Multiple BYU athletes successfully improved their respective times and marks and qualified for regionals at the Last Chance Meet over the weekend.
“Our athletes took advantage of the fact it was a ‘last chance meet,'” said BYU coach Ed Eyestone. “A lot of people got qualified in the meet. It’s been an amazing season and it was fun to see people on the bubble rise up and punch their ticket to Austin.”
On Friday, Clark Brown ran in the men’s 100-meter and 200-meter and ran personal best times of 10.31 and 20.85 seconds respectively.
Derek Sorensen ran in the same two events, recording personal best times of 10.52 and 21.07 respectively.
Ramarco Thompson ran a personal best time of 21.11 in the men’s 200-meter.
Korey Smith ran in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 50.54 which ranks fifth all-time at BYU. Teammate Scott Mecham trailed closely behind with a time of 50.58.
Chase Horrocks ran a personal best time of 1:50.48 in the men’s 800-meter heat. The time was one-hundredth of a second better than his previous mark.
Madelyn Brooks recorded a time of 2:09.20 and took first in the women’s 800-meter, with Heidi Fuhriman and Sidney Reilly coming in second and third place.
In the women’s 100-meter, Lindsey Yetter set a personal record of 14.04. She also took first place in the women’s heptathlon with 3,178 points.
On the field, Jacob Barnes broke a personal record by six meters in the javelin and qualified for regionals with a mark of 66.16 meters.
Chloe Hadley and Blake Steeves both had personal best marks of 5.76 meters and 7.49 meters respectively in the long jump.
The following day, Tatenda Tsumba ran a personal best time of 20.59 in the men’s 200-meter. The time was the fourth-fastest 200-meter run in BYU history.
Sorensen was a close second with a time of 21.11.
Jackson Walker set a personal record of 7,483 points in the decathlon. Eyestone believes the score will qualify Walker for nationals.
After the event, Walker expressed gratitude for the teammates, coaches and trainers that cheered him along and kept him healthy.
“I couldn’t have done it without them,” Walker said. “I am feeling very grateful and I am excited for nationals.”
In the women’s 400-meter hurdles, Brenna Porter hit a personal best time of 57.75 and moved up in the regional rankings.
Both women’s and men’s 4×400-meter relay teams improved with the women’s team finishing in 3:40.53 and the men’s team finishing in 3:07.73.
On the field, Ricky Fantroy Jr. hit a personal best mark of 50’2.25” in the triple jump.
Meanwhile, in the high jump, Ellyana Long and Andrea Stapleton both hit personal best marks of 5’9.25” and 5’11.75” respectively.
“It was a great couple of days we had here,” Eyestone said. “We appreciate Youngstown State making the 1800-mile trip to give us some competition.”
The NCAA West Preliminary will be hosted by the University of Texas on May 25. The event runs through May 27.
VIDEO: Highlights from the @BYUTFXC last chance meet. #GoCougs #Run4BYU pic.twitter.com/9s9FbrIrwn
— BYU Cougars Video (@BYU_Video) May 15, 2017
