PROVO, Utah — The BYU women’s track and field team heads to the East Coast this weekend for the Georgia Tech Invitational and the ECAC/IC4A Championships. This weekend marks the first time BYU has competed in the championships.
“This is a huge meet,” said BYU coach Patrick Shane of the conference championships. “This is an great opportunity to go head to head against top competition from many Ivy League schools. We are excited to be part of it.”
Because several of the field event finals take place Sunday at the ECAC/IC4A meet, many BYU athletes will compete at the Georgia Tech Invitational. The ECAC/IC4A meet is also a scored event.
The Cougars are coming off four first-place finishes at the Weber State Twilight. Seven additional Cougars qualified for the conference championships while at Weber State.
Pole vaulters Kelli Ehardt and Amy Moffat were the first Cougars to qualify with first- and second-place finishes, both clearing 3.72 meters. The mark is a season-outdoor best for Ehardt.
Distance runner Laura Young qualified in the 1,500 meters with a second-place finish with a time of 4:34.58.
Melissa Merrill, who had a career-best mark in the high jump, qualified clearing 1.70m to finish fifth overall.
Deezbaa Whaley qualified in the discus with a throw of 46.91m to finished second. In a previous meet, Whaley also qualified in the hammer throw.
Meaghan Heffelfinger qualified in the hammer throw on her last throw passing the standard by .05m. She finished fourth overall with a mark of 51.05m.
In the shot put, Sharrisa Thayer also qualified on her last throw finishing third with a throw of 13.97m. She also made her way onto the BYU all-time outdoor record board in the shot put with the throw.
The other first-place finishes came from Nicole Rudd Bringhurst in the 400 meters, Candace Eddy Carlisle in the 800 meters and Elizabeth Wilson in the triple jump.
The Cougars will begin competition at the ECAC Championships on Friday with the discus at 5:30 p.m. ET. The start time for the Georgia Tech Invitational is yet to be determined.
Results for the respective meets will be found at ecacsports.com and ramblinwreck.com.
Steven Tew is an SID at BYU Athletic Communications. He can be contacted at wtrack_sid@byu.edu,