Utah Utes track and field: Berg finishes 8th in hammer throw at NCAA regional

EUGENE, Ore. — University of Utah senior Josefin Berg finished eighth in the hammer throw to record the Utes' first point of the NCAA West Regional track and field meet Friday at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus.

Berg was sixth after the preliminary round of the hammer throw and went on place eighth with a throw of 187 feet, 4 inches after her final throws. Teammate Sarah Grimm finished outside of the top eight with a 10th-place finish at a distance of 183 feet in the preliminary flight.

The Utes' Chelsea Shapard was in second place overall after the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.54 seconds, which won her respective heat. Shapard will compete in today's finals at 4:10 p.m. MDT.

In other action Friday, Utah State junior Casey Parker qualified for the NCAA national championships with a third-place finish in the high jump. Parker jumped a career-best of 6 feet, 11 3/4 inches to qualify for the NCAA meet scheduled June 10-13 at Fayetteville, Ark. Parker's height is the third-best performance in USU school history.

In the men's shot put, USU freshman Bryce Hall took eighth place with a distance of 56-2 1/2.

Weber State advanced two individuals and a relay team into the finals of the West Regional meet. Junior Ally Dean was the eighth and final qualifier in the women's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.87, just off her career and school record best of 59.49.

WSU's Brock Rose qualified for today's finals in the men's 200-meter dash, winning his heat in 21.25 seconds, the fifth-fastest time overall. Rose, along with sophomore Tyler McBee, junior Taylor Pebley and freshman Chris Struckman, qualified for the finals of the men's 4x100-meter relay in a time of 40.88.