PROVO — BYU runner Kyle Perry set his second national automatic qualifying mark this past weekend in the 3000 meters, with a time of seven minutes, 51.2 seconds at the Husky Classic in Seattle.
"We are excited with where we are at," BYU men's track coach Mark Robinson said. "For (Perry) to have the third best mark in the nation and the top two or three time in the mile is pretty incredible."
Junior Keith Jensen set a national provisional mark in the 800-meter run during the same meet finishing with a 1:48.85 — the third fastest time in the country.
The Cougars will now turn their attention toward conference championships next weekend as they continue to work to get more people qualified for nationals.
"For the most part our team is progressing and we are excited for next week," Robinson said. "Our focus is completely on the conference. We have spent our whole season getting ready for that."
BASEBALL: The BYU baseball team was picked to finish second this season, in a poll released by the Mountain West Conference this past week. TCU was picked to win its third-straight conference title by receiving six of the nine first place votes, the Cougars received the other three.
Four players also received nods for the pre-season All-MWC team. The four are: sophomore third baseman Steve Parker, junior outfielder Kent Walton, junior first baseman Kasey Ko and sophomore outfielder Sean McNaughton.
DIVING: The Cougars had a good showing against nationally ranked Stanford this past Friday. Women's diver Tawni Jones finished first in the 1-meter board with a score of 294.75. Ava Jackman finished in third place in the 1-meter competition and tied for second in the 3-meter with 301.28 points.
GYMNASTICS: The gymnastics team enjoyed season-high marks on the floor and vault, which sparked its 193.725 tri-meet win over Utah State and New Hampshire last Friday. Senior Dayna Smart-Allen won the individual title on the vault, senior Kylee Draper-Marvin tied for first in the uneven bars and senior Alethea Boon tied in first on the floor.
MEN'S TENNIS: The BYU men's tennis team enjoyed its holiday weekend, going 2-1 and improving its record to 6-2 —the team's best start since the 2000 season.
On Friday, the Cougars swept College of the Desert but fell in a close 4-3 match against Loyola Marymount on Saturday. Monday the Cougars got another road victory against Azusa Pacific 6-1.
WOMEN'S TENNIS: BYU had an undefeated homestand this weekend as it upset Boise State last Thursday and then squeaked out a 4-3 win against Texas Tech on Saturday. The weekend improved BYU's overall record to 4-5 on the season.
LACROSSE: The lacrosse team got its season started this past weekend with a 15-9 win Thursday at UC Santa Barbara. On Saturday the Cougars fell at Chapman University.
SOFTBALL: The BYU softball team went 2-3 this past weekend while in Las Vegas for the Louisville Slugger Red Desert Classic. The Cougars shut out Northwestern State 14-0 on Thursday and then beat Missouri 4-0 on Friday. But they also fell to Oklahoma on Friday and lost both games Saturday, against Kansas and San Jose State.
HOCKEY: For the second week in a row. BYU beat up on Utah — winning 13-3 at the Utes' home rink.
On tap
LACROSSE: vs. Simon Fraser University on Saturday at 1 p.m.
WOMEN'S TENNIS: vs. Denver on Friday at 4 p.m.; vs. Kansas State Saturday at noon.
BASEBALL: at University of Portland on Friday and double-header Saturday.
WOMEN'S GOLF: at Arizona Wildcat Invitational on Feb. 25-27.
GYMNASTICS: at Oregon State on Friday.
MEN'S TENNIS: at University of Denver on Saturday.
RUGBY: at Colorado State on Friday and at Colorado on Saturday.
SOFTBALL: at Tennessee Classic Thursday vs. Tennessee; Friday vs. Louisiana Monroe and Virginia; Saturday vs. Virginia and Tennessee.
E-mail: ethomas@desnews.com