PROVO, Utah - The BYU men’s track and field team secured 13 first-place finishes and 169 points in their first home meet of the outdoor season against the University of Southern California and Boise State at the Clarence F. Robison Track and Field complex on Saturday, a meet that saw perfect weather and a good-sized crowd.

“It was an incredibly beautiful day and the kids performed extremely well,” head coach Mark Robison said. “USC didn’t bring as many as we had hoped, so it wasn’t quite the competitive team situation we hoped for, but I couldn’t be happier with the performances from today.”

Senior Miles Batty opened his outdoor season with a substantial win in the 1500m, finishing with a time of 3:50.45, two seconds faster than all other competitors.

Cade Lindahl had a very strong performance at the meet, finishing first in both the 400m and the 200m, with times of 46.21 and 21.50 respectively.

Fanfan Charles ran an incredible race in the 100m finishing in 10.45, a personal record, with Jason Hinds taking second with a time of 10.60.

In the 400m hurdles, Chris Carter won the individual championship, finishing first with a time of 50.83 and the 4x100m team of Charles, Lindahl, Hinds and James Ghormley finished first with a time of 40.84, their best time of the season.

In the field events, Victor Weirich once again dominated the pole vault, finishing almost two feet higher than any other competitor with a height of 5.35m (17’ 06.75”).

BYU dominated the high jump, with Dakoda John finishing first, jumping 2.11m (6’ 11.00”), and Russell Nielson and Adam Hine tying for second, clearing 2.06 (6’ 09.00’).

Also finishing first in the field events for BYU were Kevin Nielsen (long jump), Blaine Baker (javelin), Colby Barber (shot put) and Kyle Mills (triple jump).

Along with the BYU tri-meet, a couple of distance athletes went to California to participate in the Stanford Invitational this weekend. Highlights from California include Justin Hedin placing fourth in the 800m, with a time of 1:48.73, and Jared Rohatinsky finishing 11th in the 1500m with a time of 3:51.31.

The Cougars head back to California next week to participate in the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational in Los Angeles, April 13-14.

Results from the BYU Tri-Meet can be found at www.runnercard.com, and full results from the Stanford Invitational can be found at www.gostanford.com.

PROVO, Utah – This week the BYU men’s and women’s track and field teams will host their first outdoor meet of the season against Pac-12 powerhouse University of Southern California and Boise State at the Clarence F. Robison Track and Field Complex on Saturday, April 7.

The BYU women broke into the USTFCCCA top-25 this week, at No. 24, and the men hang just outside the top-25 with their current ranking of 26. BYU will face tough competition as USC enters the meet with their men ranked eighth nationally and their women ranked fourth. 

 NCAA indoor mile record holder Miles Batty will be opening his outdoor season at the tri-meet. A two-time national champion, Batty will be participating in the 1500-meters. Batty was an All-American in the 1500m last season and promises to put on a good show in the event.

Other highly ranked men that will be competing include Victor Weirich (ranked third in the pole vault), Chris Carter (eighth in the 400m hurdles), Kevin Nielsen (ninth in the decathlon), Ryan Waite (10th in the 800m) and Cade Lindahl (14th in the 400m).

USC will also bring several athletes ranked in the top-10 in the nation in their respective events. The Trojans feature top-10 athletes in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 10000m, 400m hurdles, hammer throw and javelin. USC also has the number one 4x400m team and the nation’s top 400m runner.

The Cougar men have the 16th-ranked 4x400m relay team, whose best time is just seconds behind that of USC. The final event of the meet has the potential to be an epic showdown between two of the top relay teams in the nation.   

On the women’s side, Christen Guenther will lead the team as the sixth-ranked pole vaulter in the NCAA. Allyson Anderson will compete in the javelin and her season best mark also currently ranks sixth in the nation.

Another women’s athlete to watch is Lexi Eaton, a freshman high jumper that competed for the first time in her college career at the UVU Invitational last week and won the high jump. Eaton was also on the women’s basketball team and was named the West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year this season.

The USC women will also bring several impressive athletes, including top-10 athletes in the 200m, 10000m, discus and hammer throw.

The meet will be the first scored meet of the outdoor season for the Cougars. The women’s pole vault will be the first event of the meet and will begin at 11:00 a.m. MST. 

Running competition will begin at 1:00 p.m. with the women’s 3000m steeplechase. The final event will be the men’s 4x400m at 3:30 p.m.

Admission to the meet will be $5 per person. Children under age five are free and students with an All-Sports pass will be admitted without charge as well. Live stats will be available at runnercard.com.