NEW ORLEANS – The BYU men’s track and field team secured a No. 20 ranking in the USTFCCCA Preseason National Rankings this week.
The Cougars enter the season with many returning athletes and following a third place finish in the NCAA National Championship in cross country. Many of those athletes will compete in the 2018 track season.
Juniors Rory Linkletter and Clayton Young are among the returning athletes. Both runners were team captains for the cross country team and helped lead the Cougars to their successful season. Linkletter took second in the 10,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year which earned him first-team All-America honors. Young scored the most points for BYU in the rankings due to his times for the 3000m (7:49.76) and the 5000m (13:45.25). He earned second-team honors for both the indoor and outdoor seasons last year.
Senior Kevin Nielsen returns to compete in the heptathlon. Nielsen qualified for nationals last year and head coach Ed Eyestone expects him to do well this season.
Other notable returners include seniors Tatenda Tsumba, Marcus Dickson and Jonathan Harper and juniors Connor Ross and Derek Lord.
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