Eleven Cougars to Compete at Nationals

INDIANAPOLIS – The BYU men’s and women’s track and field teams will have a combined 11 athletes competing in 10 events at the 2012 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday and Saturday in Nampa, Idaho. 

Senior Miles Batty leads the way for the men’s team with three event qualifications. Batty will compete in the mile, 3000 meters and distance medley relay. He currently holds the top-seeded time in the mile at 3:54.54 and the sixth best time in the 3000m at 7:49.58.

The BYU men’s DMR team also heads into the meet with the top-seeded time. Batty will compete with teammates Rex Shields, Shaquille Walker and Ryan Waite in the event. Waite will also compete in the 800m, in which he is seeded 15th.

Cade Lindahl will compete in the 400m for the Cougars. Lindahl’s season-best time of 46.25 was good enough for the ninth seed at the championships.

The lone field event competitor will be Victor Weirich. Weirich will compete in the pole vault and is seeded fifth with a season-best mark of 5.50m.

On the women’s side, teammates Nachelle Mackie and Katie Palmer are seeded second and third, respectively, in the 800m. Mackie set a new BYU record with her time of 2:03.56 earlier this season, while Palmer ranks second in BYU history with her mark of 2:03.79.

Mackie and Palmer will team up with seniors Lacey Bleazard and Sarah Edwards in the DMR. The foursome combined to complete the event in 11:01.35 at the final meet of the season, which earned them the ninth seed at nationals.

The BYU women will also only have one field competitor, Christen Guenther. Guenther will enter the meet seeded eighth overall in the pole vault with her season-best mark of 4.30m.

The NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee announced the participants for this season’s championships late Monday afternoon. 

ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 9 from 7:30-11:45 p.m. ET and March 10 from 8-11:15 p.m. ET. A tape delay of the championship will air Sunday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU. NCAA.com and broncosports.com will stream what ESPN3 is not covering on Friday (Noon-7:30 p.m. ET) and Saturday (12:30-8 pm ET).

For a complete list of championship participants, visit NCAA.com.