NEW ORLEANS — The USTFCCCA has named the BYU women’s track and field team the No. 11 squad in the country in its weekly rankings release on Monday.
This past weekend at the Husky Classic, All-American Whittni Orton broke her third individual school record of the season in the women’s 3000m, running a time of 8:49.63. Orton has also broken the 5000m and mile records as well as being a member of the DMR (distance medley relay) school record team.
In the women’s 800m, the Cougars have the No. 1 ranked group in the country. The BYU women also come in at No. 2 in the 5000m, No. 5 in the 3000m, No. 13 in the mile, No. 15 in the pole vault and No. 24 in the high jump.
Multiple performances this season have contributed to the women’s strong showing in the national rankings. Orton has rewritten the record books, in addition to two other athletes who broke program-best marks. Jaslyn Gardner ran a new women’s 60m school record with a time of 7.39. Elise Romney also vaulted to a new program-high mark in the women’s pole vault with at 4.31m/14-1.75.
Three 800m women landed on the BYU top-10 all-time list at the same meet. Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes, Anna Camp-Bennett and Alena Ellsworth are now No. 6, No. 7 and No. 9 in Cougar history, respectively.
Sable Lohmeier moved up to No. 6 all-time in the weight throw (17.63m/57-10.25) and Sierra Freeland landed a toss (15.28m/50-01.50) in the shot put that made her No. 7 in program history.
Sprinter Hannah Nealis also wrote her name in BYU history in two events this weekend in the 200m (24.21) and 400m (55.28), as she moved up to No. 7 and No. 9 all-time in each event.
The Cougars return to action this Saturday at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The full USTFCCCA rankings release can be found on ustfccca.org.