Athletes earn qualifying marks at NCAA West Regional

EUGENE, Ore. — The final day of the NCAA West Regional meet was a success for the BYU women's track team, who finished sixth and earned six NCAA automatic qualifying marks on Saturday.

The No. 21 nationally ranked Cougars finished sixth (49 points) out of 27 teams competing at the regional meet.

Highlighting the Cougar success was All-American Lacey Cramer. Cramer added to her national dominance in the 800-meter event. Cramer secured the Western Region championship in a time of 2:05.63.

Another freshman who will make her first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., beginning June 10, is Ada Robinson. Robinson placed fourth in the high jump event with a jump of 5-10.00.

BYU Olympian Ilze Gribule also earned a ticket to nationals with a fourth-place finish in the javelin throw (161-03).

BYU MEN: BYU jumped from being tied for 14th with three points at the close of day one, to a final top-10 in ninth with 34 points.

Earning an NCAA West Regional champion title, junior Richard Nelson tallied his best time of the season in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Also advancing to nationals in the 3000 meter steeplechase was senior All-American Kyle Perry.

Moving BYU up in ranks for the pole vault, senior Bob Low carried the Cougars into the final top three. Clearing a height of 5.36m, Low also advanced to compete at nationals.

UTAH STATE: Utah State senior Nick Karren hurdled his way and junior Steve Strickland steeplechased his way to the NCAA National Championships.

Strickland earned his trip to the NCAA National Championships by finishing second in the 3,000m steeplechase in an 8:53.05 clocking, five and a half seconds behind the winning time of 8:47.98 by BYU's Nelson.

Karren finished the 400m hurdles in 50.84, collecting third-place which also qualifies him for the NCAA National Championships. Karren's time is his second-fastest in his career.

For the USU women, freshman Spela Hus tabbed ninth in the shot put with a distance of 47-06.25 (14.48m). Hus' distance was her third best this season with her top mark being 48-05.25 (14.76m) which she set in the first meet of the season on March 20 in Tucson, Ariz. at the Willie Williams invitational.

UTAH: Senior Chelsea Shapard qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter hurdles for the third consecutive season.

Shapard had a fourth-place finish in the final heat of the 400-meter hurdle event in a time of 58.37 seconds

WEBER STATE: The Wildcats turned in some solid performances on the final day but they came up just a bit short for any berths in the national championship meet.

In the men's 200 Meters, Brock Rose finished sixth in a time of 21.35, just a hundredth of a second from placing fifth and making it to the national meet.

In the finals of the men's steeplechase, the Wildcats got a surprise personal best performance from Brett Hales.