OREM, Utah – Senior Christen Guenther tied the BYU women's outdoor pole vault record at the Texas Relays, while the majority of the team competed at the Utah Valley Invitational. 

Guenther cleared 4.25m (13-11.25) on her second attempt to tie the record. The mark is a new outdoor career best for Guenther, who now sits atop the BYU record board with Kari Clark, who cleared 4.25m in 2010. 

Six Cougars brought home victories from the second annual UVU Invite. Freshman Lexi Eaton, who also competes on the BYU basketball team, won the high jump in her first ever collegiate competition. Eaton cleared 1.75-meters (5-9.00) to take home the win.

"A lot of our athletes took this as a weekend to rest, but the athletes we did have compete ended up with some great marks," head coach Patrick Shane said. "Lexi Eaton really performed well in the high jump in her first competition of the year. We also had some other great performances by freshmen, including Nicole Naatjes in the pole vault and Brianna French in the shot put." 

Diana Blauer and Taylor Stapley tied for second in the high jump with leaps of 1.70m (5-7.00). Senior Ada Robinson snagged fourth by clearing the same height but in more attempts.

Junior Melissa Keltner picked up first-place finishes in both the long jump and triple jump. Keltner recorded personal bests in both events by jumping 5.69m (18-8.00) in the long jump and 12.26m (40-2.75) in the triple.

Also snagging a win in the field was freshman thrower Brianna French. French won the discus with a career best toss of 47.71m (156-6.25).

The Cougars took the top three spots in the pole vault and were led by freshman Nicole Naatjes, who won the event with an outdoor season-best vault of 3.90m (12-9.50). Elizabeth Portanova and Diane McAllister Perry tied for second with heights of 3.75m (12-3.75).

On the track, sophomore Aubrey Hale won the 100m in 12.01. Stapley managed a second place finish to lead BYU in the 100m hurdles in 14.41, while Brooke Jensen crossed the line in fourth in 14.77.

Katie Swanson secured a second place finish in the 1500m with a time of 4:47.64. Also taking home a top-three finish in a distance event was Candace Eddy, who finished the 800m in 2:16.41 to finish third.

Sophomore Elizabeth Wilson set a new career best with 4,860 points in the heptathlon at the Texas Relays. Wilson’s best event was the shot put, in which she finished second off a toss of 12.16m (49-10.75) and earned 672 points.

BYU will host the BYU-USC-Boise State Tri-Meet at the Clarence F. Robison Track and Field Complex on Saturday, April 7. A few athletes will also travel to California to compete at the Stanford Invitational on April 6-7. 

For final results from the UVU Invitational, visit runnercard.com. 

For final results from the Texas Relays, visit texassports.com. 

PROVO, Utah – The BYU men’s and women’s track and field teams will send athletes to the Utah Valley University Collegiate Invitational and the Texas Relays in the third week of the 2012 outdoor season.

Most BYU athletes will be competing at the UVU Invite, which will be held at the Hal Wing Track and Field Complex in Orem, Utah. The Cougars will face off against primarily in-state competition, including Utah, Utah State, Weber State and UVU. Colorado Mesa and Idaho State will also be in attendance.

Field competitors will make up the majority of the BYU men’s athletes in attendance. The Cougars will have 10 athletes in the discus, six in the javelin and five in the shot put. On the women’s side, the meet will mark the first competition for freshman Lexi Eaton, a member of the Cougar basketball team who was named the West Coast Conference Co-Newcomer of the Year following the 2011-12 season.

The meet will get underway on Friday at 8:30 a.m. with the women’s hammer throw and the men’s shot put. Running events will begin at 12:30 p.m. with the steeplechase and the meet is scheduled to conclude at 4:30 p.m. with the 4x400-meter relays.

Sprinters and field athletes will represent the men at the Texas Relays. Fan Fan Charles and Jason Hinds will compete in the 100m, while Chris Carter will compete in the 400m hurdles. Keith Keller and Blaine Baker will toss the javelin and Victor Weirich will try to improve his mark in the pole vault.

Carter will open the men’s competition with the 400m hurdles at 5 p.m. CST on Thursday and the final event for the men will be the 4x400m relay scheduled for Saturday at 5:10 p.m.

Only three women’s athletes will compete in Texas. Rachel Fisher, a native of Texas, and Christen Guenther will compete in the pole vault on Saturday at noon CST. Elizabeth Wilson began the heptathlon competition on Wednesday and currently sits in 18th after four events.

Live results from the Texas Relays can be found at texassports.com. The UVU Invite can be followed at runnercard.com.