The BYU men's track and field team returned to the winners' circle seven times Saturday Feb. 22, just a week after not winning a single event.

The Cougars also qualified four more athletes to compete at nationals. Twelve Cougars are now qualified to compete at nationals.

In the first events held in the Smith Field House in more than 15 years, junior Dan Arrhenius posted a personal best throw of 56-6 3/4 in the shot put. His throw won the event and is the longest throw in the Mountain West Conference this year.

Also in the field house, junior Matt Holcolmb recorded a personal best throw of 59-6 1/4 in the 35-pound weight throw, placing second at the meet.

BYU's runners also performed well at the meet.

Sophomore Cody Fonnesbeck won the 60-meter race and qualified for nationals with a time of 6.69. Cougar sprinters Paul Smith, a freshman, and senior Matt Nielsen followed Fonnesbeck closely in second and third, respectively.

The Cougars also dominated the 200-meter race. Paul Smith won the race with a time of 21.30. The next three finishers in the race were also Cougars. Junior Matt Rowe placed second, Fonnesbeck took third and sophomore David Chesser came in fourth. The Cougars now claim the top four times in the MWC in the event.

"The running events went really, really well for us," coach Mark Robison said.

In the 60-meter hurdle race, senior Russ Elgrenn won the event in 8.04 seconds. Juniors Daymon Visser and Erik Rasmussen placed third and fourth respectively for the Cougars.

"His (Elgrenn's) time was extremely fast," Robison said. "That is his best time of the year, maybe his lifetime best. He ran very well."

The Cougars' best event of the day was the 800-meter run, where six of the top seven runners were from BYU. Sophomore Scott Adams led the Cougar runners with a time of 1:49.11. Sophomores Chad Simkins and Jeff Taylor closely followed Adams. All three of the athletes qualified to compete at the national indoor meet.

The Cougar vaulters once again dominated the pole vault. Erik Rasmussen won the event, followed by senior Mark Barry and sophomore Trent Powell in second and third. All three of the vaulters cleared 17-1.

Freshman Matt Anderson won the triple jump with a personal best jump of 47-7. Freshman Montrell Dunn placed second in the event.

Along with the seven first-place finishes at the meet, the Cougars had six second-place finishes and numerous athletes place between third and sixth in their events.

"We just had an outstanding meet, no one was injured." Robison said. "We didn't run people in very many events because we didn't want them to be fatigued. Obviously the conference meet next week is our most important competition. That is what we have geared ourselves for the whole year. The conference meet is what we want to be ready for."

Copyright Brigham Young University 23 Feb 2003