BYU qualifies 24 entries to 2021 NCAA Championships

BYU qualifies 24 entries to 2021 NCAA ChampionshipsBYU qualifies 24 entries to 2021 NCAA Championships

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – BYU track and field concluded regional action with 24 total bids to the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Cougars qualified 19 entries and broke two school records on Saturday to wrap up the NCAA West Preliminary Round at E.B. Cushing Stadium in College Station, Texas.

Both the men’s and women’s teams advanced double-digit entries to the national meet as the men advanced 14 entries and the women qualified 10 entries. Included in the 24 total entries is decathlete Dallin Vorkink who did not have to compete at regionals due to the NCAA automatically qualifying the top 24 multi-event athletes at the end of the regular season to the championship meet.

BYU opened Saturday with the men’s 4x100m relay team clocking a season-best 39.43 to earn a spot in the national meet. The team, consisting of Andrew Stuart, Michael Bluth, Landon Maxfield and Dallin Draper, finished fourth in the fastest heat of the day to advance as a time qualifier.

In the men’s 1500m quarterfinals, All-Americans Talem Franco (3:40.33) and Lucas Bons (3:40.45) finished in the top five of their heat to move on to nationals.

After racing in the 4x100m in the morning, Bluth competed in the quarterfinals of the 400m. The All-American ran an outstanding 45.13, the second-fastest time of the day, to advance to the NCAA Championships and break his own school record by .55 seconds.

Colten Yardley clocked a career-best 50.04 in the 400m hurdles quarterfinals to finish in the top three of his heat and advance to the semifinals in Eugene, Oregon. The All-American’s performance also marks the fifth-fastest 400m hurdles time in program history.

Both Bluth and Yardley ran on the men’s 4x400m relay team with Draper and Maxfield. The team ran a season-best 3:04.52 to advance to the national meet as a time qualifier.

In the women’s high jump, Cierra Tidwell Allphin cleared a career-best 1.82m/5-11.5 to finish in the top 12 and move on to the final at Hayward Field. Her performance in the high jump marks the ninth-best in program history.

All-Americans Whittni Orton (4:10.18), Anna Camp-Bennett (4:13.38) and Kate Hunter (4:14.41) each finished in the top five of their respective heats in the 1500m quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals in Eugene. Hunter’s career-best time of 4:14.41 solidified her spot as No. 7 on the BYU Top 10 list.

Both Orton and Camp-Bennett also doubled in a second event on Saturday. Orton placed third overall in the 5000m (15:58.32) to qualify for the national meet in her second event and Camp-Bennett placed second in her heat of the 800m (2:04.79) to advance to nationals in her second event. Joining Camp-Bennett in the 800m is Claire Seymour who finished second in her heat with an outdoor personal record of 2:04.07.

The Cougars had two runners advance in the men’s 3000m steeplechase and another two qualify for the semifinals in the women’s steeplechase. Garrett Marsing won his heat with a time of 8:38.68 while All-American Clayson Shumway had an impressive comeback late in his race to complete the event in 8:40.67 and advance as a time qualifier.

All-American Courtney Wayment ran the fastest steeplechase of the day with a time of 9:42.02 to automatically advance to the semifinals. The time also marked the second-best steeplechase performance all-time at an NCAA West Preliminary Round. All-American Sara Musselman completed the race in a career-best 9:55.98 to advance to the next round with Wayment and move up to No. 6 on the BYU Top 10 board.

In the men’s 5000m semifinals, Casey Clinger completed the race in 13:52.21. The All-American finished just outside the top three in his heat and advanced as the top time qualifier.

The women’s 4x400m relay team closed out the meet for the Cougars in impressive fashion. Meghan Hunter, Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes, Seymour and Alena Ellsworth broke their own school record, set earlier this season, by 3 seconds with a time of 3:33.30 to move on to the semifinals at the championship meet.

On Wednesday, the Cougars had three athletes punch their tickets to the 2021 NCAA Championships. Cameron Bates moved on in the javelin, Zach McWhorter advanced in the pole vault and Conner Mantz qualified in the 10,000m. Before the meet was postponed on Friday, Dallin Shurts secured his spot at nationals in the men’s discus.

Complete Results
Recaps: Day One | Day Two | Day Three

The 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will begin Wednesday, June 9 and run through Saturday, June 12. The national meet will be hosted at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Information regarding the NCAA Championships can be found on ncaa.com.

Wednesday, May 26 - Results

EventAthleteMarkFinishNext Up
Javelin (M)Cameron Bates71.13m/233-4
 
2ndFinal in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
Javelin (M)Michael Whittaker62.54m/205-222ndDNQ
Javelin (M)Max Tooley60.15m/197-433rdDNQ
Pole Vault (M)Zach McWhorter5.45m/17-10.57thFinal in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
Pole Vault (M)Caleb Witsken5.40m/17-8.515thDNQ
1500m (M)Lucas Bons3:43.473rdQuarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 11:45 a.m. CDT
1500m (M)Talem Franco3:45.4210thQuarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 11:45 a.m.
1500m (M)Aidan Troutner*4:03.13   *Automatically advanced following successful protest following tripping incidentQuarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 11:45 a.m.
1500m (M)Elijah Armstrong3:50.5539thDNQ
400m (M)Michael Bluth46.1412thQuarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 1:20 p.m.
400H (M)Colten Yardley50.609thQuarterfinals on Saturday, May 28 at 1:55 p.m.
400H (M)Jesus Serrano51.4730thDNQ
200m (M)Landon Maxfield20.9728thDNQ
200m (M)Dallin Draper21.5343rdDNQ
10,000m (M)Conner Mantz29:10.913rdFinal in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
10,000m (M)Connor Weaver30:42.1937thDNQ
10,000m (M)Michael Ottesen31:08.0544thDNQ

