OREM, Utah – Utah Valley freshman Olivia Neal broke the program pole vault record to spearhead a list of five individual victories for the Wolverines Friday in the seventh annual UVU Collegiate Invitational at Hal Wing Track and Field.
 
A native of Portland, Ore., Neal became the school's outright record-holder in the pole vault with a successful attempt of 3.75 meters to surpass former Wolverine Bethany Foster's four-year outdoor record (3.67m) by 0.08 meters. Neal topped her own overall UVU record of 3.68 meters during the recent indoor season, while also tallying her first career win in the process.
 
Along with Neal's finish, the Wolverines received first-place finishes on the women's side from freshman Darcy Allen in the discus (45.04m) and freshman walk-on Emily Jones (11:36.34) in the steeplechase. Allen and Jones joined their freshman counterpart in earning their first career wins.
 
Completing the quintuplet of UVU wins, senior Tyson Lambert ran a time of 8:49.46 in the men's 3K in his 2018 outdoor season debut and sophomore Albert MacArthur recorded a personal record with a 15.16-meter leap in the triple jump. MacArthur picked up his second triple jump win in the squad's last three meets on the day.
 
In addition to their top finishes at their lone home meet of the season, the Wolverines racked up 17 other top-three finishes across the men's and women's events throughout the day. Freshman distance runner Anthony Ocegueda took second overall and first among collegiate competitors in the men's 5,000-meter run on that list, following right behind former Wolverine Jason Lynch who placed first as an unattached runner.
 
In the women's 3,000-meter race, freshman Hannah Branch placed second with a time of 9:51.42 and senior Savannah Berry crossed the finish line right behind her in third with a time of 9:53.16. With their times, the freshman-senior duo moved into second and third, respectively, in program history in the 3K.
 
Leading the way for the Wolverines in the sprints, juniors Ashley Zulauf and Jordan Carder added top-three event finishes in their respective women's and men's 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Zulauf took second in her 100 (12.29) and 200 (25.48) races, while Carder finished third in his 100 (10.95) and 200 (21.66) appearances.
 
Senior Joseph Christensen and junior Brandon Edmondson gave UVU another pair of second and third place times on the day in the men's 1,500-meter race. Christensen placed second with a WAC season-best time of 3:51.09 and Edmondson third on a time of 3:52.02.
 
Topping off the top-three finishes on the men's side, sophomore Adrian Jones finished second in the steeplechase, senior Daven Russell added a third-place finish in the shot put, freshman Alex Lawrence followed suit in third in the pole vault and senior Austin Poulsen notched a third-place finish in the triple jump (13.46m). Jones clocked the WAC's fastest time of the year with a time of 9:04.09 in his steeplechase run, taking over the fourth spot on the school's all-time record chart.
 
In the women's 400-meter hurdles, seniors Mykah Ouderkirk (1:01.53) and Lexi Shaw (1:01.59) landed at second and third, respectively, for the Wolverines. As they crossed the finished line, Ouderkirk managed to inch just .06 seconds ahead of her teammate to finish as the day's 400-hurdles runner-up.
 
Prior to the women's 400-hurdles, Ouderkirk tacked on the first of her pair of second-place finishes in the women's long jump with a mark of 5.53 meters. Unattached senior Aisha Graham-Perez capped all of UVU's top-three finishes in the women's 800-meter race with a time of 2:16.74 to finish one spot of head of fellow Wolverine senior Shevaun Ames (2:19.58) in fourth.
 
Utah Valley will now continue a string of four straight in-state meets with trips north to Utah and Weber State. The Wolverines will compete in the Utah Spring Classic on April 6 and the Weber State Wildcat Invitational on April 7.