By MATTHEW RICKETTS
The BYU men’s track team will send ten of its best members to compete against the best in the nation on Friday and Saturday in the Cornhusker Invitational. At the same time, BYU will send a team to compete in a quad meet at Idaho State University.
The Cornhusker Invitational will host the best track members from over fifty schools. It is an individual meet so it won’t be team against team, but individual against individual.
Men’s assistant track coach Mark Robison said the Cornhusker Invitational will give members of the track team a chance to get qualifying marks for the NCAA championships.
“The Cornhusker Invitational is one of the largest meets in the nation,” Robison said. “Our best are going.”
Robison said the Cornhusker Invitational will be highly competitive. He also said that a lot of team members from other teams in the Western Athletic Conference are going to be at the invitational, which hasn’t happened very often.
Some of those from BYU going to the Cornhusker Invitational have high national rankings. Leonard Myles-Mills is ranked No. 5 in the nation in the 55 meters. Felix Andam is ranked No. 6 in the nation, also in the 55 meters. Marek Samseli is ranked No. 6 in the nation in the triple jump.
Unlike the track the team will be competing on in Idaho, the Cornhusker Invitational will be held on a flat track. Willard Hirschi says that this will be harder for the short running competitions.
“It’s very hard to run on a flat track,” Hirschi said. “The shorter the race the more difficult it is. Those who will go to Nebraska (for the Cornhusker Invitational) will not run as well in circular races as those who go to Pocatello.”
While ten members of the track team compete in Nebraska, another twenty members will compete in a quad meet in Pocatello, Idaho. The Idaho meet will be a team meet against Idaho State University, Long Beach State and Utah State University.
The quad meet will pose a great challenge for the Cougars because of the Cornhusker Invitational, where BYU’s best runners will be.
“We’ll do pretty good,” Hirschi said. “There are enough good people that we’ll still do well.”
The track team will next compete on Feb. 21 and 22 in the WAC Indoor Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
