BYU men's and women's track and field teams claimed six overall event wins at Saturday's Cardinal Classic.
“We are super grateful for Stanford welcoming us into their meet after our original outdoor opener was canceled,” BYU sprints coach Kyle Grossarth said. “Our athletes performed very well after being away from competition for a few weeks. This was a solid start to the outdoor season.”
The day started with defending national champion Ashton Riner-Lunt claiming the victory in the women's javelin throw with a 52.89m/173-6 mark. Lunt was followed by Jessica Thompson at second (47.10m/154-6), Brekell Gammell in third (45.14m/148-1) and Mary DeGraffenried in fifth (42.74m/140-2).
Thompson added an event win in the shot put with a throw of 15.26m/50-0.75 to close out the field events for the women.
The men’s team also saw success in field events as Dallin Shurts and Danny Bryant bested all competition in discus with throws of 58.61m/192-3 and 52.60m/172-7, respectively. Bryant went on to throw a 17.79m/58-4.5 mark in shot put, placing second in the event.
Cameron Bates took first in the javelin with a throw of 74.9m/245-9 and freshman Brinton Paulson placed third for his first outdoor collegiate meet with a 62.98m/206-7 mark.
The Cougars saw an additional three outdoor debuts with podium finishes from James Corrigan, Garrett Stanford, and Ryan Cibart. Corrigan and Stanford, competing in the steeplechase and clocking in at 9:11.37 and 9:16.68, stood at first and second-overall. Cibart took home a second place finish with a time of 1:49.48 in the 800-meters race.
BYU continued to dominate the 3,000-meter steeplechase with the women’s team taking the top-four spots: Lizzie Dildine racing 10:40.00 for first place and Destiny Everett, Allie Warner and Julia Sumsion claiming second, third and fourth, subsequently.
Adaobi Tabugbo claimed second in both the 200-meters and 100-meter hurdles with Meghan hunter taking second in the 800-meters.
Both BYU men's and women's 4x400m teams ended the day with third place finishes. The women's team, composed of Hunter, Dolita Shaw, Krystie Solomon and Marianne Barber, clocked 3:43.66 and the men’s squad of Aburouss, Carlile, Treyton Anderson and Jared Davis crossed the line in 3:10.56.
The men’s 4x100-meter team of Omar Aburouss, Easton Bianchi, Spencer Carlile and Kyler Haughton came up 0.31 seconds short of claiming the victory, running 40.89 to finishing second.
Spencer Carlile led the Cougars in the 400-meter hurdles with a first place time of 51.95 and Jace Jensen put up a mark of 53.06 to claim third.
'It was great to get outside in some really good weather and compete,' BYU sprints, hurdles and relays coach Kyle Grossarth said. 'The athletes took advantage of that and ran well. They have been working really hard, and they came out and executed very well. I'm excited for what is to come this outdoor season.'
The BYU men's and women's track & field teams travel to San Diego to take on the Aztec Invitational on March 23.
