POCATELLO -- The Arrhenius brothers of BYU's track and field team finished one-two in the 35-pound weight throw at the Mountain States Games in Pocatello, Idaho on Friday.
Freshman Leif Arrhenius won the competition with a throw of 66 feet 8.5 inches, good enough for an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. The throw was a season best for Arrhenius.
"He was unbelievable," BYU men's track coach Mark Robison said. "That mark could very well get him into nationals."
Brother Niklas Arrhenius finished second by tossing the weight 59 feet 4 inches, also a season best. Niklas's effort was extremely good considering his strength is the shot put.
"Nik's just a great athlete," Robison said. "He only had a handful of practice throws on Thursday, so its pretty amazing he got such a good throw."
The first day was full of qualifying events with the finals set for Saturday.
The BYU women qualified two in the 55-meter dash, two in the 200-meter dash and five in the 55-meter hurdles, including Amy Menlove, Lindsey Sommer, Mandy Kelly, Sarah Lacey and Taylor Teerlink-Law.
The women also competed in the 5,000 meters with Amber Duffin finishing seventh and Lisa Frishknecht finishing 10th. Candace Jones placed third in the 20-pound weight throw with a toss of just more than 49 feet.
The men also managed to qualify several athletes for tomorrow's finals.
Chalie Milhoan and Jake Garlick both advanced in the 55-meter dash. Milhoan also qualified in the 200 meter dash. Stig Robertson ran a 7.96-second 55-meter hurdles to finish second in the preliminaries.
Trent Powell finished second in the pole vault, tying a season-best 17 feet 7.25 inches, which is a provisional mark.
With so many qualfiers on the first day, BYU women's track coach Craig Poole expects good things tomorrow.
"People will rise to the occasion," Poole said. "We expect to do better tomorrow."
Competition resumes at 9:30 a.m. in the Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho.