No. 11 Women Leave for Nationals

PROVO -- The No. 11 BYU women’s track and field team will take eight athletes to the NCAA Indoor National Championships on March 11-12 in College Station, Texas with hopes of a top 10 national finish.

"We have a lot of experienced athletes coming into the meet," head coach Patrick Shane said. "I have confidence in everyone that we brought here to compete. It should be a fun meet."

Junior Lacey Bleazard returns to the National Championships to compete in the 800 meters for the third consecutive year. Bleazard won the 800m title in 2009 as a freshman and fell just short of repeating as champion in 2010, placing second.

Competing alongside Bleazard in the 800m will be junior Katie Palmer. Palmer was named the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Track Athlete of the Year on Monday and placed fourth at the 2009 National Championships in the 800m.

Four Cougars will compete in the field events, with two in the high jump and two in the pole vault. Junior Ada Robinson is currently ranked third in the nation in the high jump and junior Diana Blauer ranks 11th in the same event.

Rachel Fisher will enter the championships with the 10th best 2011 mark in the pole vault at 4.26m (13-11.75). Teammate Christen Botteron cleared a career best 4.22m (13-10) earlier this season and ranks 16th in the nation.

BYU will also compete in the distance medley relay. Juniors Nicole Clark and Natalie Stewart will accompany Bleazard and Palmer on the team. The group will enter competition with the seventh fastest time in the NCAA (11:03.70).

"Our distance medley relay team has a chance to win the championship," Shane said. "We are one of the three or four best teams in the country and our runners are all running their best right now."

The meet is scheduled to bring on Friday, March 11 at 3:00 p.m. MT with the women's weight throw and the women's one mile run. All BYU athletes start times can be found below.

For live results CLICK HERE.

Athlete              Event         Start Time*
Lacey Bleazard       800 meters    5:00 p.m. (Friday - Preliminary)          
Katie Palmer         800 meters    5:00 p.m. (Friday - Preliminary)          
Ada Robinson         High Jump     5:30 p.m. (Friday)    
Diana Blauer         High Jump     5:30 p.m. (Friday) 
Bleazard, Palmer     DMR           7:20 p.m. (Friday)     
Clark, Stewart         
Rachel Fisher        Pole Vault    3:00 p.m. (Saturday)     
Christen Botteron    Pole Vault    3:00 p.m. (Saturday) 
*Mountain Time