Nokes and Corrigan Lead To Strong Finish at Season Opener in Boston

Four Cougars represented BYU men's track and field at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, with Corrigan registering a top-10 all-time program performance.

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BOSTON, Massachusetts – BYU men’s track and field took part at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at Boston University Saturday, with James Corrigan earning top-10 all-time program finish. 

Full Results

BYU Results
Athlete Event Time Place
Joe Lighthall* 800m 1:50.89 4th
Lucas Bons* 3000m 7:53.71 12th
James Corrigan*^ 5000m 13:34.24 32nd (6th BYU All-Time)
Joey Nokes 5000m 13:32.45 29th 

*Personal Best

^BYU Top-10 All-Time Performance

"This was a good opportunity for the men to take advantage of their cross country fitness and they did," said assistant men's distance coach Ryan Waite. "Three out of the four ran personal bests and Joey put himself right on the edge of an indoor national qualifier. We’ll need to go a bit faster later in the year, but it was a good start to the indoor season."

Joe Lighthall – 800m 

Freshman newcomer Joe Lighthall placed fourth overall in the men's 800-meters, clocking a 1:50.89 across the finish line. This marks Lighthall's first collegiate career start. The finishing time also marks Lighthall's all-time personal best in the event, besting his previous record of 1:51.95 in high school. 

"It was kind of scary with it being my first race," Lighthall said. "I threw up in warmups because of how I nervous I was, but I started singing the fight song and I was locked in and ready to go."

Lucas Bons – 3000m 

Junior Lucas Bons placed 12th overall in the men's 3000-meters, crossing the finish line at 7:53.71. Bons acheived a personal best in the event, surpassing his previous record time of 7:55.38 at the same competition in 2021. The junior won his heat, besting the runner-up by two seconds. The personal best was achieved in a packed field that featured Drew Bosley (Northern Arizona), Nico Young (Northern Arizona) and Brian Musau (Oklahoma State), each top-10 finishers at last month's NCAA Cross Country Championship.

"I feel like my performance today gives me confidence going into the indoor track season," Bons said. "It was a good race. I'm happy with it. Happy to use the cross country fitness I've built up to get set for the indoor season."

James Corigan – 5000m 

Sophomore James Corrigan finished 32nd overall in the men's 5000-meters, with a finishing time of 13:34.24. Corrigan's performance put him at No. 6 all-time in BYU indoor history and marked a personal best in the event. He approached the line just two weeks after placing 32nd overall for All-American honors at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Joey Nokes – 5000m 

Junior Joey Nokes completed the men's 5000-meters at 29th overall, clocking a 13:32.45 finish. Nokes' performance would be good for No. 5 all-time on the BYU indoor top-10 board if he didn't already hold the No. 4 spot at 13:29.3. 

Up Next

BYU track and field will host the December Invitiational next week, running Dec. 8-9 at the Smith Fieldhouse and Indoor Practice Facility. Meet information can be found here