Sargent and Allphin Earn First Team All-America To Cap Off Nationals

Sadie Sargent and Cierra Tidwell Allphin secured First Team All-America status on Saturday afternoon as the Cougars wrapped up competition at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.

Sargent and Allphin Earn First Team All-America To Cap Off NationalsSargent and Allphin Earn First Team All-America To Cap Off Nationals

EUGENE, Ore. BYU's Sadie Sargent and Cierra Tidwell Allphin secured First Team All-America status on Saturday afternoon as the Cougars wrapped up competition at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.

Full Results

Saturday BYU Results
Name

Event

Result Placement All-American
Sadie Sargent 5000m 15:30.63 8th First Team
Cierra Tidwell Allphin High Jump 1.87m/6-1.5 7th First Team
Gretchen Hoekstre Discus 50.83m/166-9 22nd Honorable Mention
Taylor Lovell 3000m Steeplechase 9:48.39 9th Honorable Mention

BYU concluded the national meet with six First Team All-Americans split evenly with three on the men's side and women's side. See the Meet Central page for more information. 

Sadie Sargent finished eight overall in the finals of the 5,000-meters running 15:30.63. Sargent sat in 11th for a majority of the race but accelerated in the final laps and leaned at the finish to secure All-American status. In the final outdoor race of her colleigate career not only did Sargent set a personal best by four seconds but now owns the third-fastest time in program history and fastest time every run by a Cougar at the national meet. 

Cierra Tidwell Allphin cleared 1.87m/6-1.5 in the high jump to tie for seventh overall and earn First Team All-American status. The senior became the fourth female BYU high jumper to become a six-time All-American. Tidwell Allphin secured a season best in the event which also featured three jumpers that cleared 1.97m/6-5.5. 

Gretchen Hoekstre earned Honorable Mention All-American accoldaes after throwing 50.83m/166-9 in the discus. The junior from Seaside, Oregon finished 22nd in the event two weeks after breaking the school record at the prelminary rounds in Fayatteville, Ark. 

Taylor Lovell finished ninth in the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal best time of 9:48.39 as the freshman secured Honorable Mention All-American status. Her time is also the sixth-fastest in program history. 

Quotes

Sadie Sargent

“I’m very grateful for the journey and for Coach [Diljeet] Taylor believing in me through all of these years. I’m also grateful for my teammates. I trained with some of the best women in the nation, and they pushed me to get to this point."

Cierra Tidwell Allphin

"All offseason I’ve been struggling to get back up to those higher heights. I’m really happy that I could get a season-best today.”

Gretchen Hoekstre

"It wasn’t the fairytale ending I was hoping for but I’m so happy about being able to come back to my home state and compete on that stage in front of friends and family. I’m incredibly grateful for the experience but even more grateful I have another year to hopefully break more records on this field. "

Taylor Lovell

"Nationals was such an amazing experience. I had so much fun and can’t wait to keep working."

Liz Darger - BYU Senior Associate Athletic Director/SWA

"With athletes here from every event group, these last four days have been a great representation of what our track and field program is all about. I'm so proud of how hard they competed and how they represented BYU."

Diljeet Taylor - BYU Women's Distance Coach

"I’m so proud of the way my women competed this weekend. To come in with four women at this caliber of meet and walk away with two All Americans and four personal bests is something I am very proud of. These women represent this program with the utmost class and I am honored to be their coach."