No. 5 BYU rides late push to third place at Big 12 Championship

STILLWATER, Okla. — A big kick in the final 1,000 meters helped BYU surge to a podium finish at the Big 12 Championship meet Saturday morning.

The Cougars were led by fifth-year senior James Corrigan, who placed 7th overall just behind a pack of runners from Oklahoma State and Colorado. Tayvon Kitchen (13th), Isaac Hedengren (21st), Dalton Mortensen (24th) and Hunter Kitchen (29th) rounded out the scoring for BYU.

Top 7 BYU Runners at the Big 12 Championship

Name	Time	Place
James Corrigan	23:20.2	7th
Tayvon Kitchen	23:34.5	13th
Isaac Hedengren	23:50.6	21st
Dalton Mortensen	23:57.6	24th
Hunter Kitchen	24:04.6	29th
Malachi Schoenherr	24:11.4	32nd
Jefferson McMullin	24:11.9	33rd

Full results can be seen here.

It was a back and forth battle between the Cougars and the Iowa State Cyclones through the final half of the race for the third place spot, trailing Oklahoma State and eventual champion Colorado. The Cougars and the Cyclones swapped spots every 1,000 meter mark, with Iowa State regaining a one-point lead at the 7,000 meter marker heading into the home stretch.

But big final pushes— most notably from Hedengren, Mortensen and Hunter Kitchen— helped BYU overtake the Cyclones and finish on the podium for the first time in its 2024 Big 12 Championship. Hedengren and Mortensen both surpassed two Iowa State runners in the final 2,000 meters, helping BYU to a 91 point finish to trump the Cyclones 104.

“I saw our men get out there today,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said after the race. “This was a really good race for us, battling with Iowa State. It was back and forth to the end, but my guys really reached down. We’re going to have to make sure all of our ducks are in a row come the national meet, but I have great faith in my men.”

It was a big result for Corrigan, who notches his first race all season as BYU’s top finisher. Corrigan also broke BYU's record on the course, beating Casey Clinger's 23:30.1 mark set in 2022 by ten seconds.

It was also an exciting championship debut for freshman Malachi Schoenherr, who finished 32nd overall as BYU’s sixth runner. Schoenherr was the fourth freshman finisher as well.

Following Schoenherr closely was Jefferson McMullin (33), Noah Jenkins (36), Land Lambert (37) and Carter Cutting (61). Lambert was the only ahtlete to have run on the course before today, giving the team a good look at it before it hosts the 2027 NCAA Championship meet.

Up Next
The Cougars continue championship season as they head to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to compete in the NCAA Mountain Regionals. The race will start at noon MST on Friday, Nov. 13.