COLLEGE STATION, Texas – BYU track and field had eight women’s distance runners advance to their respective quarterfinals on the second day of the 2021 NCAA West Preliminary Round at E.B. Cushing Stadium on Thursday.
The Cougars had a total of six runners advance to Saturday’s 1500m quarterfinals. All-American Whittni Orton recorded the fastest time of the day while winning her heat with a 4:16.16. All-Americans Anna Camp-Bennett (4:18.68), Olivia Hoj Simister (4:18.85) and Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes (4:21.45) each finished in the top five of their heats to automatically qualify for the next round while All-Americans Simone Plourde (4:18.95) and Kate Hunter (4:21.03) advanced based on their times.
A little more than an hour after racing in the 1500m, Camp-Bennett doubled in the 800m and clocked a career-best 2:02.83 to advance in the event. Running the fastest time of the day, she broke the facility record at the recently built E.B. Cushing Stadium and recorded the fifth-fastest outdoor 800m in program history.
All-Americans Claire Seymour (2:05.27) and Alena Ellsworth (2:06.41) both finished second in their respective 800m heats to automatically move on to the next round with Camp-Bennett. The 1500m quarterfinal will be Saturday at 5:45 p.m. CDT and the 800m quarterfinal will be later that evening at 7:35 p.m.
The BYU women’s team had a number of athletes compete on Wednesday that did not advance to the next round of their respective events.
The javelin throwers opened the competition for the women’s team. Throwing into a strong headwind, All-American Ashton Riner recorded a throw of 46.50m/152-7, Payge Jauhiainen had ended with a toss of 46.44m/152-4 and Libby Parkinson finished with a mark of 45.83m/150-4.
Sierra Freeland and Gretchen Hoekstre both had strong outings in the women’s shot put. Freeland finished with a mark of 15.66m/51-4.5 and Hoekstre had a toss of 15.20m/49-10.5. Hoekstre will have another opportunity to advance to the national meet on Saturday in the discus.
In the sprints and hurdles, Adaobi Tabugbo clocked a 13.58 in the 100m hurdles and Jaslyn Gardner ran an 11.58 in the 100m dash. In the 400m hurdles, Halley Folsom Walker ran a 1:00.01 and Kayla Perry clocked a 1:00.36.
One of the seven Cougars in the first round of the 1500m, Heather Hanson finished the race in 4:30.88 while Meghan Hunter completed the 800m in 2:12.98.
In the last event of the day, four Cougars raced in the 10,000m semifinal. McKenna Lee Hansen was the first Cougar to complete the 25-lap race in 35:06.69. After battling within the lead pack before tripping up, Aubrey Frentheway finished shortly after her teammate (35:09.67) and was followed by Haley Johnston (35.40.38) and Anna Martin (36:43.39).
The BYU men’s team will return to action on Friday, May 28 and the women’s team will wrap up competition on Saturday, May 29. Tomorrow’s field events will begin at 1 p.m. CDT and the track events will start at 5:30 p.m. The meet will be streamed on SECN+ and team updates can be found on Twitter.
Wednesday, May 26 - Results
| Event | Athlete | Mark | Finish | Next Up |
| Javelin (M) | Cameron Bates | 71.13m/233-4 | 2nd | Final in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12) |
| Javelin (M) | Michael Whittaker | 62.54m/205-2 | 22nd | DNQ |
| Javelin (M) | Max Tooley | 60.15m/197-4 | 33rd | DNQ |
| Pole Vault (M) | Zach McWhorter | 5.45m/17-10.5 | 7th | Final in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12) |
| Pole Vault (M) | Caleb Witsken | 5.40m/17-8.5 | 15th | DNQ |
| 1500m (M) | Lucas Bons | 3:43.47 | 3rd | Quarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 11:45 a.m. CDT |
| 1500m (M) | Talem Franco | 3:45.42 | 10th | Quarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 11:45 a.m. |
| 1500m (M) | Aidan Troutner | *4:03.13 | *Automatically advanced following successful protest following tripping incident | Quarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 11:45 a.m. |
| 1500m (M) | Elijah Armstrong | 3:50.55 | 39th | DNQ |
| 400m (M) | Michael Bluth | 46.14 | 12th | Quarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 1:20 p.m. |
