BYU, Weber State track: 2 Utahns qualify for NCAA finals

DES MOINES, Iowa — BYU's Miles Batty and Weber State's Brett Hales both advanced to the finals of their event of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Batty, a junior, advanced to the finals of the 1,500 meters as BYU's only competitor on day two on Thursday.

The Sandy native clocked a time of 3:42.84 in his qualifying heat, finishing second to move on. Batty will compete in the finals of the 1,500 meters on Saturday at approximately 11:30 a.m. MT. It will be televised live on CBS.

Hales, a senior, finished seventh overall in Wednesday's semifinals and will compete in the finals on Friday.

The Ogden native posted a time of 8:46.52 to finish seventh overall in the event of 24 runners. The top 14 runners advanced to the finals. He finished third in his heat.

"Brett ran a good race and did what he needed to do tonight," said WSU distance coach Paul Pilkington.

He will run in the steeplechase finals Friday at 6:30 p.m. MT.

Also on Friday, BYU senior Leif Arrhenius will see action in his second event, the shot put, and senior Trevor Heiner competing in the high jump.

On the women's side of the meet, Utah runner Amanda Mergaert capped off a terrific season with a 14th-place finish in the 1500 meter race. The sophomore from Shelby Township, Mich. finished with a time of 4:19.96, which was 1.4 seconds shy of qualifying for the final round on Saturday.

BYU's Ada Robinson, a 2011 indoor All-American in the high jump, finished ninth in the outdoor competition after clearing 1.80m (5-10.75). Robinson narrowly missed clearing 1.83m, which would have scored points for the Cougars. Diana Blauer, who also competed at indoor Nationals, cleared 1.72m (5-7.75) to finish 20th in the high jump competition for the Cougars.