Witt leads Cougars on day one of the NCAA Championships

EUGENE, Ore. – Junior Jason Witt was the top finisher for BYU track and field on Wednesday at the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

“We had some solid efforts today,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “I like how Jason battled after coming in as the last qualifier from the West and ended with a time good enough to be a second team all-american.”

Witt got out to a quick start in the 10,000-meter race and was as high as fifth, but was unable to keep up his pace and finished with a time of 29:40.98 to place 12th.

Senior Andrea Harrison finished the steeplechase in 10:23.81 to finish 19th, while freshman Shea Martinez was 17th in the 800 meter with a time of 2:06.39.

After the first five events of the decathlon, Chase Dalton ended the day in 18th place with 3806 points. He placed highest in the shot put finishing eighth with a throw of 13.21 meters, while his highest point total came in the 400-meter dash finishing with a time of 50.20 to earn 805 points.

“Chase had a personal record by almost a second in the 400 meter,” Eyestone said. “He is on a pace to set a personal record in the decathlon and, hopefully, break in the top 12 or top 10.”

Senior Joshua Weirich was in 21st with 3542 points after day one. Weirich’s best outing came in the high jump finishing 15th with a jump of 1.90 meters. Weirich earned a day-high 774 points on the long jump with a mark of 6.83 meters.

Weirich and Dalton will finish the final five events of the decathlon tomorrow beginning with the 110-meter hurdles at 11 a.m. PDT. Live results can be followed at flasresults.com.