BYU men’s track team takes 8th place

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By ROGER BROUGH

The BYU men’s track team wrapped up the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships over the weekend with an eighth-place finish and 27.50 total points.

“It was an outstanding meet for us,” BYU men’s track and field head coach Mark Robison said in a news release. “That is probably one of our best performances at nationals. It is tough to score points so I’m pretty happy with it.”

Senior Leif Arrhenius scored 16 points for the Cougars, with a pair of second-place finishes in the shot put and discus. Arrhenius hit a best mark of 19.37 meters (63 feet, 6.75 inches) in the shot put on Friday, his second All-American honor of the meet after finishing second in the discus throw (61.36m, 201-03) on Wednesday.

“He did incredible for us,” Robison said. “It was an amazing throw and he really competed down to the end. To score 16 points at nationals is pretty tough to do.”

Junior Miles Batty finished in seventh place in the 1,500-meter finals with a time of 3:45.07 on Saturday, scoring two points for the Cougars.

With the seventh-place finish, Batty earned First-Team All-American honors and said he learned a few things about running your best at nationals.

“I was happy to come home again as an All-American, but it was disappointing being ranked so high and finishing in seventh,” said Batty. “Physically, it’s been a long season and some of the other competitors I faced didn’t race as much earlier in the season, so I’ve learned I need to save my best performances for nationals.”

In addition to Arrhenius and Batty, other BYU men who earned All-American honors at nationals included senior Chris Little (pole vault) and sophomore Victor Weirich (pole vault). The Cougars also had three more athletes compete with junior Justin Hedin (800 meters), sophomore Jacob Cosby (3,000m steeplechase) and senior Tanner Emrich (pole vault).

The women’s team wasn’t able to score any points this year, despite featured high jumpers juniors Diana Blauer and Ada Robinson.

“Sometimes things just do not go your way and that’s how it’s been for us this weekend,” women’s head coach Patrick Shane said in a news release. “We had a lot of young competitors here and they will all be back next season. Even though we didn’t score any points, this was a great experience for these athletes.”

Robinson, a 2011 indoor All-American in the high jump, finished ninth in the outdoor competition after clearing 1.80m (5-10.75). Robinson narrowly missed clearing 1.83m, which would have scored points for the Cougars.

With the ninth-place finish, Robinson earned Second Team All-American honors. Blauer cleared 1.72m (5-7.75) to finish 20th in the high jump competition.

“Ada and Diana both came out a little flat today,” Shane said. “They had to get the high jump in before the rain hit the complex, so everything was a little bit rushed.”

The Cougar women did not place as a team, though juniors Lacey Bleazard (800m) and Morgan Haws (10,000m) also earned Second Team All-American honors.

“I am proud of all our athletes,” Shane said. “We had a great season and just need to develop from a great conference team to a great national team. I think we will be able to improve and make that transition next season.”

This marks the end of the 2011 season for the Cougar track and field teams, as well as the final season in the Mountain West Conference for the Cougars, who will compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation during the 2012 indoor season and as an independent during the outdoor season.

 

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