Cougars fare well at track championships

Several BYU track athletes turned in strong performances during the first day of the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

Rena Williams-Chesser and Lisa Pratt qualified in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Williams-Chesser finished ninth with a time of 10:08.82, just ahead of Pratt, who placed 14th with a time of 10:14.55.

In the women's 800 meters, Aneta Lemiesz placed fifth with a time of 2:05.04, while Amy Menlove finished seventh with a leap of 20-05 in the long jump.

Robison Pratt and Trent Powell both qualified in the pole vault, clearing a height of 16-10.75 in the preliminaries.

In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Josh McAdams placed sixth with a qualifying time of 8:34.84.

Weber State sophomore Lindsey Anderson came in 19th place in the preliminaries of the steeplechase.

Anderson ran a time of 10:20.91. The time is a career best and ranks as the third best in Weber State history. It is also the eighth best time in Big Sky Conference history. A time of 10:14.55 was needed to advance to the finals.

Also in the steeplechase, Utah State junior runner Tiffany Strickland finished 24th. Teammate Mike Nielson was scheduled to compete in the 5,000 meters at 10 p.m. mountain time. They are the only two Aggies to qualify for the national championships.

Strickland covered the course in 10:25.64, just four seconds off of her school record time of 10:21.20, which she set at the NCAA West Regional.

The junior from Orem entered the meet ranked 16th in the event after automatically qualifying by placing third at the West Regional.

Earlier this spring Strickland captured the Big West Championship in this event with a time of 10:30.60.