PROVO -- At the second meet of the season, the BYU men's and women's track teams posted season bests while competing in Albuquerque and Boise, respectively, fairing well against some of the best teams in the nation.
"All in all we had a good meet," BYU women's head coach Craig Poole said. "We had some good competition and we got what we wanted out of the meet."
The women were lead by a strong distance team that produced eight first-place finishes in three of the distance events. Carlee Clark won the mile in 4:57.77, and teammate Carolyn Quebe came in fifth with a time of 5:04.07. Julie Meads and Heidi Houle came in second and third, respectively, in the 800 meters. BYU also took the first four spots in the 3000 meters. Angela Petersen finished first with a time of 10:22.65.
The women also fielded the second and third fastest relay teams. Diane Stewart, Sandra Mazan, Heidi Summers and Jennifer Grossarth combined for the second fastest time of the meet with a time of 3:52.31. The field events were also notable for the Cougars.
"Makenzie Iorg hit her best mark in the pole vault," said Poole. "Mindy Neeley did a great job in the long jump. Tipaleli Fotu had her best throw in the weight throw, and Tiffany Arrhenius improved in the shot put."
The men faced conference foe New Mexico in Albuquerque and also ran against national powerhouses LSU and Texas A&M.
"I think it was a successful meet, but it wasn't the greatest," said assistant coach Leonard Myles-Mills. "The kids tried hard. It was just the second meet of the season and some of our athletes were sore and had some nagging injuries."
One of the brightest performances came in the pole vault. Matt Weirich surpassed his career best and cleared 17 feet 2.75 inches. Teammates Bob Low, Victor Weirich and Tyler Brown took second, third and seventh, respectively, combining for 26 points to help the Cougars. David Pendergrass came in second in the high jump at six feet. 11 inches. Ammon Dahl and Bryce Bergen came in fourth and fifth to boost BYU's score. Shot-putter Niklas Arrhenius threw well enough for a fifth place finish, but was well behind his throw of last week.
"They have a little ways to go and they will probably do better in the coming weeks," said Myles-Mills. "We know what we have to work on."