By Lindsey Johnson
BYU participated in its first track meet of the outdoor season Friday and Saturday March 21-22, when it participated in the 19th annual Willie Williams Classic.
Several Cougars reached the regional qualifying marks for their events.
Junior Daniel Arrhenius reached regional qualifying marks in both the shot put and discuss. His throw of 56-5 3/4 in the shot put placed him fourth at the meet.
Junior hammer thrower Matt Holcolmb placed fourth with a throw of 188-11, which also qualifies him for the regional competition. Holcolmb”s throw was a lifetime best.
Junior Greg Flint placed third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.86. Flint”s time qualifies him for the regional meet.
Sophomore Kansas Whitear followed closely behind Flint to finish in fourth place in the 400-meter hurdles.
The 4X400 meter relay team finished in first place with a time of 3:11.29. The team”s time reached the qualifying standard for the regional meet.
“For the most part I thought we did pretty well,” coach Mark Robison said. “Those athletes that qualified here is why we came.”
Senior Matt Nielsen finished fourth in the 200-meter dash. Nielsen”s time of 21.71 was a half second behind winner Marvin Anderson from Central Arizona.
In one of the Cougars” best events of the meet, Nielsen placed second in the 400-meter dash behind Jevon Mason from the University of Arizona. Nielsen was followed closely by fellow Cougar Matt Rowe, a junior, in third place.
The Cougars dominated the 800-meter race, finishing with four of the top six places.
Sophomore Lars Kjerengtroen finished in second place behind Robert Cheseret from the University of Arizona.
Sophomores Jeff Taylor, Bryan Lindsay and Andy Dorais finished the 800-meter race in third, fifth and sixth respectively.
Juniors Steve Barrus and Rich Evanson placed second and third in the 1,500-meter race for the Cougars.
Senior Russ Elgrenn placed third in the 110-meter hurdles behind Darion Powell and Eric Dudley from Washington State University.
Several Cougars did not travel to the meet, including all of the pole vaulters and several distance runners. Robison said the athletes that did not compete were not injured but were preparing for upcoming meets.
“The transition from indoors to outdoors for us will be tougher,” Robison said. “We have only been outdoors for a little over a week. Each week we”ll get better, but I was pleased with the first meet.”
The women”s team also performed well in Tucson.
“I was very pleased with the first outdoor meet,” BYU women”s head coach Craig Poole said. “The first meet usually isn”t really that productive, but this was very productive.”
Sophomore Jennifer Rockwell finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.01 seconds, just one-hundredth off the regional qualifying mark.
“It was interesting running outdoors,” Rockwell said. “The track is a lot bigger, and it”s a different feeling.”
Rockwell also placed third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.07.
BYU”s 4×400-meter relay team placed second and qualified for regionals with a time of 3:44.81.
Sophomore Lindsey Sommer placed second in the long jump (18-09 1/4) and third in the triple jump (38-02).
Freshman Kristy Barrus earned a second-place finish in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:38.19.
“It went well,” Barrus said. “It”s nice to run outdoors for a change.”
Junior Anika Smith earned a third-place finish and attained her personal best in the 800-meter at 2:12.11.
“I was really happy with how I did,” Smith said. “I ran at night under the lights, which was fun.”
In the 5,000-meter run, BYU runners finished in third through seventh place.
Leading the group was junior Emily Mars at 17:53.12.
Behind Mars were teammates Katie Moon, Jami Valentine, Angela Benson and Ember Smith.
In the throwing events sophomore Chelsea Weenig attained personal bests in the shot put (44-00 3/4), discus (136-02) and hammer throws (162-01).
“It was a good first meet,” Weenig said. “The weather was awesome. It was a lot easier to keep warm and throw well.”
Junior Missy Wood earned a third-place finish in the javelin throw (150-08).
“It was a really good start for the season,” Wood said.
Junior Malita Bingham also earned a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw (165-03).
“I was happy that I stepped up and performed well,” Bingham said.
Poole said he was pleased overall with BYU”s performance.
