PROVO, Utah — Neal Berkey and
Aaron Johnson both earned wins on Friday at the BYU Indoor Invitational at Smith Fieldhouse. Berkey won the heptathlon and in the process moved into No. 2 in the record books with his finish while Johnson notched his second long jump victory in as many meets to start the season.
"Neal is learning how to become a great heptathlete. He's starting to put everything together and is working his way up in the national rankings and will be competitive at every meet we go to. All his hard work is really paying off," said UVU head coach
Scott Houle. "Aaron just shows up. He keeps the team calm, he's smiling, he's happy and enjoys what he does. That's part of why he's one of the top jumpers in the country. He just knows how to prepare and handle his business and is consistent."
After the first four events of the heptathlon were held on Thursday, Berkey entered the day in second place and went second, first, second in the final three events to earn the win. Berkey totaled 5,382 points, well in front of the second-place finisher from BYU, Dallin Vorkink, who finished with 4,526 points. Berkey's total was good enough for second best all-time at Utah Valley, with the record (5,546) held by All-American Michael McPherson from 2014.
Berkey's previous best was 5,003 points, which was fourth in the school record book. He took second in the 60m hurdles, setting a personal record with a time of 8.37 seconds. He finished first in the pole vault and was second behind teammate Joseph Trageser in the 1,000m. Trageser took third overall with 4,390 points.
Johnson won the long jump for the second straight meet after also winning at BYU in December in the first competition of the indoor season. His top mark on Friday was 7.58m, earning the outdoor All-American the gold.
Olivia Pixton finished second in the long jump with a mark of 5.59m, and now has a gold and a silver over her first two meets. That mark is a personal best for Pixton and is tied for fourth in the school record book.
Krista Farley and
Kelsi Oldroyd finished sixth and seventh, respectively, for the Wolverines. Pixton also competed in the triple jump and took fifth with
Sydney Dennis placing seventh. In the men's high jump,
Seth Krauss hit 2.02m to take fifth with
Carter Cook and
Jeffrey Duvinston tying for seventh.
"Tomorrow's going to be a big day. There are so many teams and a lot of great talent, so it will be a big test for us," said Houle.
Saturday's schedule begins at 10 a.m. with the pole vault and the 60m hurdles trials before the 60m trials. The 400, mile, 60mH finals, 60m finals, 800, 200, 3,000, 4x400 relays and the distance relay medley will round out the rest of the day's action, in order.
