Braden Taylor | Posted: 26 May 2018 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020

Fifteen BYU track and field athletes advance to NCAA Championships

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A total of 15 BYU athletes qualified for the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 16 entries as the three-day NCAA West Preliminary Round concluded Saturday night.

"We're very excited about the direction we're headed in," BYU head coach Ed Eyestone. "Our athletes came out and performed at a very high level. Now we're just hoping to go to the big dance and score as many points as we can."

Connor McMillan (13:48.45), Clayton Young (13:51.19) and Rory Linkletter (13:51.28) each earned their second qualifying bid of the weekend to the NCAA Championships in the 5000m. The trio first qualified for nationals on Thursday night in the 10,000m.

Whittni Orton ran a personal-best 4:14.41 in the 1500m Saturday to guarantee her spot in the national meet and gave her the No. 3 all-time mark in school history. Anna Camp also broke her previous record in the 1500m with a time of 4:18.08 but fell one spot shy of qualifying for the semifinal.

After running a 13.36 in the 100m hurdles prelims on Friday, Alyssa Dalton clocked a 13.27 in Saturday night’s quarterfinal to advance to the semifinal round at nationals. The BYU women’s 4x400 relay team ran a season-best 3:36.82 to close the track meet for the Cougars and earned the final qualifying spot for the semifinal at the NCAA Championships.

The Cougars qualified six athletes for nationals on the opening day of the NCAA West Prelims on Thursday. True freshman Ashton Riner finished in 11th place in the women’s javelin to secure her spot in the NCAA Championships. Andrea Stapleton-Johnson punched her ticket to nationals for the second year in a row after taking first place in the high jump with a clearance of 1.80m

The men’s 10,000m squad entered regionals ranked No. 1 in the nation and left with four national qualifiers after Linkletter won the race with a time of 29:14.29. McMillan took third (29:14.91), Young (29:16.08) finished ninth and Conner Mantz (29:16.78) came in 11th.

Brenna Porter earned her spot to compete at the NCAA Championships after clocking a career-best 57.18 in the 400m hurdles on Friday. The No. 1 ranked men's steeplechase team added two more qualifiers for BYU Friday night with Matt Owens (8:36.73) taking second place and Clayson Shumway (8:36.76) taking third.

Kevin Nielsen received an automatic bid to nationals after the regular season in the decathlon, qualifying with a total of 7475 points for the 24th seed. Decathletes do not compete in the NCAA preliminary rounds.

The NCAA Championships will be in held at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, June 6-9. ESPN holds the broadcasting rights and a schedule of its coverage can be found on ncaa.com.

 

Overall Results:

Women
NAME EVENT MARK FINISH NEXT UP
Ellie Heiden-Quackenbush 200m 24.30 40th Did Not Qualify (DNQ)
Claire Seymour 800m 2:10.79 37th DNQ
Avery Walker 800m 2:17.78 47th DNQ
Whittni Orton 1500m 4:14.41 9th Semifinal in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Anna Camp 1500m 4:18.08 13th DNQ
Madelyn Dickson 1500m 4:25.46 24th DNQ
Kate Hunter 1500m 4:25.98 26th DNQ
Olivia Hoj 3000m Steeplechase 10:05.45 14th DNQ
Maddie Cannon 3000m Steeplechase 10:09.78 18th DNQ
Emma Gee 3000m Steeplechase 10:19.95 32nd DNQ
Sara Musselman 3000m Steeplechase 10:23.26 33rd DNQ
Ashleigh Warner 5000m 16:14.96 28th DNQ
Alyssa Dalton 100m hurdles 13.27 11th Semifinal in Eugene OR June 6-9
Nicole Lord 100m hurdles 13.84 33rd DNQ
Brenna Porter 400m hurdles 57.18 3rd Semifinal in Eugene, OR June 6-9

4x400m
- Lauren Rawlinson
- Cassidy Pinnock
- Ellie Heiden-Quackenbush
- Brenna Porter

4X400m 3:36.82 12th Semifinal in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Andrea Stapleton-Johnson High Jump 1.80m 1st Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Nicole Lord High Jump 1.75m 26th DNQ
Marissa Appiah High Jump 1.70m 29th DNQ
Ellyana Long High Jump 1.70m 34th DNQ
Sierra Hansen Pole Vault NH NH DNQ
Siale Vaitohi-Teaupa Hammer 52.10m 41st DNQ
Ashton Riner Javelin 50.21m 11th Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Payge Cuthbertson Javelin 40.52 42nd DNQ
Men
NAME EVENT MARK FINISH NEXT UP
Clark Brown 100m 10.49 30th DNQ
Derek Sorensen 100m 10.50 35th DNQ
Derek Sorensen 200m 21.20 22nd DNQ
Clark Brown 200m 21.34 27th DNQ
Abraham Alvarado 800m 1:49.00 14th DNQ
Patrick Parker 1500m 3:47.24 16th DNQ
Talem Franco 1500m 3:44.90 13th DNQ
Marcus Dickson 1500m 3:54.35 30th DNQ
Matt Owens 3000m Steeplechase 8:36.73 2nd Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Clayson Shumway 3000m Steeplechase 8:36.76 3rd Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Jacob Heslington 3000m Steeplechase 8:44.46 11th DNQ
Daniel Carney 3000m Steeplechase 8:46.15 14th DNQ
Porter Reddish 3000m Steeplechase 8:50.28 21st DNQ
Garett Marsing 3000m Steeplechase 8:57.23 23rd DNQ
Connor McMillan 5000m 13:48.45 5th Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Clayton Young 5000m 13:51.19 10th Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Rory Linkletter 5000m 13:51.28 11th Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Daniel Carney 5000m 13:58:24 18th DNQ
Rory Linkletter 10,000m 29:14.29 1st Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Connor McMillan 10,000m 29:14.91 3rd Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Clayton Young 10,000m 29:16.08 9th Final in Eugene, OR, June 6-9
Conner Mantz 10,000m 29:16.78 11th Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9
Dallin Farnsworth 10,000m 29:33.03 19th DNQ
Connor Weaver 10,000m 29:52.58 26th DNQ
Michael Ottesen 10,000m 30:02.14 30th DNQ
Brayden McLelland 10,000m 30:49.47 44th DNQ
Scott Mecham 400m hurdles 50.89 14th DNQ
Max Scheible 400m hurdles 51.14 17th DNQ
Colten Yardley 400m hurdles 52.83 39th DNQ
Raul Rios Pole Vault 5.00m 27th DNQ
Jake Jarvis Pole Vault NH NH DNQ
Jefferson Jarvis Shot Put 17.56 31st DNQ
Seth Knowlton Discus 51.87m 27th DNQ
Jacob Foutz Hammer 59.69m 32nd DNQ
Kevin Nielsen Decathlon 7475 N/A Final in Eugene, OR June 6-9