BYU kicks off 2016 with Cougar Invitational

PROVO, Utah –As is tradition, the BYU indoor track and field begins the year by hosting the BYU Cougar Collegiate Indoor Invitational at the Smith Fieldhouse.

The meet begins on Thursday with the men’s heptathlon at 2:00 p.m. The men’s and women’s discus follows at 7:00 p.m. at the Indoor Practice Facility.

On Friday, the first event begins at 11:00 a.m. The first event on Saturday also begins at 11:00 a.m. The majority of events take place on Saturday.

BYU coach Ed Eyestone looks at the first meet of the New Year as a way to get a feel for his team’s early makeup.

“You come off winter break hoping that the guys and gals have stayed in shape,” he said. “I think for the most part they have. This is a great rust buster to get out there and do the very best we can on the track. It really sets the tone for the rest of the indoor season.”

Eyestone’s early season expectations are modest, but he hopes the men’s and women’s teams will start to build momentum now.

“For many of these athletes it’s been over six months or eight months since they last competed,” Eyestone said. “They are still in the strength=building components of the season.”

The coach admits he doesn’t foresee any great achievements at this meet, but he does expect to see much better performances from his athletes later on in the season. That being said, this weekend’s results could have a lasting effect for many athletes.

“You don’t necessarily expect PR’s, but you do want good, solid efforts from the athletes,” Eyestone said. “They realize, particularly the athletes who are on the margins, that they are trying to impress their coach to secure tickets to travel to some of our bigger upcoming meets. There is plenty of motivation to establish their pecking order on the team in the various events.”

In advance of this weekend’s meet, Eyestone mentioned what to look for from some of his best returners from last year’s squads.

“We have some very solid people on both the men’s and women’s teams,” he said. “Shaquille Walker is one of our All-Americans coming back, but he’s returning from his honeymoon so I think he’ll be more of a spectator this weekend than anything. Aaron Fletcher, who was one of my top cross country runners, is going to be running the 3000m. Chase Horrocks is going to run a nice 800m for us, and Anginae Monteverde, who was an All-American for us last year, will also be competing.”

Eyestone said All-American Shea Collinsworth will run in the 500m this weekend, a different event from her usual 800m. He said he sometimes has his runners compete in off events so they can work on specific skills that will enable them to have success later on at the national level.

This is  the only home meet of the indoor season.

The complete schedule of events can be found by clicking on the event on the BYU women’s track and field schedule page.

Results will be posted throughout Friday and Saturday on RunnerCard.com.