Thursday, May 27

EventAthleteMarkFinishNext Up
Javelin (W)Ashton Riner46.50m/152-726thDNQ
Javelin (W)Payge Jauhiainen46.44m/152-427thDNQ
Javelin (W)Libby Parkinson45.83m/150-429thDNQ
Shot Put (W)Sierra Freeland15.66m/51-4.528thDNQ
Shot Put (W)Gretchen Hoekstre15.20m/49-10.538thDNQ
100H (W)Adaobi Tabugbo13.58w41stDNQ
1500m (W)Whittni Orton4:16.161stQuarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
1500m (W)Anna Camp-Bennett4:18.688thQuarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
1500m (W)Olivia Hoj Simister4:18.859thQuarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
1500m (W)Simone Plourde4:18.9510thQuarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
1500m (W)Kate Hunter4:21.0315thQuarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
1500m (W)Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes4:21.4516thQuarterfinals on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.
1500m (W)Heather Hanson4:30.8836thDNQ
100m (W)Jaslyn Gardner11.5839thDNQ
800m (W)Anna Camp-Bennett2:02.831stQuarterfinals on Saturday at 6:10 p.m.
800m (W)Claire Seymour2:05.275thQuarterfinals on Saturday at 6:10 p.m.
800m (W)Alena Ellsworth2:06.4112thQuarterfinals on Saturday at 6:10 p.m.
800m (W)Meghan Hunter2:12.9845thDNQ
400H (W)Halley Folsom Walker1:00.0129thDNQ
400H (W)Kayla Perry1:00.3634thDNQ
10,000m (W)McKenna Lee Hansen35:06.6920thDNQ
10,000m (W)Aubrey Frentheway35:09.6722ndDNQ
10,000m (W)Haley Johnston35:40.3830thDNQ
10,000m (W)Anna Martin36:43.3937thDNQ

Friday, May 28

EventAthleteMarkFinishNext Up
High Jump (M)Jake Grimsman2.11m/6-1121stDNQ
High Jump (M)Jacob Veres2.06m/6-925thDNQ
Discus (M)Dallin Shurts56.34m/184-10 12thFinal in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
Triple Jump (M)Rickey Fantroy15.92m/52-2.7515thDNQ

Saturday, May 29

EventAthleteMarkFinishNext Up
4x100m (M)BYU
-Andrew Stuart
-Michael Bluth
-Landon Maxfield
-Dallin Draper
39.439thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
1500m (M)Talem Franco3:40.3310thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
1500m (M)Lucas Bons3:40.4511thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
1500m (M)Aidan Troutner3:45.2820thDNQ
High Jump (W)Cierra Tidwell Allphin1.82m/5-11.58thFinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
High Jump (W)Mayci Torgerson1.67m/5-5.7537thDNQ
400m (M)Michael Bluth45.132ndSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
Discus (W)Gretchen Hoekstre42.41m/139-144thDNQ
Discus (W)Sable Lohmeier El-BakriFOULN/ADNQ
400m Hurdles (M)Colten Yardley50.049thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
4x400m (M)

BYU
-Colten Yardley
-Landon Maxfield
-Dallin Draper
-Michael Bluth

3:04.526thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
1500m (W)Whittni Orton4:10.183rdSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
1500m (W)Anna Camp-Bennett4:13.389thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
1500m (W)Kate Hunter4:14.4111thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
1500m (W)Simone Plourde4:21.4722ndDNQ
1500m (W)Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes4:23.1923rdDNQ
1500m (W)Olivia Hoj Simister4:30.3724thDNQ
Steeplechase (M)Garrett Marsing8:38.682ndSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
Steeplechase (M)Clayson Shumway8:40.6711thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
Steeplechase (M)Kramer Morton9:02.8524thDNQ
Steeplechase (M)Matt Owens9:03.2925thDNQ
Steeplechase (M)Adam Wood9:05.5232ndDNQ
Steeplechase (W)Courtney Wayment9:42.021stSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
Steeplechase (W)Sara Musselman9:55.9811thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
Steeplechase (W)Lexy Halladay10:31.2929thDNQ
Steeplechase (W)Meri Dunford10:34.7232ndDNQ
Steeplechase (W)Madi Moffitt10:47.5643rdDNQ
800m (W)Claire Seymour2:04.073rdSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
800m (W)Anna Camp-Bennett2:04.796thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
800m (W)Alena Ellsworth2:08.3124thDNQ
5000m (M)Casey Clinger13:53.216thFinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
5000m (W)Whittni Orton15:58.323rdFinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)
4x400m (W)

BYU
-Meghan Hunter
-Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes
-Claire Seymour
-Alena Ellsworth

3:33.308thSemifinals in Eugene, Oregon (June 9-12)