BYU senior Carlee Clark-Platt was the lone competitor for the Cougars on the second day of the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Drake Stadium in rain-soaked Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday.

"Oh, man. This is the highlight of my running career," Clark-Platt said after the race that earned her a first-ever trip to the national finals. "You work so hard for so long, and to have this opportunity makes it all worth it."

Prior to the start of the race, Clark-Platt learned that one of the pre-race favorites, Alysia Johnson of California, would not be competing in the semifinals.

"I found out that she (Johnson) had scratched right before the race," Clark-Platt said. "We expected her to go out fast, so it forced me to change my strategy. I think that's where being a senior and having experience really helped. My goal was to make the top three and make the finals."

Starting out of lane five, Clark-Platt was in second place behind Western Michigan's Beck Horn, who went on to win the heat in a time of 2:03.73. Clark-Platt dropped back to third and held that position on the rail coming off the final turn. Heading down the final stretch, Washington State's Anna Layman came from the outside and caught Clark-Platt with just over 30 meters to go to take the third and final automatic qualifying spot. Forced out to lane two, Clark-Platt caught Layman but could not get past her as the pair crossed the line with only .07 seconds separating the two.

"I didn't feel her (Layman) coming," Clark-Platt said. "After she caught me, I had to give it everything I had. To be honest, it's easier to do the catching than it is to hold someone off."

Despite finishing fourth in the semifinals, Clark-Platt advanced on time with the seventh-fastest time between the two heats.

After running on back-to-back days, Clark-Platt will take today off and enjoy some time with her husband -- former BYU baseball player James Platt -- her mother and her in-laws, who have all traveled to Iowa to support her.

"It's been great to have their support out here," Clark-Platt said. "I'm looking forward to taking tomorrow off and spending the day with them and maybe even do some shopping."

Clark-Platt will be return to the track on Saturday to compete in the 800 meter finals. The race is scheduled to begin at 2:19 p.m. MDT.

CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) will begin its live broadcast of the NCAA Track and Field Championships from Des Moines today from 6-9 p.m. CBS will broadcast live coverage of the final day of competition from 2-4 p.m.

• Utes help Cougars honor fallen teammate: At Des Moines, Iowa, just days before leaving for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, BYU team members learned of the tragic death of freshman teammate Chelsi Petersen. While the majority of the team prepares for Petersen's funeral, which will be held in St. George on Saturday, members of the BYU team competing in Des Moines, Iowa, were searching for ways to show their support for their teammate and her family.

BYU athletes in Des Moines had planned to use black ink markers to write Petersen's initials on their spikes; however, an alternative, perhaps more visible way to show their support came from members of another team.

"Chelsea Shapard came up to us and asked if it would be alright for them to wear a blue ribbon on their uniforms to honor Chelsi during the championships," BYU team trainer Dustin Williams said. "She said she had some extra ribbon that we could use as well. So, each of us have been wearing a blue ribbon to honor Chelsi. It was an admirable thing for them to do. I hope they know how much it's appreciated."

Shapard is one of two athletes from the University of Utah who is participating at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Shapard is joined by teammate Josefin Berg, who finished 22nd in the hammer throw on Wednesday. Shaphard reached the semifinals in the 400-meter hurdles. Shapard is a junior from Park City, while Berg is a junior from Osthammer, Sweden.

"It was such a great thing for them to do," BYU senior Carlee Clark-Platt said. "It's important that Chelsi and her family know we are thinking about them. It is such a classy thing for Chelsea and Josefin to do."

• McNaughton named second team all-region: BYU outfielder Sean McNaughton was selected this week to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Midwest All-Region Second Team.

McNaughton and TCU pitcher Andrew Cashner, a first-team selection, were the only Mountain West Conference players on the first or second team.

McNaughton, a sophomore from Lakewood, Wash., was taken in the 38th round as pick No. 1151 in last week's Major League draft by the Chicago Cubs and was a first-team All-MWC selection.

• BYU celebrates Deseret First Duel victory: The BYU Athletics Department gathered Thursday to celebrate a hard-fought victory over in-state rival Utah in the first year of the newly created Deseret First Duel Rivalry Series presented by Deseret First Credit Union.

The Cougars claimed sports supremacy over the Utes this season and took home the first Deseret First Duel trophy with a 34-30 edge in the point tally. The rivalry series includes competition in the 12 sports in which the two universities compete head-to-head during regular-season play and uses a system that awards points to the winner of each competition. A team trophy is awarded to the individual winner of each sport -- football, basketball, softball, etc. Points won by the individual sports count toward each school's overall total.

Kris J. Mecham, President and CEO of Deseret First Credit Union, was on hand at the celebration to present the Deseret Duel plaque to BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe, commending the Cougars for their outstanding performance. The plaque will be affixed to the large granite trophy on the first floor of Legacy Hall in the Student Athlete Building.

This year's competition came down to the final week with the BYU baseball team claiming two of the final three games of the season to secure the overall trophy and the baseball title. Other teams contributing to the Cougar win included women's volleyball, football, men's basketball, men's and women's swimming and softball.

The 2007-08 season marked the first year of the Deseret First Duel Rivalry Series presented by Deseret First Credit Union.