PROVO, Utah — BYU men's and women's track and field travels to College Station, Texas to compete at the NCAA West Preliminary Round May 28-31.
The top 12 placing athletes/relays in each event at both the West and East Preliminary Rounds compose the field of 24 that will compete at the NCAA Championships June 11-14 in Eugene, Oregon.
Meet Central - Click here for BYU result updates following each event.
Men's Preview
The Cougars will have 27 entries in Texas including a team-high three student-athletes in the 400-meters, 400-meter hurdles, 1,500-meters 3,000-meter steeplechase, 5,000-meters and javelin.
James Corrigan looks to return to the NCAA Championships for a second consecutive year in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after finishing ninth in 2024 and earned second team All-American honors. The junior owns the second-fastest time in the region and third-fastest in the nation after his record-breaking performance at the Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships where he broke his own meet record running 8:22.20. Isaac Hedengren and Landon Heemeyer also rank in the Top 10 in the region in the event at fifth and eighth respectively.
Joey Nokes and Creed Thompson are two of 20 runners in the nation that will traverse the 5,000/10,000-meter double this week. Nokes ranks ninth in the 5,000m and 16th in the 10,000m as the senior looks to qualify for the national meet for the first time outdoors. Thompson, the runner-up in the 10,000m at the Big 12 Championships, finished 15th in the 10,000m at the 2024 West preliminary round.
Senior Danny Bryant finished fourth at the 2024 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the shot put with the third-best throw in program history, 20.02m/65-8.25. The senior from Valencia, Calif. finished fourth at the Big 12 Championships and ranks 12th in the region with a seasonal best toss of 19.84m/65-1.25. It will also mark the first time competing in the discus as the west preliminary rounds since finishing 44th in the 2023.
Tyler Mathews finished third in the 800-meters at the Big 12 Championship running a personal best by .01 seconds. The second-fastest 800-meter runner in program history is ranked ninth in the region and 16th in the nation with a time of 1:46.19. Sebastian Fernandez has a chance to book his ticket to the national meet for a third time in his career where he finished 11th in 2022 and 20th in 2024.
Carter Cutting, Lucas Bons and Aidan Troutner will represent the Cougars in the 1,500-meters as three of five runners that have ever broken four minutes in the mile in the State of Utah. Cutting joined the list this spring as the sophomore ran 3:59.39 at the Robison Invitational before finishing eighth in the metric mile at the Big 12 Championships. Bons, the third-fastest 1,500m runner in program history, comes into the week ranked 12th in the region while Troutner sits 31st.
Eli Hazlett, Trey Jackson and Josh Taylor will all compete in the 400-meters on Wednesday evening. The trio will be joined by Jonah Heimuli on Friday for the 4x400-meter relay where they rank fourth in the region and seventh in the nation. They ran the second-fastest time in program history, 3:03.05, at Mt. SAC Relays.
Brinton Paulson is one of three Cougars who is slated to compete in the javelin as the junior is coming off a third-place finish at the Big 12 Championships. The Orem native is the sixth-best javelin thrower in program history after winning the event at the Robison Invitational with a throw of 69.87m/229-3. Paulson will be joined by a pair of freshmen in Carson Riner and Sam Jennings. Riner, the younger brother of national champion Ashton Riner-Lunt, finished eighth in the javelin in Lawrence while Jennings finished in ninth.
Women's Preview
BYU women’s track and field will send 24 entries to the NCAA West Preliminary Round this week, highlighted by five qualifiers each in the 3000-meter steeplechase and 1500 meters.
In the 3000m steeplechase, All-American Lexy Halladay-Lowry leads the way as she looks to return to the NCAA Championships. The senior, who redshirted last season, was a First Team All-American in 2023 with a fourth-place national finish. She enters the preliminary round ranked No. 2 in the West with a season-best 9:10.05. Taylor Lovell, also an NCAA qualifier a year ago, placed ninth in 2024 to earn Second Team All-America honors. The sophomore owns a personal-best of 9:46.86 and was the Big 12 runner-up earlier this month.
In the 1500 meters, Carlee Hansen leads five BYU qualifiers after placing second at the Big 12 Championships. Her time of 4:08.70 ranks No. 8 in the region and No. 2 all-time at BYU. Junior Riley Chamberlain finished third at conference and holds the No. 4 spot on the BYU all-time list with a 4:09.49. Chamberlain was a national qualifier in the event last year, placing 14th.
Meghan Hunter headlines BYU’s middle-distance group with the team’s lone No. 1 seed in the region. The senior ran 1:58.99 to win the Big 12 title—becoming just the third collegian ever to break 1:59 in the 800 meters. She’ll be joined by freshman Tessa Buswell, who ranks No. 11 in the West with an altitude-converted mark of 2:01.66.
In the 400 meters, Sami Oblad enters ranked No. 2 in the West after running 50.49 (50.60 with conversion) at the BYU Robison Invitational. Oblad was 11th at this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships and will aim to finish in the top 12 to return to nationals.
Junior Jenna Hutchins will represent BYU in the 5000 meters, where she ranks No. 4 in the region with a personal best of 15:16.95—third-fastest time in program history. Hutchins was a First Team All-American last season with a sixth-place finish in the 10,000 meters at nationals.
In the throws, senior Gretchen Hoekstre will compete in both the shot put and discus. The Seaside, Oregon native owns the school record in the discus at 57.04m/187-2, a mark set at last year’s preliminary round en route to nationals. She recently recorded a personal best of 17.46m/57-3.5 in the shot put at the Big 12 meet and is ranked No. 9 and No. 14 in the region in the shot and discus, respectively.
In the pole vault, seniors Rebekah Erikson and Maren Garnett will look to return to the NCAA Championships. Erikson, the outdoor school record holder, qualified for outdoor nationals last season, while Garnett—BYU’s indoor record holder—competed at this year’s indoor championships. Erikson enters the weekend ranked No. 20 in the West, with Garnett at No. 24.
Up Next
Following the NCAA West Preliminary Round, the Cougars will prepare for the NCAA National Championships June 11-14 in Eugene, Oregon.
