Women Run Well at Robison Invite

PROVO, Utah -- In the first home meet of the season, the BYU women’s track and field team battled rainy weather and tough competition on their way to several first places finishes at the annual BYU Robison Invitational.

“The conditions were not great today but we accomplished what we could,” head coach Patrick Shane said. “Running in weather like this builds toughness. You can’t control the weather and a meet like this prepares us to run in anything.”

Senior Stacy Slight led the way for the Cougars in the 800-meter run, an event in which BYU nabbed the top five places. Slight finished first in 2:13.09 with Ashlee Thomas a close second in 2:14.60 and Elizabeth Ricks taking third in 2:16.04. Bethanie Krumen and Lisa Olander rounded out the top five for BYU.

The 1500m race featured three BYU runners finishing in the top six, with sophomore Candace Eddy leading the way with a first place finish in 4:35.02. Sophomore Michaelanne Laurent placed third in 4:50.67 and freshman Maren Hanson took sixth in 4:54.73.

Morgan Haws continued the BYU dominance of the distance events with a first place finish in the 5000m run in 17:11.02. Teammate Lindsay Sowards finished second in 17:55.36.

Also taking home a win in the distance events was Stephanie Jensen in the 3000m steeplechase. Jensen crossed the line 11:28.86 to take first, three seconds ahead of the second place finisher.

In the field events sophomore Amber Freeman performed exceptionally for BYU, taking first in the javelin with a toss of 46.28m (151-10), eight feet further than her nearest competitor. The mark is Freeman’s personal best and ranks atop the Mountain West Conference.

“Amber (Freeman) continues to improve every week,” Shane said. “She performed great today, especially based on the weather conditions. She really did well.”

Melissa Keltner finished first in the triple jump for the second consecutive year at the Robison Invitational. Keltner leapt 11.37m (37-03.75) to take the victory.

Ada Robinson led the BYU high jumpers, who took the top four spots in the event. Robinson placed first with a jump of 1.76m (5-09.25) while Diana Blauer took second by clearing 1.73m (5-08.00). Taylor Stapley and Sarah Vaughn rounded out the top four spots for the Cougars.

In the sprints, senior Porshe Giddings managed to run the only sub-12 second 100m dash on the day, finishing the race first in 11.84. Giddings also finished second in the 200m in 24.71 and contributed to the winning 4x100m team that finished in 45.80.

Senior Alyssa Christensen ran one of the best races of the meet in the 400m hurdles. Christensen took the victory in 1:01.58 and was followed closely by teammate Allysa Hanson who took second in 1:01.87.

Fatima Makakala managed a second place finish in the 100m hurdles in 13.89. Christensen finished fourth in the event in 14.27.

BYU will continue the track and field season at the Penn Relays from April 28-30. Several distance runners and a few other athletes will represent the Cougars at the prestigious meet.

Complete results for the Robison Invitational can be found by CLICKING HERE.