FAYETTEVILLE -- Day two of the NCAA Indoor Championships got underway on Saturday, with two Cougars looking to defend their National Championships and one BYU freshman competing in this meet for the first time.

“We had a good finish to the meet today,” head coach Craig Poole said. “Lacey, Rachel and Amy all did really well and competed to the best of their ability, and we are definitely proud of all of them.”

Sophomore Lacey Cramer, the 2009 indoor 800-meter champion, entered the day with the fourth best qualifying time in the 800-meters. Cramer started the championship race in the middle of the pack, and remained there until willing her way to second with 400-meters to go. Cramer held on to finish in second, scoring BYU eight points with a time of 2:03.89.

The race was one of the best of the day, with second, third and fourth place decided by a total of .06 seconds. Cramer narrowly lost to Phoebe Wright of the University of Tennessee, the same runner Cramer edged out last year for her championship.

“Lacey did an outstanding job,” Poole said. “She ran really hard, and it was a really fast race. She bounced around in the group for awhile before getting into second, and then she did a great job holding on to that place.”

Senior Amy Otis, the defending indoor pentathlon champion, also entered the day with hopes to defend her title. The senior struggled through most of the day, unable to win her second consecutive title and finishing in 13th with 3752 points.

Otis’ highest scoring portion of the event was the 60-meter hurdles, in which she ran an 8.48 and scored 1021 points. Otis earned an All-American award for her finish, finishing eighth in the event among American contenders.

“Amy had a tough time today,” Poole said. “She had a hurt back most of the day, but needed to compete and finish the event, and she did a great job in that aspect.”

Rachel Brooke Fisher, a freshman from Allen, Texas, was one of only two freshmen to qualify for the Indoor Championships in the women’s pole vault. Fisher, who did not qualify for the national meet until the MWC Championships, put forth a good showing, finishing in 16th place with a vault of 4.20m (13-09.25).

“Rachel vaulted really well today,” Poole said. “She placed 16th, but just competing on this stage as a freshman is outstanding.”

As a team, BYU ended the meet in 14th place with 16 points. Three Cougars, senior Mindy McClurkin, Cramer and Otis, were named All-Americans.

This meet concludes the BYU women’s indoor season, but outdoor season is right around the corner. The first outdoor meet for the Cougars will be the Irving Invitational in Irving, California on March 19-20.

Athlete Event

Mindy McClurkin long jump 6.69m 2nd All-American

200-meters 23.52 11th

Lacey Cramer 800-meters 2:03.89 2nd All-American

Nachelle Stewart 800-meters 2:06.62 11th

Angela Wagner 800-meters 2:06.65 12th

Cramer, Stewart, DMR 11:16.93 11th

Stewart, Wagner

Amy Otis Pentathlon 3752 pts 13th** All-American

Rachel Fisher Pole Vault 4.20m 16th

**8th among American competitors

PROVO -- Seven members of the No. 20 BYU women’s track and field team will be headed to Fayetteville, Arkansas this weekend to compete in the NCAA Indoor National Championships in six total events.

“We just want to do as good as we can,” head coach Craig Poole said. “We can not predict what will happen, so were hoping we can perform well. We are not the top seed in any events, but I think we still have a good opportunity to be successful.”

Senior Mindy McClurkin will lead the way for the Cougars, competing in the long jump and the 200-meter dash. McClurkin is currently ranked ninth in the 200-meters with a time of 23.34 and tenth in the long jump at 6.44m (21’1.5’’).

“I feel very strongly that Mindy can place in both her events,” Poole said. “I think she can really surprise some people in the 200-meters especially.”

The 800-meter race looks to be the strength of the BYU lineup, with three women competing in the event. Defending National Champion Lacey Cramer looks to defend her title and is currently ranked eighth, while sophomore Nachelle Stewart and senior Angela Wagner will also look to score points in the event.

2009 National Champion Amy Otis will also look to defend her title in the pentathlon. Otis competed in the pentathlon for the first time all season in the MWC Indoor Championships and scored 4053 points, just enough to rank her in the top ten nationally.

Freshman Rachel Brooke Fisher also did not automatically qualify for Nationals until the final MWC meet. Fisher vaulted to victory while breaking the BYU pole vault record at 4.25m (13’11.25’’), and secured her chance to compete for a National Championship.

“Rachel had a breakthrough at the conference championships, and we really think she can keep that going through this weekend,” Poole said.

The final event the BYU women will participate in is the distance medley relay, composed of Natalie Stewart, Nachelle Stewart, Cramer and Wagner. BYU placed third in this event at last year’s Indoor Nationals, and hope to improve on that record time this year.

On the men’s side, junior Leif Arrhenius will represent BYU at nationals in the weight throw. Arrhenius, the Mountain West Conference champion in both the weight throw and the shot put, finished the indoor season with the 13th–best distance in the nation at 20.91 meters.

Arrhenius took All-American honors last year in the weight, finishing eleventh overall.

“He’s throwing very well right now,” said BYU men’s coach Mark Robison. “I think he has a very good chance to be for sure All-American but also to finish in the top five. He’s been so consistent.”

Nine other Cougars provisionally qualified for the final meet, including Nathan Ogden in the 5,000 meters, but each cutoff came too soon. Ogden appeared to have qualified after the MWC Championships, but last week was knocked out when another athlete qualified at one of the last chance invitationals held around the country.

“It’s very frustrating,” Robison said. “But we will be that much more aggressive in outdoors and do much better there.”

The meet is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. MST on Friday with the men’s heptathlon 60-meter dash and will conclude at 7:40 p.m. MST on Saturday with the women’s 1600-meter relay.

ESPN360.com will stream the championships live beginning at 7:00 p.m. CST on Fri., March 12 and 5:10 p.m. MST on Sat., March 13. NCAA.com and ArkansasRazorbacks.com will stream supplemental coverage as available when ESPN360.com is not live. Live results can be found at ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

Athlete              Event
Leif Arrhenius       weight throw
Lacey Cramer         800-meters, DM Relay
Rachel Brooke Fisher pole vault
Mindy McClurkin      long jump, 200-meter dash
Amy Otis             pentathlon
Nachelle Stewart     800-meters, DM Relay
Natalie Stewart      distance medley relay
Angela Wagner        800-meters, DM Relay