By Sarah Gardner
The BYU men”s and women”s track teams used split squads to compete in the BYU Wells Fargo Invitational and Cardinal Invitational last weekend.
At the Cardinal Invitational held at Stanford University, Kassi Andersen took first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:48.74, the fastest collegiate time in the nation.
“It was a fun race,” Anderson said. “Brianna Shook decided to lead us in a record pace time and couldn”t hold it. I remembered her from last year so I wanted to stay on her.
“I was able to chase her down, and I passed her up in the end. I just felt really good the whole way.”
At the BYU Wells Fargo Invitational, the BYU men”s and women”s teams captured first place in every event Saturday except the men”s 1,500 meter dash.
Although Dustin Trail didn”t take first in the 1,500-meter run, he did take second, running a personal best time of 3:49.98 that also qualified him for regionals.
The weekend was full of personal bests and opportunities to prepare for conference and regionals.
Freshman Amy Menlove started the collegiate events off on a strong foot by capturing the top spot in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.77, her second-best time this season. Sophomore Mary Bennion took first in the 400-meter dash with a personal best time of 55.02.
In the 10,000-meter run, David Woodberry reached a personal-best mark with a time of 29:46.79. Teammate Chad Durham finished right in front of him in a race that neared his personal-best time.
“We had some great finishes with some season bests and personal bests,” women”s head coach Craig Poole said in a press release. “We”re right on track with conference coming up.”
Also, senior Greg Flint was named the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week this past week for his performance at the Robison Invitational Apr. 24. Flint won the 400-meter hurdles at the Robison Invitational in a time of 50.58, posting the seventh fastest time in the nation and the fastest overall time in the West Region.
“Coach told me I won yesterday, and I felt like it was a good honor,” Flint said. “If I can continue to run like I have, stay relaxed and listen to coach, I should qualify for nationals.”
Last year, Flint disqualified in nationals and his opportunity to compete was taken away. This year, Flint hopes to return to nationals with vengeance and with the goal to make the top five and become an All-American.
MEN”S VOLLEYBALL: The BYU men”s volleyball team will head to Honolulu this week with a conference championship and a number one seed in the Final Four of the 2004 NCAA National Championship tournament.
Winning each of their matches last week against Pepperdine in the semifinal and Long Beach State in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation finals to capture the conference championship, the top-ranked Cougars received word of the top seeding Sunday afternoon on ESPN News.
In a rematch of last year”s national championship final, BYU (27-4) will play defending champion Lewis University (19-13) Thursday at midnight (MST). The earlier game will pit MPSF runner-up Long Beach State against Penn State. The final game is scheduled for Saturday
ESPN2 will rebroadcast the semifinal game Friday at noon and feature the championship game live on Saturday ay 8 p.m.
The volleyball team leaves Provo Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. Fans have been asked to be at the Smith Fieldhouse to send the team off.
MENS BASKETBALL: Head coach Steve Cleveland announced his roster for the 2004-2005 season, as well as two new recruits.
Josh Reisman, a 6-foot-1 guard from San Jose City College in San Jose, Calif., and Keena Young, a 6-foot-6 guard/forward from South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, signed national letters of intent to play for the Cougars in the fall.
Reisman (pronounced Reese-mun) averaged 14.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists as a sophomore at San Jose City College during the 2003-04 season, primarily playing shooting guard. Young averaged 9.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists as a freshman at South Plains College in 2003-04.
The two guards will complement BYU”s three 6-foot-10 center high school recruits, David Burgess, Chris Miles and Trent Plaisted. The Cougars were ranked in the Top 20 for recruiting in November.
