PROVO, Utah/POCATELLO, Idaho – The Utah Valley University men's and women's track & field teams posted a pair of strong showings at the BYU Cougar Indoor Invitational and Idaho State Snake River Open this weekend in both Provo, Utah, and Pocatello, Idaho.
"With our team separated in two locations this weekend, I felt that we had a good meet and did a nice job of getting our feet wet after the Christmas break. All of our student-athletes came back with a great response from their fall training and looked pretty good," head UVU coach
Scott Houle said. "We have some good things going and all-in-all it was a pretty good meet for us after the break and we're looking forward to getting things going again at Boise State in a couple of weeks."
With the majority of UVU's track & field teams staying close to home and competing at the BYU Indoor Invite,
Lexi MacArthur led the way by winning the 800m run for the women's team with a solid time of 2:22.87. The Wolverines also added five more second-place finishes and seven more third-place showings at neighboring BYU.
The men's squad came away with a trio of second-place finishes at BYU, with
Kale Sharp earning runner-up honors in the 1-mile run (4:23.32), while returning NCAA outdoor qualifier
Albert MacArthur placed second in the triple jump (14.92m/48-11.50), and the men's 'A' 4x400m relay team also finished second with a time of 3:24.74. The women's team added a pair of second-place finishes in Provo with
Trinity Schimbeck claiming second in the 800m run (2:28.40) and
Amy Ballard posting a silver finish in the long jump (5.01m/16-05.25).
The Wolverine women also added five more third-place finishes at the BYU Indoor Invite, as
Julia Hunt took third in the 60m dash (7.79),
Emily Jones posted a bronze finish in the 3000m run (10:22.30),
Taygin DeHart claimed third in both the long jump (4.96m/16-03.25) and triple jump (10.30m/33-09.50), and the 'A' team also delivered a third-place finish in the women's 4x400m relay (4:03.54). The men's squad delivered a pair of third-place finishes on Saturday at BYU with
Sam Coleman earning the bronze finish in the 800m run (1:55.53) and
Aaron Johnson taking third in the long jump on Friday (6.97m/22-10.50). Jones' time of 10:22.30 is a new personal record for the UVU distance runner.
At Idaho State,
Isaac Manning led the Wolverines by winning the men's heptathlon with 4,839 total points. Manning won both the pole vault (5.03m) and the shot put (11.70m) during the heptathlon en route to winning strenuous event. The 4,839 total points also marks a personal record for Manning as well as the fourth-best score in UVU men's track & field history. His 5.03m in the pole vault is also a PR as well as good enough to move him into second place in the UVU record books. Teammate
Josh Rudder finished right behind him to take second in the men's heptathlon with a total of 4,683 points, while
Seth Krauss also took second at ISU in the men's high jump by clearing 1.98m (6-06.00), and
Alex Lawrence posted third-place finish in the men's pole vault (5.00m/16-04.75). Rudder also recorded a new PR as well as moved into fifth place in the UVU record books with his 4,683 points in the heptathlon. On the women's side,
Carly Koehler and
Berkley Berrett led the way by placing fourth respectively in the pentathlon (2,613 points) and pole vault (3.40m). Both Koehler and Berrett also set new personal bests with their results. Berrett's mark is not only a personal record but also moves her into fifth-place into the UVU record books.
In the throwing events that were contested on Thursday evening at BYU,
Kyle Routsong led the men's team by taking fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 15.22m (49-11.25) and sixth in the shot put (12.64m/41-05.75). On the women's side,
Maddy Beyeler paced the team by taking fifth in the discus (39.08m/128-02.50), while
Savanna Reilly Routsong took sixth in the shot put (12.39m/40-07.75) and
Chania Nagel finished sixth in the weight throw (15.23m/49-11.50).
Other strong performances included
Zane Farrer moving into third place in the UVU record books with a time of 8.19 in the 60m hurdles, as well as Johnson moving into fifth place in the record books in the 60m dash with a time of 6.87, and both
Caleb Furnell and
Larissa Dabb for moving into eighth place in the 300m Wolverine record books with respective times of 35.13 and 41.25.
Taylor Viertel also posted a new personal record as well as the third-best time in the WAC this season in the 1-mile run with a time of 5:10.47.
The BYU Indoor Invite was contested on Thursday to Saturday at BYU Smith Fieldhouse. UVU, BYU, Southern Utah, Utah State and Westminster competed at the in-state meet.
The Idaho State Snake River Open was contested on Friday and Saturday at ISU's Holt Arena. UVU, ISU, Weber State, Southern Utah, Utah State, Carroll, Everett, Madison and MSU Billings competed at Idaho State.
Utah Valley will take the next week off and will return to action on Jan. 24-25 at Boise State's Ed Jacoby Invitational in Nampa, Idaho. Following the meet at Boise State, the Wolverines will take part at the Air Force Team Challenge on Feb. 7 in USAF Academy, Colorado.
