Under the skillful coaching of head coach Mark Robison, Ed Eyestone, and Leonard Myles-Mills the Cougars tied for ninth place at the NCAA National meet along side USC and North Carolina. BYU is returning a lot of talent and is poised for another high finish at nationals.
"This year one of our greatest strengths is our distance team, lead by Josh Rohatinsky," said Robison. "We have several All-Americans. I am also very excited about the 400 hurdles."
Decathlon
Returning senior Kevin Keys is looking forward to facing the competition with good company. Justin Palmer, Chris Weirich and Keys could be good point getters in the indoor heptathlon and outdoor decathlon. Robison expects that his decathlon athletes will be very strong in conference, and some have possible top 10 ability at nationals.
Distance
The distance squad will be led by NCAA cross country champion and Athlete of the Year Josh Rohatinsky. He will be gunning for national titles in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Four other track All-Americans join Rohatinsky. Steeplechaser Chandler Goodwin, who trained with last year's NCAA National Champion in the steeple Josh McAdams, 800-meter ace Jason Dorais, 800/1500-meter specialist Jacob Gustafsson and miler Kyle Perry. Perry has one of the fastest finishing kicks in BYU history according to Olympian and BYU assistant coach Ed Eyestone. Look for Eyestone's distance runners to improve on their second-place national finish in the distance medley relay indoors.
Hurdles
Another strength of the Cougars is their hurdling corp. Chris Carter spent part of his summer winning a gold medal in Beijing at the World Junior Championships. He was also third in the 2007 NCAA National Championships. This is not just a one-man show though; the Cougars are loaded with talent. Jake Garlick, Nate Rencher and Stig Robertson were all top competitors in the MWC, and are hungry for the national competition.
Jumps
All-American high jumper David Pendergrass is coming off a strong junior season. He and Bryce Bergen cleared seven foot last season. Bergen got hurt early so BYU could have two All-Americans in the high jump if they stay healthy. Pendergrass is also the leading triple jumper for the men's team. In the long jump Justin Palmer is expected to be a leader in the event. In the pole vault, returning MWC Champion Whitney Neves, along with Bob Low and Matt Weirich could compete in Sacramento in 2007, and all three vaulters could go over 18 feet this season.
Sprints
"We are going to be good in the long sprints and the 4x400," said Robison. He sees incoming freshman Matt Frogley and Jason Howard are very talented and could make an impact this season in the 400 meters.
Throws
The Cougars welcome back Niklas Arrhenius from a summer of competition in Norway, Denmark and Czech Republic. Robison is impressed with Arrhenius' conditioning and believes he will place well in the shot put indoor and discus outdoor. With Arrhenius, Dustin Lawrensen will be a competitor in the discus. Freshman Matt Johnston will be a lift for the Cougars in the javelin. BYU has recruited a lot of talent that will help establish confidence in the throws.