Cougars travel for three-meet weekend at Oxy, Payton Jordan

PROVO, Utah – As the outdoor track and field regular season begins to wind down, BYU will leave town this weekend to compete in the Occidental Invite in Los Angeles, the Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, California, and the Weber State Twilight meet in Ogden, Utah. The meets begin on Wednesday, May 3, and continue through Saturday, May 6.

“Our athletes continue to chip away and improve their marks,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “In many cases, they have improved to regional level or even towards the top of the competition. This weekend is for them to continue doing that.”

The majority of track and field athletes will be in Los Angeles this weekend at the Occidental Invitational on Saturday.

“The Occidental meet is where the majority of the team will go,” Eyestone said. “In most cases, our athletes are just looking to improve upon the marks they have set already and find some confidence going into regionals in three weeks.”

The Oxy Invite will include Tatenda Tsumba who currently claims the No. 18 spot nationally and ninth place in the West in the 100 meters, and he sits in 32nd place nationally and 16th place in the West in the 200 meters.

Seven Cougar distance athletes will be competing in the Payton Jordan Invitational on Friday, May 5. With a larger post-collegiate presence, Eyestone anticipates the competition will motivate his athletes to push themselves to faster times.

“The level of talent will be a bit higher,” he said. “It is going to push them to new record-setting performances or at least personal best performances, hopefully. The depth of talent will also be more international, so, as a result, they may not be in the fastest heat, but they will be pushed by people who are out of college running really fast times. We are hoping for them to go there, compete, set some PRs and find some confidence going into the regional and national meets.”

Shea Collinsworth, who currently sits in third place nationally in the 800 meters with a time of 2:01.51, will be running at the Payton Jordan Invitational and teammate Whittni Orton will run in the 1500 meters. The women will be accompanied by several athletes from the men's team, including Clayton Young and Rory Linkletter and Jonathan Harper in the 5000 meters, Chase Horrocks – who is in 14th place nationally – in the 1500 meters and Daniel Carney in the 3000-meter steeplechase.

Finally, BYU field athletes and a few sprinters will be participating in the Weber State Twilight Meet on Wednesday, May 3, and Thursday, May 4. Sprinters Remarco Thompson, Derek Lord and Blake Ellis will accompany the throwers and jumpers to Ogden to compete.

Follow BYU Track and Field on Twitter at @BYUTFXC for meet updates and additional information.