BYU track: 2013 BYU women's track and field top recruiting class & veterans prepare for season

PROVO, Utah — A recruiting class ranked No. 10 in the nation by Track and Field News joins many strong athletes for the women’s track and field team in 2013.

“We lost some great athletes to graduation, National Champions even,” head coach Patrick Shane said of his squad, which lost multiple All-Americans. “But we kept and gained some great athletes as well. To have our recruiting class ranked No. 10 by Track and Field News is quite an accomplishment given the hundreds of teams there are across the country.”

BYU’s 2013 recruiting class received the No. 10 ranking based on multiple factors, including how likely each individual is to make an immediate impact for her team at the collegiate level. The rankings “take into consideration new high school pickups and both JC and 4-year transfers” (Track and Field News, Vol. 66, No.1).

Of BYU’s 12 recruits highlighted by Track and Field News, two are transfers and 10 are recent high school graduates.

Distance

Erica Birk, Freshman, North Summit High School

1600m 4:52.71 (A)

3200m 10:38.36

Kelsey Brown, Junior, University of Oklahoma

800m 2:07.17

Erica Reddish, Freshman, Vista Murrieta High School

800m 2:12.67

1600m 4:60.64

Natalie Shields, Freshman, East High School

1600m 4:52.72 (A)

3200m 10:14.16

Ashleigh Warner, Freshman, Mountain View High School

1600m 4:51.82 (A)

Danica Wyson, Freshman, Aliso Niguel High School

Sprints/Hurdles

Kaylee Packham, Freshman, Loveland High School

300h 42.53

Brie Simmons, Freshman, Del Oro High School

Jumps

Melissa Merrill, Freshman, Hanford High School

High Jump 1.76m (5-8)

Shea Taylor, Freshman, Grace M. Davis High School

Long Jump 5.78m (18-9 3/4)

Triple Jump 11.72 (38-5 3/4)

Pole Vault

Anginae Monteverde, Sophomore, University of Oregon

Pole Vault 4.11m (13-5 3/4)

Throws

Taylor Barrus, Freshman, Skyview High School

Javelin 45.93m (150-7)

Among those athletes lost by graduation are All-Americans Katy Andrews and Sarah Edwards, as well as two-time National Champions Lacey Bleazard and Nachelle Mackie.

Mackie, who won the 2012 indoor and outdoor National Championship in the 800 meters, is just the second BYU women’s track athlete to win two titles in the same event in the same year. She sits atop the BYU all-time indoor record board in the 800, the 4x800-meter relay and the distance medley relay. She also ranks fifth in the outdoor 400, second in the 800 and first in the 4x400 relay.