PROVO -- Coming off strong performances at the New Balance Invitational, the BYU track and field teams will hit the road again this weekend, sending athletes to the Air Force Invitational in Colorado and the Husky Classic in Washington.
Men
With just weeks before the Mountain West Conference Championships the men’s team is getting its last chance to impress and set high marks to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
I’m anticipating good performances this weekend,” men’s head coach Mark Robison said. “Hopefully we will get some better marks to qualify and send more kids to nationals.”
The distance team will be in Washington to compete at sea-level again at the Flotrack Husky Classic, hoping to pick up faster times and quality marks. Four Cougars will be running in the 5000-meter race for the first time this season, including senior Brandon Hebbert, senior Nathan Ogden, sophomore Rex Shields and freshman Jared Ward.
Hebbert recently finished fourth in the 3,000-meter at the New Balance Invitational while Ogden won the college division mile in a time of 4:08.59.
“This is a huge weekend, especially for our distance guys,” Robison said. “They don’t get to run much against this great of competition, at sea-level and on a fast track.”
The rest of BYU’s team will be at the Air Force Invitational in search for good performances as well. Senior Leif Arrhenius will be a highlight as he throws the weight in competition for the first time this season. He finished fourth nationally at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Women
Neither meet this weekend will be scored, so the BYU women’s team will send the sprinters and jumpers to Air Force while the distance runners and throwers will travel to Washington.
“Our goal this weekend is to improve our individual performances to move up the descending order list before the MWC Championships,” BYU women’s head coach Patrick Shane said. “Several athletes will also try to qualify for Nationals this weekend.”
Neither meet this weekend will be scored, so the BYU women’s team will send the sprinters and jumpers to Air Force while the distance runners and throwers will travel to Washington.
Athletes looking to qualify for the National Championships include high jumper Ada Robinson, sprinter Porshe Giddings, and several distance runners, including 5000m runner Morgan Haws. Haws won the MWC Athlete of the Week for her 16:20.24 time in New York and needs to run 16:15.00 Saturday to solidify her spot at Nationals.
“We are really looking to prepare for conference this weekend,” Shane said. “We will determine who we will take to conference based on the performances this weekend. TCU has a great team and we need to prepare very well to win a MWC championship.”
Action is slated to begin at Air Force at 10:00 am on Friday and will conclude at 3:50 pm on Saturday. Results will be available at goairforcefalcons.com.
In Washington, the Cougars will face off against 16 of the USTFCCCA top 25 ranked teams. Friday races will begin at 5:00 pm on Friday and the meet is scheduled to finish at 5:00 pm on Saturday. Live video can be found at flotrack.com and results will be posted at gohuskies.com.