A BYU track athlete leaps through the hurdles at an outdoor meet last season. The team opened its outdoor season at meets in Los Angeles and Las Vegas over the weekend. (Universe Archives)
The BYU track and field team opened its outdoor season at the Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles and UNLV Spring Invitational/Shelia Tarr-Smith Multis over the weekend.
BYU head track and field coach Ed Eyestone was impressed with the seven track and field athletes who earned marks that qualified them for the regional meet.
“A lot of times we don’t expect athletes to get a qualifying mark at the first meet of the year,” Eyestone said. “So the fact that we had seven people get those marks is nice because it allows them to relax a little bit. Now they can train for the national meet.”
In Los Angeles, Madison Pachner placed fifth in the discus with a personal best mark of 51.85 meters. Lauren Ellsworth took first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:08.88.
Nicole Naatjes placed first in the pole vault with a tied personal best mark of 4.10 meters in Las Vegas to qualify for regionals.
Aaron Fletcher, Mitchell Briggs and Rory Linkletter placed top three in the men's steeplechase to hit the regional mark.
Marcus Dickson won the men's 1500 meters and Kristi Rush took first on the women's side.
Babatomiwa Adegoke took third in the long jump with a mark of 7.31 meters. Wyatt Warrick had a season best throw of 66.15 meters in the javelin.
The BYU track and field team travels to the Aztec Invitational in San Diego this weekend.