PROVO -- The BYU men's and women's teams were competing at the Mt. SAC Relays and the UCLA Invitational and found great success. Josh Rohatinsky and Whitney McDonald broke the 5000-meter records for BYU athletes at the Mt. SAC relays in California this weekend.
Rohatinsky broke the 5,000 meter record set by two-time Olympian and BYU men's distance coach Ed Eyestone in 1984. Rohatinsky's time of 13:25.53 was about seven seconds faster than Eyestones time.
"Josh [Rohatinsky]'s race was obviously was the highlight of the meet," said Eyestone. "The first lap was a 62 [second lap] and on the third lap they ran another 62[second lap]. After the first lap they settled down and he was able to keep up with them. He not only broke the record, he decimated it. He had one of the best races in BYU school history. There aren't a whole lot of collegians that have run that well."
Rohatinsky was registered in a heat that featured some of the top distance runners in the world. He was challenged from the beginning with a pace that would result in a 4:15 mile split.
"It started out a little faster than I wanted it to," Cross Country National Champion, Rohatinsky said. "If I had gone as fast as I wanted to I wouldn't have kept up with the lead pack. I was able to stick with the leaders and I got the time I was hoping for. It's been nice to run good 1500-meter, and 5000-meter races before going into the 10,000 meters. Having good times in those events helps build up my confidence and I think I will be able to qualify in the 10,000 meters."
Not to be forgotten is the record breaking time of McDonald, who broke the 5,000-meter record set by three-time All-American and National Champion Michaela Manova. McDonald ran a 15:44.55 to beat the three-year-old record in a heat featuring a new American Record.
"Whitney broke the school record in a phenomenal race," said BYU distance coach Patrick Shane. "15:44.55 is not only a school record but is the fastest time ever run by a women in the history of our conference. The American record was set in that heat as well. This will give her the confidence to compete with anyone in the country."
Also for the women, Mindy Neeley moved into fifth all-time at BYU in the long jump with her jump of 21 feet 4 inches. She also was part of the women's first place 4x100 relay team and came in third in the women's 100-meter and 200-meter races. All-American Kamila Rywelska came back from injury to jump 40 feet 7 inches in the triple jump to qualify her for regionals. Jennifer Grossarth, Sandra Mazan and Nicole Nevitt took second through fourth, respectively, in the 400 meter hurdles with Mazan getting a personal best time of 59.18. Tiffany Arrhenius and Piret Kuresson took fourth and fifth place in the Javelin throw. Tipaleli Fotu placed sixth in the hammer throw, improving her mark to 176 feet 8 inches. Kelly Furr took third and Makenzie Iorg tied with Ashley McCallister for fifth place in the pole vault. All three are now qualified for regionals.
" Friday we had good meet with a lot of good performances," said BYU women's head coach Craig Poole. "The hurdles did good and the 800 meters was a good race. Makenzie Iorg qualified in the pole vault. Kamila had a good mark in the triple, for her first time of the season giving her a shot in regionals. Mindy Neeley had a great series of jumps. Her last jump was about 6.50 meters and that puts her in the top-ten jumpers all-time at BYU. We had a good meet and some great performances."
The distance squad had a productive meet at Mt SAC with some athletes competing at UCLA on Saturday.
"Tawny Bybee ran a 10:40 which was a Personal Record," said Shane. " Katie Bowen ran a 10:31.46 which was a region qualifier. Amy Fowler improved to 10:03.79 in the steeplechase. Heidi Houle ran her best time of the year in the 800 meters, 2:10.42, which was very close to a region qualifying time. Jenna Louder ran a lifetime best. Michelle Turner ran a 2:09.08 and is already qualified. Heidi Magill ran a 2:09.69 and got a region qualifying time. Julie meads came in at a 2:10.81. Slight and Wagner finished around 2:11. We were hoping for some more qualifiers, but we had some very good marks for this time in the season."
The men also added some region qualifiers to the list this weekend. All-American Niklas Arrhenius was in action for the first time this season and ripped off a region-qualifying throw of 194 feet 3 inches. That throw surpassed the region qualifying mark by 30 feet. Skyler McDonald came in third in the javelin. Boian Marinov had the farthest long jump of any Cougar this season at 21 feet 5.25 inches. David Pendergrass won the high jump clearing 7 feet 0.5 inches, while Bryce Bergen cleared a season best 6 feet 10.75 inches. Pendergrass also took third place in the triple jump going 46 feet 10 inches. Nate Rencher took third in the 110 hurdles, while Chris Carter won the 400 hurdles. Ryan Jones also had a second place time in the 800 meters at UCLA. Chandler Goodwin and Dustin Bybee qualified in the 1500 meters at Mt. Sac, while Jacob Cosby was only seconds from a region qualifying time in the 3000-meter steeplechase.
"We had a solid meet, but we didn't very many spectacular performances," BYU men's head coach Mark Robison said. " We had a few athletes match or beat their personal best marks. Justin Palmer matched his best jump of the year in the long jump. We also had some athletes back from injury. Boian Marinov jumped for the first time during the outdoor season. We are moving in the right direction. This week we will focus on school and getting through finals. Then we will have a meet at our place to get ready for the Championships."