BYU's men's track and field team takes on the Mountain West Conference Thursday Feb. 27 through Saturday Mar. 1 at the conference indoor track and field meet in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Cougars have the top athletes in several of the events, which could pose a problem for the team.

"Our problem is a good problem; it is a problem I would rather have than the reverse," coach Mark Robison said. "We have about 40 athletes that are on the list of the top eight in their events, but we can only take 28 athletes to the meet." "We have to try and figure out who we think will be able to place at the meet."

Robison said some of the other schools in the conference meet will not have the full roster of 28 athletes that the Cougars have. He said the team has better athletes this year than in the past.

The Cougars have the top athlete entered in 10 of the seventeen events at the meet.

In the 60-meter dash, the top three times so far this year belong to Cougar sprinters. Sophomore Cody Fonnesbeck leads the pack of Cougars, followed by freshman Paul Smith and senior Matt Nielsen. The top competition for the Cougar runners will come from Mervin Swaby from the University of Wyoming.

BYU has the top four athletes in both the 200- and the 400-meter dash. Smith leads the Cougars in the 200 with a time that is nearly half a second faster than the nearest competitor from another school. Sophomore David Chesser leads the Cougar runners in the 400 with a time that is a full second faster than Colorado State's Justin Hazard.

The greatest advantage the Cougars should have in the meet is the 800-meter run. BYU claims the top five runners entered into the event, all five of which are separated by about one second. Sophomore Scott Adams leads pack of Cougars, with a time three seconds faster than the University of Utah's Ivan Alvarado, the sixth-fastest runner entered into the event.

The mile run is the event the Cougars could have the most competition in. Sophomore Nathan Robison is the only athlete in the conference that has run the event in less that four minutes and he is followed closely by sophomore Kip Kangogo. But the University of Utah's Tyler Nephi is not far behind the two Cougar runners.

Only one runner has separated himself from the pack in the 3,000-meter run, and that runner is Kangogo. His time entering the meet is nearly 14 seconds faster than the next competitor.

"The distance events will come down to who can kick the fastest because of the altitude in Colorado Springs," Robison said.

The Cougars have the top relay teams in both the 440-meter relay and the distance medley relay.

BYU has four of the top five pole vaulters in the conference, and any of the four could win the meet.

Junior Daniel Arrhenius is the top thrower in the shot put, but is followed closely by Jeremy Graff of Colorado State.

Robison said the top competition at the meet will come from Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy. The Cougars have not faced any of the athletes from Colorado State so far this year.

"I feel good about our chances -- we just have to go and do what we have prepared for all year," Robison said. "We can't just show up and expect to win and not compete like we did last year."



Copyright Brigham Young University 26 Feb 2003