Chris Little Wins Pole Vault, 4x400 Relay Finishes First at New Balance

NEW YORK -- Chris Little took first place in the pole vault championships at the New Balance Invitational with a height of 5.30 meters, highlighting a strong showing by the men's track and field team on Saturday.

Little's mark is a season-high in the event and the second-best performance among Mountain West Conference performers, earning the junior an NCAA provisional mark.

"The best of the day was Chris Little winning the pole vault," said BYU coach Mark Robison. "He did very well."

With over 60 Division I schools in attendance in addition to many other colleges from around the country, the Cougars competed as well as anybody.

Joining Little on the winner's stand was the 4x400 relay team consisting of Kevin Alhstrom, Rhyan Atrice, Kevin Biesinger and James Derek McCallister. The foursome finished in 3:13.39, almost three full seconds better than second place Houston.

"This is the best we have ever performed at this meet since we have been coming here," Robison said. "I am very pleased with how we did."

In the high jump, Michael McConkie posted the fourth-best height in the MWC with a 1.99m, finishing in fourth place in the event.

McConkie jumped very well. Everything else was about what we've been. It's probably the best meet we've had since we've been here. I thought they did very well.

In the triple jump, Anse Myller DeAraujo took fifth place with a 14.76m while Kyle Mills was two spots behind at 14.45m.

On the track, Brian Weirich placed ninth in the 800m championships with a time of 1:52.13. Nathan Ogden and Jon Kotter finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 3000m championship while Reagan Frey ran an 8:31.12 in the 3000m run for ninth overall.

At Idaho State in the Mountain States Invitational, Matthew Green finished seventh in the 60m dash in 7.20 seconds. In the 60m hurdles, Aaron Allen and Lance Walker finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

John Reilly finished in ninth with a height of 4.42m in the pole vault after a tenth-place finish in the long jump yesterday. Tek Fish took eleventh with 2,903 points in the heptathlon.

CLICK HERE for complete results from the meet.