PROVO -- Breaking a new school record, the men’s track and field distance medley relay team received an automatic qualifying mark for nationals at the Alex Wilson Invitational in Notre Dame on Friday.

“We all ran how we wanted to today,” said senior All-American Kyle Perry. “Any time you can break a school record you can’t complain.”

Coming in second only to Virginia by .11 seconds, the Cougars broke the BYU record of 9:33.7 closing with a final time of 9:29.97 at Notre Dame. Virginia finished in 9:29.86.

“We’re super excited with how well we all ran,” said senior All-American Keith Jensen. “We all ran very solid and we’re confident we can do even better and place at nationals.”

The purpose for this meet and the Arkansas Last Chance Invitational was to gain a few last qualifying marks before the NCAA Indoor Championship. BYU came out successful in that goal.

Also in Notre Dame, junior Stephan Shay received a provisional qualifying mark in the 5000-meter with a final time of 14:05.84 for fourth place.

In Arkansas, senior All-American Whitney Neves also received a final provisional qualification in the pole vault. Neves came in second clearing a height of 17 feet 5.5 inches.

Representing the women, four athletes competed for the No. 20 BYU women’s track team in the Arkansas Last Chance Meet on Friday. The four individuals were looking to receive marks strong enough to qualify for nationals.

“I’m very pleased with the effort today,” said BYU women’s track and field head coach Craig Poole. “They all tried and competed at a high level, unfortunately I think they were a little tired from last weeks emotionally packed conference championships.”

While the Cougars were unable to attain qualifying marks, their efforts and results were impressive. Freshman standout Ada Robinson won the high jump event, clearing 5 feet 7.75 inches. Robinson owns the Mountain West Conference’s top jump this season at an NCAA provisional qualifying height of 5 feet10 inches.

Junior All-American long jumper Mindy Neeley took fourth (19 feet 5.25 inches) in the long jump event. Pole vaulters Kari Clark McAllister and Kelli Ehardt also performed well for BYU. Junior Clark McAllister placed fourth with a jump of 12 feet 9.5 inches and freshman Ehardt finished in seventh, jumping to 12 feet 5.6 inches.

“This was a great experience for these four athletes,” Poole said. “This meet sets them up for next year’s national indoor championships which will be held in this same facility."

The men and women track and field teams now prepare for the NCAA Indoor National Championships, which will begin Friday, March 13 and end Saturday, March 14.

PROVO -- Twenty-eight Cougars from the BYU track and field team were named to the all-Conference teams after taking both Mountain West Conference Indoor Championship titles last weekend.

“We are very pleased about how many athletes made the team,” said BYU men’s track and field head coach Mark Robison. “They performed very well and this shows the depth and experience of our team.”

Making up 16 of the 38 total recipients for the men and 13 of the 34 for the women, BYU had the most total athletes named to the teams by a landslide.

“It’s a great honor and these athletes really deserve it,” said BYU women’s track and field head coach Craig Poole said. “I’m thankful the Mountain West Conference recognized their hard work.”

The final selections were awarded to athletes who were the top three finishers in each event.

Using that momentum, the BYU men and women track and field teams will compete in their last two meets this weekend in hopes of earning a few last qualifications for Nationals.

“Our goal this weekend is to get marks that are good enough to get into nationals,” said Poole. “It will be difficult considering the workload the four athletes went through last week at Conference, but they have had good rest since then and have proven they are capable of receiving these qualifying marks.”

Representing the women at the Arkansas Last Chance Invitational are high jumper Ada Robinson, long jumper Mindy Neeley and pole vaulters Kari McAllister Clark and Kelli Ehardt. For the men, Kyle Perry, Keith Jensen, Kevin Biesinger and Jacob Gustafsson will compete in the distance medley relay at the blue and gold meet in Notre Dame, while Stephan Shay and Whitney Neves compete will compete in the 5000-meter and pole vault, respectively in Arkansas as well.

The blue and gold meet will begin Friday at 5 p.m. ET, while the Last Chance meet in Arkansas begins Friday at 3 p.m. ET.

MEN’S ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
BYU Individuals
Leif Arrhenius, BYU (Weight Throw, Shot Put)
Miles Batty, BYU (Mile Run)
Phillip Bettis, BYU (Heptathlon)
Kevin Biesinger, BYU (400 Meter Dash)
Jacob Gustafsson, BYU (800 Meter Run)
Brandon Hebbert, BYU (5,000 Meter Run)
Trevor Heiner, BYU (High Jump)
Meelis Kosk, BYU (Heptathlon)
Daniel Lawson, BYU (Shot Put)
Bob Low, BYU (Pole Vault)
Whitney Neves, BYU (Pole Vault)
Nathan Ogden, BYU (5,000 Meter Run)
Justin Palmer, BYU (Heptathlon)
Kyle Perry, BYU (Mile Run)
Aaron Powell, BYU (Long Jump, Triple Jump)
Stephan Shay, BYU (3,000 Meter Run)
 
Relays
BYU 4x400 Relay (Brian Weirich, Justin Hedin, Keith Jensen, Kevin Biesenger)
BYU Distance Medley (Miles Batty, Keith Jensen, Brian Weirich, Kyle Perry)
 
WOMEN’S ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
BYU Individuals
Diana Blauer, BYU (High Jump)
Lacey Cramer, BYU (800 Meter Run, Mile Run)
Kelli Ehardt, BYU (Pole Vault)
Cecily Lemmon, BYU (3,000 Meter Run; 5,000 Meter Run)
Kari McAllister, BYU (Pole Vault)
Amy Menlove, BYU (Pentathlon, Long Jump, 60 Meter Hurdles)
Mindy Neeley, BYU (Pentathlon)
Katie Palmer, BYU (800 Meter Run, Mile Run)
Ada Robinson, BYU (High Jump)
Nachelle Stewart, BYU (400 Meter Dash)
Angela Wagner, BYU (Mile Run; 3,000 Meter Run)
Deezbaa Whaley, BYU (Weight Throw)
 
Relays
BYU 4x400 Relay (Sandra Mazan, Diane Stewart, Emily Dunn, Nachelle Stewart)
BYU Distance Medley (Rachel Lange, Nachelle Stewart, Emily Dunn, Anna Sperry)