SAN LUIS OBISPO -- The BYU men's and women's track teams got their first taste of outdoor competition as they began the second leg of the 2001 season at the Cal Poly Invitational Saturday. The two teams combined for a total of 12 wins in the 38 events contested at the meet.
On the women's side, junior Nikki Hughes captured the first Cougar victory in the long jump with a leap of 6.12 meters. Senior Analee Carter picked up another BYU win in the field events, clearing 1.75m to take first in the high jump. On the track, the Cougars recorded solid performances in the middle distance races. Sophomore Nan Evans won the 1500m in a time of 4:35.10, and BYU took three of the top four places in the 800m, as junior Holly Haguewood won the race in 2:13.14, followed by teammates Jamie Philburn (2:13.97) in second and Anika Smith (2:16.29) in fourth. Senior Vickie Kern recorded a first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 1:02.14.
The men's team tallied seven victories on the day. Senior All-American Jim Roberts took first in the shot put with a toss of 18.67m, and recorded an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the discus with a throw of 56.58m. In his first pole vault competition of the year, senior All-American Jeff Hansen cleared the bar at 5.15m to take first place in the event. On the track, freshman Josh Rohatinsky got things started with a win in the 5,000m in a time of 14:24.24, while teammate John Hedengren (14:33.93) recorded a third-place finish in the event. Senior All-American Slade Combs won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.20 seconds, and junior Kish Beverley took first in the 400m in 47.49. In his first race in over a year, junior Mao Tjiroze turned in a time of 1:51.74 in the 800m. Tjiroze's time was less than two-tenths of a second off the winning time of Utah State's Brick Bergeson (1:51.56) and just ahead of teammate Jeff Hopkinson, who finished third in 1:52.41. The men's team also won the 4x100 (40.94) and 4x400 (3:14.33) relays.
The Cougars next meet will be Arizona State's Baldy Castillo Invitational, which will be held in Tempe Mar. 23-24. For complete results of the Cal Poly meet, go to www.GoPoly.com