BERKELEY, Calif. – During the second day of the Cal Multi-Event Meet, Elizabeth Wilson came from behind to claim first place in the heptathlon Thursday with a new personal best 5,032 points at Edwards Track.

“Elizabeth performed really well the past two days,” BYU coach Patrick Shane said. “We were encouraged by her performance. It was not her best performance, but she did well for her first heptathlon. To perform well so early in the year is a good sign. When you factor in what she can do on a really good day, she will qualify for nationals.”

After the first day of competition, Wilson sat in third place and trailed the leader by 45 points. Throughout day two, however, Wilson made up the difference with a third-place finish in the long jump (5.44m), a fourth-place finish in the javelin (35.14m), and a sixth-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:22.73). Wilson scored 2,044 points during day two to take to the lead.

“If Elizabeth performs at her best in the later competitions, she is worth several hundred more points,” Shane said.

Brie Simmons and Sidney Reilly, who performed in their first-ever collegiate heptathlon, finished fourth and 11th with 4,495 and 4,218 points, respectively. Simmons finished fifth in the long jump (5.40m), 14th in the javelin (22.41m), and fourth in the 800 (2:22.10).

Reilly finished ninth in the long jump (5.04m), 13th in the javelin (23.90m), and second in the 800 (2:21.08).

The next heptathlon for the Cougars will take place April 26-27 at the annual BYU Robison Invitational.

Full results can be found at calbears.com.

While the three heptathletes competed in Berkeley, the rest of the women’s team began competition Friday at the UVU and Stanford Invitationals.

Results for the UVU Invitational can be found at runnercard.com, and results for the Stanford Invitational can be found at gostanford.com.

Day 1 recap

PROVO, Utah – The women’s track and field team is set for another competitive schedule beginning Wednesday as it sends athletes to three different meets--the Cal Multi-Event Meet, the UVU Invitational and the Stanford Invitational.

“Our athletes are going to be all over this weekend,” BYU coach Patrick Shane said. “The largest meet will be the Stanford Invitational. It has a strong tradition, and athletes are coming from all over to compete, especially in the distance events.”

The multi athletes head to Berkley, Calif., for the Cal Mulit-Event Meet, which will begin on Wednesday and run through Thursday. The majority of the team, mainly the sprinters, throwers and jumpers, will compete in the UVU Invitational, which will take place on Friday in Orem, Utah. The distance runners head to Stanford, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational, which begins Friday.

Two athletes competing in the Stanford Invitational who have yet to compete during the outdoor season are distance runners Kelsey Brown and Natalie Shields.

After a traumatic fall at the indoor nationals, Brown returns to competition to improve upon her personal-best outdoor 800-meter time of 2:07.17, which she ran at the Payton Jordan Invitational in 2011. Her best mark from this year’s indoor season is 2:04.94, a time she ran during the Washington Invitational.

Shields last competed at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in the 5,000-meter run. She finished ninth overall with a time of 16:49.14.

Multi-event athlete Elizabeth Wilson will compete for the first time during the outdoor season in the heptathlon this weekend at the Cal Meet.  Last week at the Trojan Invitational, Wilson finished 10th in the shot put, third in the high jump and seventh in triple jump with marks of 12.47 meters, 1.57m and 12.31m, respectively.

Results for the Cal Multi-Event Meet can be found at calbears.com, results for the UVU Invitational can be found at runnercard.com, and results for the Stanford Invitational can be found at runnerspace.com.

The Cal Multi-Event begins Wednesday with the women’s 100-meter hurdles at Edwards Stadium.