Eight Cougars To NCAA Championships After Prelims

EUGENE, Ore. -- The final day of competition at the NCAA West Regional Preliminary Round featured one more athlete qualify for Nationals, and another qualify in a second event, bringing the BYU men’s track team total to eight qualifiers.

“We’ve got a pretty good group going, I think we can score some points at Nationals,” head coach Mark Robison said. “It’s too bad we couldn’t get more but that’s just the way it all works. We’ll definitely do alright.”

Junior Miles Batty ran his quarterfinal race in the 1,500 meters after moving on Thursday. He clocked a 3:46.94 and an 11th place finish to ensure a spot in at the NCAA Championships.

Two more athletes competed in field events for the Cougars. Senior Leif Arrhenius qualified for his second event, this time in the discus. Arrhenius threw for a mark of 59.87m (196-05.00) to advance. He also qualified in the shot put earlier in the meet.

Junior Kyle Mills missed out on qualifying for nationals but still performed well, jumping a best of 15.04m (49-04.25) in the triple jump.

In the 5,000 meters, sophomore Alden Bahr finished in 28th place overall with a time of 14:11.18. Senior Nathan Ogden finished in 14:34.93 for a 42nd place finish.

BYU’s 4x400 relay team ended its season with a 15th place finish. Sophomores Cade Lindahl, James Derek McAllister and Sean Adams along with junior Steven Hart ran a 3:09.56 to miss qualifying for Nationals by less than one second.

The Cougars’ eight representatives at the NCAA Championships will compete in seven different events including the pole vault, discus throw, shot put, high jump, 800 meters, 1,500 meters and 3,000-meter steeplechase. Nationals will be held in Des Moines, Iowa on June 8-11.

For complete results from the NCAA West Regional Prelims CLICK HERE.

NCAA Championships Qualifiers
Chris Little (Pole vault)
Tanner Emrich (Pole vault)
Victor Weirich (Pole vault)
Trevor Heiner (High jump)
Leif Arrhenius (Shot put, Discus)
Miles Batty (1,500 meters)
Justin Hedin (800 meters)
Jacob Cosby (3,000-meter steeplechase)