SACRAMENTO, Calif. –  Rory Linkletter won the 10,000m as BYU track and field had six athletes qualify for nationals on the first day of the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Thursday in Sacramento, California.

“I can’t say we were surprised by any of the outstanding performances today,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “All of those individuals have demonstrated throughout the course of the season what they’re capable of. But it still shows the character and determination they have to come through in high-pressure situations.”

Linkletter finished with a 29:14.29 to take first place and advance to the 2018 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, June 6-9. Connor McMillan (29:14.91) took third, Clayton Young (29:16.08) placed ninth and Conner Mantz (29:16.78) finished 11th giving the Cougars four national qualifiers in the men’s 10,000m.

“When you have four guys running in the 10,000m ranked in the top 12, it adds even more pressure,” Eyestone said. “I’m very proud of how all four of them were able to finish and qualify for nationals.”

Freshman Ashton Riner was the first Cougar of the day to first punch a ticket to the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Riner threw the javelin for 50.21m (164’ 8”) on her opening throw of the meet which was good enough to finish 11th overall.

Andrea Stapleton-Johnson qualified to compete in the high jump at nationals for the second year in a row. She took first place with a clearance of 1.80m (5” 10.75”) and didn’t miss a jump in the meet. Eyestone credits Stapleton-Johnson’s success to her increased confidence and improved skill.

Several Cougars advanced to the quarterfinals of their respective events at regionals putting themselves in position to qualify for the NCAA Championships on Friday or Saturday.

Max Scheible (50.91) and Scott Mecham (51.03) finished in the top three in their respective heats of the 400m hurdles to advance to the quarterfinal on Friday at 7:00 p.m. (PDT). Brenna Porter won her heat in the 400m hurdles with a time of 57.44 to qualify for Friday’s quarterfinal at 7:15 p.m.

Abraham Alvarado (1:49.48) won his heat in the 800m to guarantee his spot in the quarterfinal (Friday at 6:30 p.m.).

Talem Franco placed third in his 1500m heat to earn his spot in the next round with a time of 3:51.96. Whittni Orton (4:21.86) and Anna Camp (4:26.70) finished top-5 in the 1500m to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal. The men’s 1500m quarterfinal will start on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and will be followed by the women’s quarterfinal.

“Tomorrow we’re looking forward to having some athletes competing who are ranked very high in their events,” Eyestone said. “I think we’ve got a chance to qualify another handful of athletes for the NCAA Championships.”

The West Preliminaries continue tomorrow as BYU athletes compete in the men’s discus, 800m, 400m hurdles, 200m, and 3000m steeplechase as well as the women’s pole vault, 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 200m and 3000m steeplechase.

Competition will continue to be streamed on FloTrack.org and live updates will be posted on the BYU track and field team’s Twitter account @BYUTFXC. Heat sheets, the meet schedule and live stats can be found on NCAA.com.

Thursday's Results:

PROVO, Utah – Fifty-two BYU track and field athletes account for a meet-high total of 58 entries competing in the 2018 NCAA West Preliminary Round in Sacramento, California, May 24-26. 

“We’ve got the second-most men’s entries (34) and seventh-most women’s entries (24),” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “This is the first round of the NCAAs and the whole purpose is to advance onto the finals. I think this Thursday, Friday and Saturday we’re going to have some great performances advancing athletes to the championship meet.”

The top 12 finishers in each event at the NCAA West Prelims will advance to the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 6-9 in Eugene, Oregon. The Cougars, based on current rankings, have 20 entries ranked in the top 12 in their respective events.

The No. 7 BYU men’s team heads into the meet with 14 athletes, including six All-Americans, earning top-12 seeds. Matt Owens (No. 2), All-American Daniel Carney (No. 4), Clayson Shumway (No.5) and All-American Jacob Heslington (No. 7) all competing in the 3000m steeplechase. All-American Connor McMillan (No. 2), All-American Clayton Young (No. 4), All-American Rory Linkletter (No. 5) and Connor Mantz (No. 10) rank top-10 in the 10,000m.

Young (No. 5), Linkletter (No. 7), McMillan (No. 8) and Carney (No. 10) also hold top-10 rankings in the 5000m. Teammates Scott Mecham (No. 10) in the 400m hurdles and All-American Abraham Alvarado in the 800m rank top-12 in their respective events.

For the BYU women’s team, All-American Brenna Porter ranks No. 6 in the 400m hurdles and All-American Andrea Stapleton-Johnson ranks No. 4 in the high jump. Ashton Riner (No. 12) in the javelin, Maddie Cannon (No. 11) in the 3000m steeplechase along with both All-American Madelyn Dickson (No. 10) and Anna Camp (No. 12) in the 1500m round out the Cougars ranked in the top 12.

All-American Kevin Nielsen already punched his ticket to compete in the decathlon at the NCAA Championships after scoring 7475 points at the Robison Invitational. Instead of hosting a preliminary round, the NCAA advances the top 24 declared decathletes and heptathletes straight to the finals.

Eyestone is excited at the prospect of potentially having more than 20 athletes advance to the NCAA Championship meet, but recognized that the rankings don’t come with any guarantees.

“It comes down to the actual performance,” said Eyestone. “The slate is clean going into regionals. Even though you might be ranked in the top 12, you still have to get it done in this meet to advance to nationals.”

The BYU coach expects that there will be Cougar athletes that outperform their rank to finish in a qualifying position for the NCAA Championships. Besides the sheer number of BYU track and field athletes competing, Eyestone predicts that his team’s experience will lead to a good number of qualifiers.

“Across the board, I think three-fourths of our athletes competing have participated in regionals before,” Eyestone said. “As you’ve been here before, you gain experience and you’re not as intimidated the next go-around. At the end of the day, I think we can advance a lot of athletes to the national meet.”

The full list of qualifying BYU track and field athletes can be found in the table below. The NCAA West Prelims will be streamed live on FloTrack.org, or follow @BYUTFXC on Twitter for live updates. Live stats and the meet schedule can be found on NCAA.com.