AUSTIN, Texas — No. 19 BYU women’s track and field saw three athletes advance to Saturday finals and two post Second Team All-American finishes as women’s competition opened at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Thursday night.

Claire Seymour and Meghan Hunter picked up where they left off at the west preliminary as the BYU duo finished together once again, this time to advance to the national women’s 800-meter final. Seymour and Hunter each advanced by holding off Imogen Barrett of Florida and Carley Thomas of Washington for time qualifying spots.

“They each had great race plans and executed them well to reach the finals,” said BYU women’s distance coach Diljeet Taylor. “It was a big day for BYU middle distance.”

Seymour took fourth in the semifinal at 2:01.24 while Hunter clocked a personal-best 2:01.53 to take fifth. Hunter fell to the back of the pack early in the third heat but surged into fifth with a strong finish down the final 200 meters.

Hunter fell to the back of the pack early in the third heat before surging hard in the final 200 meters to take time qualifying at 2:01.53 and a fifth-place finish.

“I went into the race just trying to have fun,” Hunter said. “I knew if I just had fun and put forth my best effort, I could do it.”

The junior from Provo, Utah now ranks fifth all-time at BYU in the women’s outdoor 800m. With her comeback performance on Thursday, Hunter advances to her first-career national final. Seymour has now qualified for her second-career outdoor 800m national final.

Hunter and Seymour will vie for the 800m national title on Saturday at 9:14 p.m. CDT.

Lexy Halladay-Lowry ran a collegiate-meet best of 9:42.35 to take third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase semifinal. Halladay-Lowry set her overall collegiate career-best of 9:42.12 at the professional Sound Running Track Fest on May 6.

The junior from Boise, Idaho pulled to the front of the pack from the start of the second heat and stayed there to the finish, crossing just behind Notre Dame’s Olivia Markezich and national leader Greta Karinauskaite of Cal Baptist.

“Lexy perfectly executed her race plan,” Taylor said. “She smoothly advanced to the final and I’m excited to see what she can do on Saturday.”

Halladay-Lowry now advances to her first-career national steeplechase final on Saturday at 8:24 p.m. CDT. Former BYU harrier Courtney Wayment won the 2022 women’s steeplechase championship. A national title for Halladay-Lowry on Saturday would give the Cougars their fifth all-time title in the event and become the third time in program history to win it in back-to-back seasons.

Aubrey Frentheway took 10th in the 10,000-meters final to earn Second Team All-America honors with a time of 33:45.29. Frentheway fell out of the front pack midway through the race and ran alone for much of the last eight laps. The senior from Cheyenne, Wyoming dug deep down the home stretch and closed at 1:20.17 to seize her top-10 spot.

“I’m so proud of her effort in a competitive race,” Taylor said. “She put herself in the race and she’s walking away satisfied with the culmination of the season.”

Despite falling short of first team accolades, Frentheway improved on her 22nd-place finish from a season ago and registered BYU’s first top-10 women’s 10,000m finisher since Laura Turner in 2004. Frentheway is one of just six BYU women all-time to finish top-10 in the event.

Ashton Riner-Lunt fell short of defending her 2022 women’s javelin national title but still garnered Second Team All-America honors with a throw of 51.0m/167-4. Riner-Lunt concludes her Cougar career as just the second women’s javelin thrower in BYU history to record three-career (2018, 2022-23) outdoor All-American honors. Hui-Chen Lee was the last do so in 1987, 1989 and 1991.

Adaobi Tabugbo, Jaslyn Gardner, Dolita Shaw and Marianne Barber made BYU history on Thursday night as the first women’s 4×100-meter relay team in school history to reach outdoor nationals.

The quartet ran 44.60, finishing 20th overall and seventh in their heat. The Cougars finished nearly three seconds ahead of Alabama while also facing four top-10 ranked teams in Texas, LSU, Baylor and Florida. Host Texas clocked a collegiate record and world-leading 41.55 in the heat.

Despite coming short of advancing to the final, Tabugbo, the foursome also closes the season having twice broken the school record and achieved a top-25 national ranking.

Sami Oblad, Marianne Barber, Dolita Shaw and Brilee Pontius closed the night’s competition for the Cougars in the 4×400-meter relay. The squad finished 22nd at 3:39.56.

Barton earns First Team All-American

Sophomore decathlete Ben Barton represented No. 14 BYU men’s track and field Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, earning the Cougars’ fourth First Team All-American honor at Mike A. Myers Stadium this week.

Barton totaled 7,815 points to place eighth overall in a field of 24, a score that improved on his own No. 6 all-time spot in BYU history. The Birmingham, Michigan native’s performance captured his first career All-American honor in as many appearances at nationals. He joins Kevin Nielsen (2018) as the second Cougar to be awarded a First Team All-American decathlete since the NCAA began distinguishing between First Team, Second Team, and Honorable Mention honors in 2011.

The 7,815 points marks the sixth highest point total by a BYU decathlete at NCAA nationals. He also becomes just the fourth Cougar since 1987 to place among the top-10 in the event at the NCAA championships.

BYU associate head coach Mark Robison, who has overseen decathletes with the program since 1988, has now coached eight All-American multi-athletes who have tallied a combined 10 All-American awards.

“We were hoping that [Barton] could just be in the top 16,” said Robison. “It’s amazing. He had a great day, doing just enough for each event. He worked so hard and wow, he did this at his first decathlon at NCAA nationals. Watch and see, he’s going to be our school record holder in the next two years. He’s only been off his [two-year] mission for about a year now. He’s going to be absolutely remarkable. I’m so proud of him.”

Despite a more than two-hour weather delay, Barton set personal records in four of Thursday’s five events.