Draper took first overall in the men's 60-meter dash, clocking a 6.73 across the finish line as he fell just shy of a BYU top-10 mark in the event. It marked a new personal best for Draper, edging out his previous time of 6.81 that he acheived as a freshman nearly two years ago.
"I went into it feeling pretty relaxed and calm," said Draper. "I'm super happy about the race. It's been almost two years since my last personal best. Last year was such a rough indoor season for me. I ended up being better near the end of the outdoor season. I feel like this year I kind of bounced back stronger from that and finally feel comfortable."
Taylor won the men's 500m and was part of the winning 4x400m relay team. The junior finished his first career 500m race in 1:01.81. The event will be a key race at the Big 12 Championships. Taylor played a crucial role in BYU's top 4x400 squad that took the top spot with a time of 3:15.16. He also competed in the 300m dash, a meet-specific event, taking the title in 33.38.
"It was a good start to the season," said Taylor. "Competing in these new races is kind of uncharted territory. It was fun seeing what my potential is and then also knowing there's a little more in the tank."
Hunt clocked a 7.99 to take home the 60m hurdles title Saturday afternoon. The sophomore leaned in for the win, finishing ahead of teammate Logan Hubler by just a hundreth of a second. Hunt is a recent addition to the team, transfering from Cal this past summer.
"That's some of the most fun I've had hurdling in years," said Hunt. "Especially having all three BYU guys in the same heat for the final made it special. It was basically practice at that point. We all just had fun racing out there. I'm proud to be a Cougar."
"Riley did well at Cal, so we were excited that he decided to transfer over after he graduated," said sprints coach Kyle Grossarth. "Today he continued on with what he's done previously. It was a great start to his season. Excited for him to have a teammate in Logan right by his side to push him, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do the rest of the season."
Additional standout performances came from freshmen newcomers Wyatt Haughton and Dalton Mortensen. Haughton won the mile in 4:12.03 while Mortensen took fourth overall in the 3000m at 8:30.31.
The Cougars will have a month to prepare for a return to competition. The next meet will be back in Provo for the BYU Indoor Invitational beginning on Thursday, Jan. 13th. Details can be found on the Home Meet Information page.
