BYU track and field finishes strong in New York

NEW YORK – BYU track and field gave a strong showing with many personal bests at the Columbia Challenge on Saturday at The Armory Track.

“We had a really amazing couple of days here,” head coach Ed Eyestone said. “It was probably one of the best meets of the year for us. The team performed on all levels.”

Sierra Hansen placed first in the pole vault at 4.15m, earning her a PR and No. 4 all-time on the BYU top performers list.

Junior Andrea Stapleton-Johnson jumped 1.83m in the high jump, finishing second and most likely securing her spot at the NCAA Indoor National Championships in March.

Junior Keesha Miller placed 18th in the 200m with a PR of 24.69.

Senior Abraham Alvarado finished third in the meet and first for the college division in the 800m with a time of 1:48.7. It is currently one of the top times in the country.

Junior Rory Linkletter made his track debut for the 2018 season by finishing sixth in the 3000m at 7:55.1.

“Rory, Daniel Carney, Clayton Shumway and Connor Mantz did a very good job running,” Eyestone said. “Our middle distance women runners also did great in the 800m and the mile. Overall it was just a great showing from our team on the men’s side and the women’s side.”

Carney finished 11th in the 3000m (8:01.82). Mantz finished the race 13th (8:02.19) with Shumway behind him in 14th (8:02.8).

Whittni Orton placed 20th for the Cougars in the 800m (2:07.57) and Brenna Porter followed in 23rd (2:10.6).

Madelyn Brooks came in 12th in the mile with a time of 4:44.79.

A recap from the previous days of the meet can be found here. 

While almost 50 BYU athletes competed in New York, the Cougars sent a small number of athletes to compete in Ogden, Utah, at the Wildcat Open at Weber State. 

Freshman Kate Hunter (5:08.11) and Junior Maddie Cannon (5:09.32) both earned PR's in the mile. 

Freshman Colton Yardley finished fourth in the 55m with a time of 7.7.

The Cougars head to Ames, Iowa to compete in the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 9.