PROVO, Utah -- Battling some cold and wet weather, the No. 9 BYU men's track team hosted the annual Robison Invitational track meet this weekend at the Clarence F. Robison Track.
"We had some really great performances right up until the weather got crazy," head coach Mark Robison said. "Overall I am very, very pleased."
BYU went one-two in the decathlon. Senior Phillip Bettis returned from an injury during indoor season to win with a score of 7315, a personal best and freshman Joshua Weirich also had a personal record, finishing with 6690 points in just his second official decathlon.
Senior Oliver Whaley continued his improvement with a victory in the hammer throw. Whaley threw a personal-best for a mark of 65.16m (213-09.25). Senior Sean Richardson also picked up a win in the javelin with a throw of 69.60m (228-04.25). Fellow thrower Leif Arrhenius also notched a first-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 18.55m (60-10.25) and a win in the discus despite rainy conditions with a throw of 60.94m (199-11.25).
"Leif was terrific to throw near 200' in the conditions we were in," Robison said. "I guess we'll hope for rain when he throws all the time."
Cougar throwers also grabbed the third, fourth and fifth place spots in the shot put. Junior Colby Barber threw for 16.77m (55-00.25) and freshmen Mitchell Swensen and Zachary Stetler hit marks of 15.88m (52-01.25) and 15.48m (50-09.50).
In the long jump, freshman Drew Tingey finished in second place with a jump of 6.74m (22-01.25) and senior Aaron Powell finished right behind him in third with a jump of 6.73m (22-01.00). In the nearby high jump, senior Trevor Heiner cleared 2.10m (6-10.75) for the win and freshman Zachary Blackham took second with a height of 2.05m (6-08.75).
The distance team fared well in the 5,000m with four Cougars finishing in order at the top of the leader board. A trio of sophomores Rex Shield, Alden Bahr and Jared Rohatinsky led with freshman Taylor Farnsworth in fourth. Shield won with a time of 14:42.37.
The 3,000m steeplechase featured three athletes finishing in the first three positions. Junior Josh Adams (9:10.75) won the event while senior Reagan Frey (9:31.17) and freshman Mitchell Briggs (9:38.25) finished behind him.
Junior Justin Hedin won the 800-meter with a time of 1:49.39 and senior James Heiner finished in second place in 1:52.51.
BYU also secured the top three finishers in the 400-meter as well with sophomore Cade Lindahl clocking a 47.33 to win. Junior Steven Hart took second with a time of 47.80 and in the 200-meter he finished in 21.88. In the shorter 100-meter sprint, junior James Ghormley took first with a time of 10.73.
Junior Chris Carter won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.54 and sophomore Sean Adams finished in 53.19 for a second-place finish.
Complete results can be found by CLICKING HERE.