BYU’s Conner Mantz turns in second place finish at NCAA Championships
BYU's Conner Mantz (second from right) finishes the 10,000 meters just behind Tulsa's Patrick Dever in the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
BYU's Garrett Marsing (right) negotiates the water jump during a semifinal heat of the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. Marsing finished fourth in his heat to qualify for the finals.
BYU decathlete Dallin Vorkink flies over the crossbar while competing in the high jump in the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., on Wednesday, June 9, 2021.
EUGENE, Ore. – All-American Conner Mantz finished as the national runner-up in a historic 10,000m race as the BYU track and field team opened competition at the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
This year’s men’s 10,000m final ended up being one of the fastest races ever at an NCAA championship meet as 10 runners finished under the former meet record of 28:01.30. Mantz led the race heading into the final lap and came just short of holding off Tulsa’s Patrick Dever in the final 100 meters. Mantz finished the race in 27:42.46 while scoring eight points and collecting All-America First Team honors in the event.
In the men’s javelin final, Cameron Bates finished seventh overall with a mark of 74.25m/243-7. The sophomore collected All-America First Team honors for the first time in his career and picked up two points for the men’s team. Bates is the first BYU javelin thrower to be named to an All-America team since 2010.
With the 10 combined points from Mantz and Bates, the BYU men ended the first day of competition tied for sixth with four other teams.
Michael Bluth became the first BYU sprinter to make it to the men’s 400m finals at the championship meet since 1964. The All-American clocked a 45.78 in the semifinals to advance as a time qualifier. He will race in the final on Friday, June 11 at 6:02 p.m. PDT.
Zach McWhorter finished ninth overall in the men’s pole vault final. The All-American cleared 5.30m/17-4.5 to secure his top 10 finish and receive All-America Second Team honors.
The Cougars had All-Americans Talem Franco and Lucas Bons racing in the 1500m semifinals. Following a successful protest, Franco advanced to the men’s 1500m final on Friday at 5:11 p.m. (3:39.67). Bons completed the race in 3:40.22 to finish 15th overall, moving up one spot following a disqualification, and received All-America Second Team honors in the event.
Garrett Marsing and Clayson Shumway both raced in the 3000m steeplechase semifinals. Marsing placed in the top five of his heat (8:37.67) to automatically advance to Friday’s final at 5:24 p.m. Shumway finished 23rd overall and received All-America Honorable Mention honors (9:11.34).
All-American Colten Yardley finished 17th overall in the men’s 400m hurdles semifinals and received All-America Honorable Mention in the event. Yardley then doubled with Bluth in the men’s 4x400m semifinals, joining up with Landon Maxfield and Cortez Ruiz. The relay team finished 12th overall with a time of 3:07.57 and received All-America Second Team honors.
Dallin Vorkink completed the first day of competition in the men’s decathlon in 19th place with 3614 points. The sophomore finished the day with 11.61 in the 100m, 6.46m/21-2.5 in the long jump, 13.42m/44-0.5 in the shot put, 1.95m/6-4.75 in the high jump and 51.53 in the 400m. He will conclude competition on Thursday, June 10.
The men’s 4x100m relay squad also raced today in its semifinals but was disqualified due to a handoff outside the zone
The BYU women’s team will open competition at the championship meet on Thursday, June 10. The decathlon will be streamed on ESPN3 while the women’s track events will be broadcast on ESPN2 and WatchESPN. A complete broadcast schedule specific to BYU’s entries can be found on byucougars.com.