COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado –Tatenda Tsumba and Anginae Monteverde set new season bests in their respective events as both BYU men’s and women’s track and field teams showed well at the Air Force Invitational Thursday through Saturday.

“I thought it was a very nice meet for us,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “We had great performances all around, particularly with our pole vaulters and 400-meter group on both our men’s and women’s sides.”

Zachary Stetler started things off well for the Cougars Saturday morning taking first place in the shot put with a final throw of 18.16 meters.

“Stetler gave a clutch performance because he started the event throwing well, then got passed by a couple guys,” Eyestone said. “In his final throw of the competition, he was sitting in third place, but uncorked a good one and won the competition.”

In the men’s 400-meter finals, BYU took first, second and third with Sean Adams taking the victory in 48.21 seconds. Adams was followed by Max Scheible and Korey Smith. Adams has placed first in an event in all three meets so far this season.

Tatenda Tsumba continued his improvement in the long jump and 200 meters placing first and third, respectively.

“He jumped very well,” Eyestone said. “Each week seems to be a little better with him. I was particularly impressed with how he ran the 200 meters.”

Tsumba set a season-best in the long jump with a mark of 7.25 meters. His time of 21.73 in the 200 meters was the fastest of all Division I competitors at the meet.

Nicole Laws put in another strong performance placing first in the 60-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 8.55. Laws also placed fourth overall in the pentathlon.

Anginae Monteverde took first among college athletes in the pole vault. After not clearing the opening height on her first two vault attempts, Monteverde overcame the slow start and finished strong clearing 4.05 meters.

“That was a great mark for Anginae,” Eyestone said. “She’s going to continue to jump better and better with each meet. Indoor is difficult for the pole-vaulters. In outdoors, each runway is consistent and looks the same. With indoors, each venue is diverse and different and requires great adaptation. Anginae showed that today.”

Elise Machen and Sierra Hansen were not far behind placing second and third in the pole vault clearing 3.95 meters and 3.80 meters, respectively.

In the long jump, Chelsea Spencer finished second with a jump of 5.58 meters, the top mark of all BYU women in the event this season. 

BYU men’s and women’s track and field will be at it again next weekend. The distance runners will compete at the Washington Invitational in Seattle Jan. 30-31. The sprinters, jumpers and throwers will compete at the Armory Invitational in New York City Jan. 30-31.

PROVO, Utah – BYU track and field heads to Colorado Springs for the Air Force Invitational Thursday through Saturday. 

“We’re looking forward to this invitational,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “It’s our first flying trip so that’s a different element. It’s going to be a great opportunity for our athletes.”

The Cougars will take throwers, sprinters, and jumpers to the meet. The distance runners are resting this week in preparation for the Washington Invitational next weekend.

The Air Force Academy campus is over 7,000 feet above sea level. The thin air will be particularly advantageous to the jumpers and vaulters.

Other teams joining BYU at the meet include Air Force, Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Wyoming.

The heptathlon and pentathlon begin Thursday with the field and track events running Friday and Saturday.

Final results of the meet will be posted to the Air Force Academy athletics website.

Athletes to watch

Braydon Bringhurst

The senior and indoor All-American from last season makes his season debut in the pole vault. His personal best in the pole vault came last season when he cleared 5.50 meters at the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“This is a nice place for our pole vaulters,” Eyestone said. “Historically, they tend to jump really well here.”

Jackson Walker and Nicole Laws

Sophomores Walker and Laws began the season placing first at the BYU Cougar Collegiate Invitational in the heptathlon and pentathlon, respectively.

“We’re looking to see Jackson and Nicole improve on their scores and see how they rank nationally,” Eyestone said.

Anginae Monteverde

The junior is fresh off a second-place finish at the Ed Jacoby Invitational last week in the pole vault. Monteverde cleared 3.85 meters and tied freshman Elise Machen for the top mark among BYU women in the event this season.