BYU women finish 21st, tops among local teams

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The NCAA Track and Field championships wrapped up its fourth and final day of competition Saturday, with collegians from the Beehive State making their mark earlier in the week.

Brigham Young University's women finished with the highest team ranking of Utah schools, ending in 21st place with 10 points. The Cougar men tied for 26th with 11 points, and Weber State's women scored nine points to tie for 27th place. Florida State earned its second consecutive men's championship, and Arizona State came away with the women's title.

"I thought we performed well, we just came up short," said BYU men's coach Mark Robison. "They came, and they performed at or near their lifetime bests, every single one of them. I'm disappointed that as a team we didn't perform better, but I can't be disappointed. They gave me everything."

The highlight of the meet for BYU was senior Niklas Arrhenius' individual national title in the discus on Friday, giving the Cougars an individual title for the third straight year at the outdoor championships.

"He's been ranked first all year almost, and nobody's given him much credit," Robison said of Arrhenius. "He's one of the best we've ever had. I couldn't be more pleased for him."

BYU's other point came with senior Josh Rohatinsky's eighth-place finish in the 10,000-meter run. Junior Chandler Goodwin was named an All-American after his 12th-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, with senior David Pendergrass jumping to ninth-place in the high jump. Weber State's David Olson also earned All-American honors, finishing ninth in the steeplechase.

For the women, Weber State's Lindsey Anderson had the best individual finish, coming in second in the steeplechase. Teammate Sariah Long was eighth in the same event, giving the Wildcats their full complement of points with both athletes being named All-Americans.

BYU's Kassi Andersen ran to a fifth-place finish in the steeplechase, while distance star Whitney McDonald took sixth in the 10,000. Ashley McCallister tied for fifth in the pole vault to round out the Cougars' scoring.

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