Track men place high at invit

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    By MATTHEW RICKETTS

    The BYU’s men’s track team traveled to San Luis Obispo, Calif. to compete in the annual Cal Poly Invitational this last weekend, and came back with some impressive times and personal bests.

    The Cal Poly Invitational opened the outdoor track season for the Cougars. The Cougars are coming off a victorious indoor season where they won the WAC indoor title.

    Some of the top teams in the nation competed in the Cal Poly Invitational. Teams from Stanford, Washington State, Oklahoma State and Notre Dame competed.

    The Cougars gave a good showing by placing in the top three in six events.

    BYU’s Erik Sorenson placed first in the 400m hurdles and got a personal best with a time of 52.82.

    Another first place finish for BYU came from Lewis Jones. Jones ran a 1:54.36 in the 800m.

    In the 3000m steeplechase and the 5000m, BYU also placed first with cross-country duo Sam St. Clair and Dan Alder taking the gold in the two events. St. Clair placed first in the steeplechase with a time of 9:10.15, and Dan Alder placed first in the 5000m with a time of 14:45.05.

    The final two top finishes for the Cougars came in the high jump and the javelin. Erik Landmark place first in the high jump by jumping 6’11.75″. Lynn Jackson place third in the Javelin by throwing 199’10”.

    Not only did the Cougars place well, but many of the Cougars got personal bests.

    BYU teammates Mike Bowlden and Russ Elggren both got personal bests in the 400m hurdles. Bowlden ran a 54.44 and Elggren ran a 54.62.

    Two BYU personal bests came in the 100m. Eric Sorenson ran a 10.82 and Marek Samseli ran a 10.84.

    Another personal best for BYU came from Corey Neddo in the hammer. Neddo threw the hammer 178’9″.

    “These guys are out there because they want to be,” said BYU head coach Willard Hirschi. “Some of them performed better than they ever have before.”

    Next up for the Cougars is Stanford Invitational and a meet in Tucson, Ariz. Assistant coach Mark Robison will travel with the majority of the team to the Tucson meet where about 10 other teams will compete. Assistant coach Sherald James will take the rest of the team to Stanford.

    Coach Hirschi is heading to Africa. Hirschi will be recruiting for the track team and will travel to South Africa and Namibia.

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