State schools well-represented at track regionals

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.

drew@sltrib.com

Twitter: @drewjay