This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
More than 90 athletes representing Utah's six major universities will compete in a combined 101 events at the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas, this weekend.
Events begin Thursday morning at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus and run through Saturday evening. Competitors who ranked among the top 48 nationally in their respective events qualified for the West Regional, along with the top 24 teams in the relays. The East Regional is being held simultaneously in Lexington, Ky.
The top 12 athletes and top 12 relay teams in each event advance to the NCAA Finals, which are June 7 to 10 at Oregon's Hayward Field.
Of the schools in the state, BYU is sending the most athletes to regionals — 46. A record 24 men and 22 women will represent the Cougars. Only national power Arkansas will have more men's competitors than BYU.
"When you go into preliminaries, it is a celebration of those athletes who made it," BYU coach Ed Eyestone said. "But first and foremost, the goal is to advance to the national meet. … The secondary goal is to improve your position and move up."
A pair of BYU women, middle-distance star Shea Collinsworth and steeplechaser Kristi Rush, enter the meet seeded third in their respective events and represent the Cougars' best chances at winning individual national championships. Collinsworth holds the third-fastest time in the country in the 800 meters, and Rush is ranked No. 3 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, perhaps BYU's best overall event.
BYU's Erica Birk, Courtney Wayment, Clayson Shumway and Daniel Carney are also in the top 12 in the men's and women's steeplechases in the West.
BYU's Tatenda Tsumba is No. 10 in the 100 meters and No. 17 in the 200, while Clayton Young is No. 3 in the 10,000 and also has qualified in the 5,000.
There is no decathlon or heptathlon in the preliminaries, so BYU's Jackson Walker, ranked No. 22, already has qualified for nationals in Eugene, Ore.
Here's a look at the other Utah schools' top prospects:
Utah • Four Utes qualified for Austin. Freshmen Amanda Gehrich (1,500) and Ann Wingeleth (long jump), sophomore Christine Glasmann (javelin) and junior Grayson Murphy (3,000 and 5,000 meters) will represent the Utes.
"They really need to focus in and try to give their best performance of the year," coach Kyle Kepler said. "This is first and foremost what we ask for, and if good things happen and we advance and qualify to move on, then obviously we want to do that as well."
Utah State • The Aggies will send 18 athletes to Texas — 12 men and six women. Four of those men — Michael Bluth, Brady Martin, AJ Boully and Joshua Gordon — will compete for the school's 4x400 relay team, ranked 17th in the West.
The Aggies' best chance for a national qualifier is probably javelin thrower Sindri Gudmundsson, who ranks fourth in the West and fifth nationally. He had a school-record throw of 253 feet, 3 inches at the MWC championships last weekend. Riverton's Clay Lambourne is 16th nationally in the 800 meters.
Twitter: @drewjay —
2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field
West Preliminary Round
At Mike A. Myers Stadium, Austin, Texas
Thursday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. MDT
BYU women (22)
Athlete • Event
Shea Collinsworth • 800 meters
Madelyn Brooks • 800 meters
Whittni Orton • 1,500 meters
Heidi Fuhriman • 1,500 meters
Anna Camp • 1,500 meters
Ashleigh Warner • 1,500 meters
Laura Young • 10,000 meters
Alice Jensen • 10,000 meters
Yesenia Silva • 10,000 meters
Brenna Porter • 400m hurdles
Kristi Rush • 3,000m steeplechase
Erica Birk • 3,000m steeplechase
Courtney Wayment • 3,000m steeplechase
Andrea Stapleton • High jump
Lindsay Yetter • High jump
Ellyana Long • High jump
Nicole Naaties • Pole vault
Kylee Trageser • Pole vault
Chloe Hadley • Triple jump
ShyAndrea Jackson • Triple jump
Sadie Nielson • Discus
Payge Cuthbertson • Javelin
BYU men (24)
Tatenda Tsumba • 100 meters, 200 meters
Clark Brown • 100 meters, 200 meters
Chase Horrocks • 1,500 meters
Talem Franco • 1,500 meters
Kramer Morton • 1,500 meters
Clayton Young • 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters
Daniel Carney • 5,000 meters, 3,000m steeplechase
Rory Linkletter • 10,000 meters
Jonathan Harper • 10,000 meters
Korey Smith • 400m hurdles
Scott Mecham • 400m hurdles
Max Scheible • 400m hurdles
Clayson Shumway • 3,000m steeplechase
Jacob Heslington • 3,000m steeplechase
Mitchell Briggs • 3,000m steeplechase
Porter Reddish • 3,000m steeplechase
Jameson Shirley • Pole vault
Blake Steeves • Long jump
Ricky Fantroy Jr. • Triple jump
Zachary Stetler • Discus, Shot put
Dennis Christensen • Shot put
Jacob Barnes • Javelin •
Kraymer Eppich • Javelin
Jackson Walker • Decathlon
Utah women (4)
Amanda Gehrich • 1,500 meters
Ann Wingleth • Long jump
Christine Glasmann • Javelin
Grayson Murphy • 5,000 meters, 3,000m steeplechase
Utah State women (6)
Kashley Carter • 5,000 meters
Brenn Flint • Shot put
Olivia Moriconi • Shot put
Tylee Newman-Skinner • 1,500 meters
Tori Parkinson • 3,000m steeplechase
Sierra Simmons • 3,000m steeplechase
Utah State men (12)
Michael Bluth • 400 meters
AJ Boully • 400m hurdles
Spencer Fehlberg • 3,000m steeplechase
Joshua Gordon • 200 meters
Sindri Gudmundsson • Javelin
David Hirschmann • Discus
Clay Lambourne • 800 meters
Dillon Maggard • 5,000 meters
Brady Martin • 400 meters
Colby Wilson • 3,000m steeplechase
Samuel Wing • 400m hurdles
Devin Wright • Javelin
Also • Bluth, Boully, Gordon and Martin will compete in the 4x400 relay
Weber State women (8)
Jamie Stokes • 1,500 meters
Ellie Chile • 3,000m steeplechase
Hailey Whetten • 10,000 meters
Tawnie Moore • 100m hurdles
Whitney Fowers • Javelin
Natasha Powell • Shot put
Garazi Larrakoetxea • High jump
Rebecca Wenz • Javelin
Weber State men (5)
Jordan Cross • 3,000m steeplechase
Luca Sinn • 3,000m steeplechase
Alex Reece • 100 meters, 200 meters
Anthony Gregory • High jump
Nathan Dunivan • Discus
Southern Utah men (7)
Kasey Knevelbaard • 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters
Jayson Kovar • Discus
Justin Lewis • 400 meters
Devon Montgomery • 110m hurdles
Jeff Rowley • Javelin
Mike Tate • 5,000 meters
Matthew Wright • 10,000 meters
Utah Valley women (1)
Alena Gillespie • 200 meters
Utah Valley men (2)
Jason Lynch • 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters
Cole Eisenhour • 110m hurdles