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EUGENE, Ore. — Athletes from around the state are headed to Eugene, Oregon, this weekend to compete in the NCAA Track and Field Championships.
The state of Utah is being represented by 15 athletes from BYU, four from Utah State, one from the University of Utah, one from Southern Utah University and one athlete from Weber State. The athletes earned their spot in Eugene after qualifying at the NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas, last week.
BYU is having a record-breaking year, taking the most athletes (15) to nationals since the men and women’s programs were combined. The Cougars also have the fourth most men qualifying in the country.
Tatenda Tsumba and Clayton Young of BYU will each compete in two events. Tsumba will compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter events. Young will compete in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. The husband and wife duo of Mitchell Briggs and Kristi Rush-Briggs will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, with Rush-Briggs currently holding the sixth best time in the nation. Another notable athlete from BYU is Shea Collinsworth, who will compete in the 800 meters as her final collegiate race. She currently boasts the fourth best time in the nation.
Two of Utah State’s four athletes heading to nationals are making return trips to Eugene. AJ Boully will again compete in the 400-meter hurdles. Last year, Clay Lambourne received honorable mention All-American honors after he placed 22nd in the 800-meter semifinals. Lambourne will again compete in the 800-meter race at nationals.
Grayson Murphy will represent the University of Utah in the 3,000-meter steeplechase race. She currently holds the school record in the steeplechase, and at the preliminaries last week she took second overall.
SUU will be represented by senior discus thrower Jayson Kovar. In Austin, he came in fourth overall.
Ellie Child of Weber State will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. This will be her second appearance at an NCAA championship this season as she already competed in the cross-country nationals this year.
With so many athletes from the state of Utah competing at nationals this weekend, there will be plenty of opportunity for sports fans to support their school as all events will be broadcasted on various ESPN networks and will be streamed on NCAA.com.
The competition begins Wednesday and will go through Saturday. All events will be held at Hayward Field in "Track Town USA."
Lindsey Peterson is a Brigham Young University student studying broadcast journalism. Contact her at lindspeterson4@gmail.com or on Twitter @LindsPetey.
