content also will also be available on the Instagram and Facebook pages. The USTFCCCA full rankings release can be found here.