Over top of what some have called the fastest ice on earth, the Cougar track and field team on Saturday Jan. 25 found one of the fastest indoor tracks on earth.

The Cougars recorded 12 first-place finishes at the meet, led by sophomore Kip Kangogo in the mile.

Kangogo completed the mile in 4:05.78, which would be nearly a 4:01 time when adjusted for running at altitude. The adjusted time would qualify Kangogo to run at the indoor national track meet. His performance also earned him honors as Male Athlete of the Meet.

Sophomore Nathan Robison finished second in the mile. His adjusted time of 4:01.4 would also qualify him to compete in nationals.

In the 800-meter race, Sophomore Scott Adams led the Cougar runners with a time of 1:49.96. Adams' time also qualifies him to compete at the national meet.

"All of the runners in the 800 had lifetime bests, whether we were inside or outside," coach Mark Robison said.

One other Cougar posted a national qualifying time in the 60-meter race. Nate Soelberg won the race with a time of 6.68 seconds.

"Nate ran incredible in the 60 meters," Robison said. "It was unbelievable how fast he ran."

Senior Aaron Szmuda won the long jump, while freshman Justin Palmer finished second.

BYU junior shot-putter Daniel Arrhenius won his event, as did junior Matthew Holcolmb in the 35-pound weight throw.

"Almost every single person from last week to this week improved," Robison said. "It was an amazing meet with all of the improvements we had."

The Cougars next meet is Saturday in Boise, Idaho.

"When we go to Boise next we probably won't run as fast as we did this week," Robison said. "It doesn't mean we didn't improve it just means that this [the Olympic Oval track] is a far superior facility."

Saturday's meet was the first indoor track and field event held at the Olympic Oval in Kearns.

"This is a much faster facility than Boise," coach Mark Robison said. "It even exceeded our expectations."

Copyright Brigham Young University 26 Jan 2003