TUCSON, Ariz. — BYU men's track and field concluded its first outdoor competition with individual wins from Riley Hunt, Cameron Bates, Danny Bryant and Dallin Shurts in their respective events at the Arizona Spring Break Fiesta Meet.
Riley Hunt finished first overall in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.94, which put him at No. 5 in program records. Hunt’s time hadn’t been reached by a BYU athlete for 25 years, with the last being Slade Combs in 1999. A graduate transfer from Cal, Hunt joined the team for the 2024 indoor season where he competed at the Big 12 Championships and placed 12th in the 60m hurdles.
“I think it was a good race,” said Hunt. “I can’t complain with a new personal best in the first outdoor race. We loved that it was warm and had a bit of a headwind, so that made the competition better. I think it will just keep getting better here on out.”
Cameron Bates took first place in the finals of the men’s javelin with a mark of 75.15/246-6. The performance netted Bates a U.S. Olympic Trials auto-qualifying mark of 75/246-0.75. He currently holds the school record in the javelin with a 77.17m/253-2 and has sights set on breaking the 80-meter mark.
“It went well,” said Bates. “It’s my best opener that I’ve ever had, so I’m happy about that. Hitting the auto-qualifying mark for the Olympic Trials was one of my goals. I wanted to hit the 80-meter mark. Obviously, that is a big goal of mine, but we are right there. It was a good first meet.”
Danny Bryant opened the season with a win in the shot put with a mark of 18.92/62-1, besting his previous personal record of 18.82m/61-9. Bryant recently competed at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Lubbock, Texas where he placed fifth in the indoor event.
Senior thrower Dallin Shurts recorded a 60.62/198-10 performance to take first in the men's discus finals. Shurts competed at the PAN American games in Santiago, Chile this past offseason where he placed eighth overall.
"I felt like it was a great meet for my throwers," said throws coach Niklas Arrhenius. "There were lots of great performances, many of which earned our athletes spots at regionals. I'm very happy with the athletes that have come back from injuries and did great today. We are excited for the rest of the season."
The Cougars will split next week when the multis and jumps groups will attend the Aztec Invitational in San Diego March 21-23, while the distance squad and throwers will travel to USC for the Ron and Sharlene Allice Trojan Invitational March 22-23.