| 400H (M) | Colten Yardley | 50.60 | 9th | Quarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 1:55 p.m. |
| 400H (M) | Jesus Serrano | 51.47 | 30th | DNQ |
| 200m (M) | Landon Maxfield | 20.97 | 28th | DNQ |
| 200m (M) | Dallin Draper | 21.53 | 43rd | DNQ |
| 10,000m (M) | Conner Mantz | 29:10.91 | 3rd | Final in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12) |
| 10,000m (M) | Connor Weaver | 30:42.19 | 37th | DNQ |
| 10,000m (M) | Michael Ottesen | 31:08.05 | 44th | DNQ |
Thursday, May 27
| Event | Athlete | Mark | Finish | Next Up |
| Javelin (W) | Ashton Riner | 46.50m/152-7 | 26th | DNQ |
| Javelin (W) | Payge Jauhiainen | 46.44m/152-4 | 27th | DNQ |
| Javelin (W) | Libby Parkinson | 45.83m/150-4 | 29th | DNQ |
| Shot Put (W) | Sierra Freeland | 15.66m/51-4.5 | 28th | DNQ |
| Shot Put (W) | Gretchen Hoekstre | 15.20m/49-10.5 | 38th | DNQ |
| 100H (W) | Adaobi Tabugbo | 13.58w | 41st | DNQ |
| 1500m (W) | Whittni Orton | 4:16.16 | 1st | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. |
| 1500m (W) | Anna Camp-Bennett | 4:18.68 | 8th | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. |
| 1500m (W) | Olivia Hoj Simister | 4:18.85 | 9th | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. |
| 1500m (W) | Simone Plourde | 4:18.95 | 10th | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. |
| 1500m (W) | Kate Hunter | 4:21.03 | 15th | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. |
| 1500m (W) | Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes | 4:21.45 | 16th | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. |
| 1500m (W) | Heather Hanson | 4:30.88 | 36th | DNQ |
| 100m (W) | Jaslyn Gardner | 11.58 | 39th | DNQ |
| 800m (W) | Anna Camp-Bennett | 2:02.83 | 1st | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. |
| 800m (W) | Claire Seymour | 2:05.27 | 5th | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. |
| 800m (W) | Alena Ellsworth | 2:06.41 | 12th | Quarterfinals on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. |
| 800m (W) | Meghan Hunter | 2:12.98 | 45th | DNQ |
| 400H (W) | Halley Folsom Walker | 1:00.01 | 29th | DNQ |
| 400H (W) | Kayla Perry | 1:00.36 | 34th | DNQ |
| 10,000m (W) | McKenna Lee Hansen | 35:06.69 | 20th | DNQ |
| 10,000m (W) | Aubrey Frentheway | 35:09.67 | 22nd | DNQ |
| 10,000m (W) | Haley Johnston | 35:40.38 | 30th | DNQ |
| 10,000m (W) | Anna Martin | 36:43.39 | 37th | DNQ |
Friday, May 28
| Event | Athlete | Mark | Finish | Next Up |
| High Jump (M) | Jake Grimsman | 2.11m/6-11 | 21st | DNQ |
| High Jump (M) | Jacob Veres | 2.06m/6-9 | 25th | DNQ |
| Discus (M) | Dallin Shurts | 56.34m/184-10 | 12th | Final in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12) |
| Triple Jump (M) | Rickey Fantroy | 15.92m/52-2.75 | 15th | DNQ |
Saturday, May 29
| Time (CDT) | Athletes (Seed) | Event |
| 11:30 a.m. | BYU (No. 13) - Michael Bluth - Dallin Draper - Landon Maxfield - Andrew Stuart | Men's 4x100m |
| 11:45 a.m. | Lucas Bons Talem Franco Aidan Troutner | Men's 1500m |
| 1:00 p.m. | Cierra Tidwell Allphin (No. 18) Mayci Torgerson (No. 43) | Women's High Jump |
| 1:20 p.m. | Michael Bluth | Men's 400m |
| 1:30 p.m. | Sable Lohmeier El-Bakri (No. 27) Gretchen Hoekstre (No. 38) | Women's Discus |
| 1:55 p.m. | Colten Yardley | Men's 400m Hurdles |
| 3:15 p.m. | BYU (No. 13) - Michael Bluth - Dallin Draper - Landon Maxfield - Colten Yardley | Men's 4x400m |
| 3:45 p.m. | Whittni Orton Olivia Hoj Simister Anna Camp-Bennett Kate Hunter Simone Plourde Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes | Women's 1500m |
| 4:10 p.m. | Garrett Marsing (No. 3) Clayson Shumway (No. 8) Matt Owens (No. 16) Adam Wood (No. 19) Kramer Morton (No. 29) | Men's Steeplechase |
| 4:45 p.m. | Courtney Wayment (No. 1) Sara Musselman (No. 18) Lexy Halladay (No. 23) Meri Dunford (No. 28) Madi Moffitt (No. 42) | Women's 3000m Steeplechase |
| 6:10 p.m. | Anna Camp-Bennett Alena Ellsworth Claire Seymour | Women's 800m (Quarterfinals) |
| 7:05 p.m. | Casey Clinger (No. 6) Brandon Garnica (No. 7) Easton Allred (No. 38) Michael Ottesen (No. 44) Elijah Armstrong (No. 45) Connor Weaver (No. 46) | Men's 5000m |
| 7:50 p.m. | Whittni Orton (No. 1) | Women's 5000m |
| 8:35 p.m. | BYU (No. 15) | Women's 4x400m |