Four BYU athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships by finishing in the top 12 of the NCAA West Preliminary Round Wednesday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Casey Clinger and Brandon Garnica finished ninth and 10th in the 10,000-meter run with times of 28:47.45 and 28:47.75. Teammates Caleb Witsken and Zach McWhorter finished third and fifth in the pole vault, both of them vaulting 17-8 1/4.
That means those four athletes will advance to the NCAA championships, which will be held in two weeks in Eugene, Ore.
The men’s competition will resume Friday, while the women will compete Thursday and Saturday.
BYU’s Colten Yardley finished eighth in the prelims of the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 50.43 to advance to Friday’s final, which will determine the dozen athletes who will advance to the Eugene. Likewise, teammate Sebastian Fernandez finished sixth in the first round of the 800-meter run with a time of 1:47.84 to advance to Friday’s final.
The following local collegians failed to advance to the next round: Connor Weaver (BYU), 24th in the 10,000 (29:19.84); Caleb Garnica (Utah State), 27th in the 10,000 (29:22.57); Joey Nokes (BYU), did not finish the 10,000; Spencer Carlile (BYU), 33rd in the 400 hurdles (52.44); Aidan Troutner (BYU), 25th in the 1,500-meter run (3:46.41); Devin Pancake (Utah State), 36th in the 1,500.