Lovell reigns in 3000m steeplechase at NCAA Championships

EUGENE, Ore. – Taylor Lovell won the 3000-meter steeplechase on the final day of the Division I Outdoor Track & Field NCAA Championships on Saturday at Hayward Field.

Lovell clocked a personal-best 9:21.03 to win the 3000m steeplechase. After finishing ninth in the event the previous two seasons, the Gilbert, Ariz. product trailed Notre Dame’s Sophie Novak for most of the race before pulling ahead in the final 200m. Lovell defeated the rest of the field by more than five seconds and earned First Team All-America honors. She became BYU’s first outdoor national champion since Courtney Wayment won the 3000m steeplechase in 2022. Additionally, Lovell became the fifth Cougar to win the event, joining Wayment, Kassi Anderson (2003), Michaela Mannova (2002) and Elizabeth Jackson (2001).

Both Carlee Hansen-Thompson and Carmen Alder earned First Team All-America honors in the 1500m, finishing fifth and eighth, respectively. Hansen-Thompson clocked a 4:13.66, just over 1.5 seconds behind Washington State’s Rosemary Longisa, who won the event. Alder crossed in 4:15.26.

Jane Hedengren earned Second Team All-America honors in the 5000m, finishing 9th in 15:22.88.

Raygan Peterson raced alongside Lovell in the 3000m steeplechase, clocking a 10:25.18 to earn Second Team All-America honors.

Zoey Bonds threw a personal-best 37.77m/123-11 to highlight her second day of the heptathlon. She was just centimeters shy of her personal best in the long jump, clearing 5.99m/19-8. The senior earned Second Team All-America honors with a 14th-place finish after clocking an outdoor-best 2:20.14 in the 800m. Bonds closed her NCAA Championships appearance with a personal-best 5,775 points, remaining No. 4 on BYU’s all-time list.

In her first trip to the NCAA Championships, Kaiah Fisher earned All-America Honorable Mention in the discus with a throw of 53.20m/174-6. It marked the third straight season a Cougar earned honorable mention honors in the event, with Gretchen Hoekstra doing so in 2024 and 2025.

The Cougars finished 13th overall with 22 points, their best outdoor finish since 2022.