BYU women’s track and field piled up six more national qualifiers, including two record-setting relay teams, during NCAA West Preliminary competition on Saturday at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento.

Meghan Hunter, Claire Seymour, Lexy Halladay-Lowry and Cierra Tidwell Allphin joined the Cougars’ 4×100 and 4×400-meter squads in punching tickets to Austin.

Hunter and Seymour not only booked their own passage to nationals in the 800-meters but helped the 4x400m squad do so again to end the night.

Hunter began the relay, handed to Marianne Barber and then watched as Brilee Pontius and Seymour finished the job. The foursome clocked a school record 3:32.88 to qualify for nationals.

The previous 4x400m school record was set at the West Preliminary two seasons ago in College Station, Texas. Hunter and Seymour contributed to that record as well.

Seymour and Hunter both ran in the third and final heat of the 800m quarterfinal, crossing the finish first and third, respectively, and falling into a celebratory embrace. The two veteran mid-distance specialists punched their tickets to Austin with Seymour clocking 2:04.75 for ninth overall and Hunter 2:05.35 for 13th overall.

Hunter returns to outdoor nationals for the first time since 2021 and makes her debut their in an individual event. 2023 marks Seymour’s third-consecutive trip to the outdoor championship meet.

Adaobi Tabugbo, Jaslyn Gardner, Dolita Shaw and Marianne Barber doubly etched their place in BYU history with their performance in the women’s 4x100m quarterfinals. The quartet clocked a school-record time of 43.84, good for fourth in their heat, 10th overall and the program’s first-ever 4x100m national entry.

Saturday marked the second women’s 4x100m school-record breaking performance this season. Tabugbo, Gardner, Barber and Emma Johnson previously broke it at the Desert Heat Classic on April 29 with a 44.57 finish.

The Cougars faced a loaded heat featuring No. 5 USC, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 17 Cal and No. 25 Iowa. Shaw and Barber came on strong down the final 200 meters with Barber bursting ahead of Iowa’s anchor to take the heat’s fourth spot from the Hawkeyes as well as finish ahead of squads from Minnesota, Oklahoma and UCLA in the overall results.

“We’ve worked really hard this season and I knew we had it in us to run that fast and go to nationals,” Gardner said. “Today we put the pieces together and got it done.”

Just an hour after sparking the 4x100m squad to national qualifying, Tabugbo again took to the track in the 100-meter hurdles quarterfinal. While unable to advance to Austin, the senior from Laurel, Maryland posted a second personal-best in three days, running 13.29 to further secure her No. 5 all-time spot at BYU.

BYU posted a nation-leading six women’s steeplechase regional entries with Lexy Halladay-Lowry, Sadie Sargent, Allie Warner, Lizzie Dildine, Madi Moffitt and Destiny Everett each competing in the distance event on Saturday.

Halladay-Lowry backed-up her No. 6 national ranking with a national-qualifying finish of 9:46.02. The junior from Boise, Idaho came out of the gun aggressively in the third heat alongside Greta Karinauskaite of Cal Baptist and Arkansas’ runners Laura Taborda and Gracie Hyde. The foursome pulled ahead of the pack and stayed there with Halladay-Lowry finishing comfortably in second after the Lancers’ Karinauskaite. Halladay-Lowry took seventh overall and now makes her second nationals’ appearance in as many seasons.

Despite finishing one spot outside of qualifying, Sargent ran a personal-best 9:57.11 and jumped to No. 8 all-time at BYU.

Cierra Tidwell Allphin opened Saturday’s jumping easily clearing 1.72-meters/5-7.75 before clearing 1.77m/5-9.75 and 1.82m/5-11.5 on her second attempts. Despite going out at 1.85m/6-0.75, Tidwell Allphin jumped sufficient to tie for ninth and qualify for her third-career nationals’ appearance.

“Cierra didn’t have a great jumping day but the west region sure is strong and that last jump of the day was her best,” said BYU jumps coach Mark Robison. “We have to get some more reps in and have a good week of training before nationals.”

Those successes were in addition to what the Cougars achieved on Friday.

Aubrey Frentheway plotted a course to national qualifying early on in the 10,000-meters as she stormed ahead into the lead pack and stayed there to the end, finishing fourth. At 32:28.85, Frentheway broke her own school record and reached her second consecutive outdoor nationals. The senior from Cheyenne, Wyoming previously broke Carey May’s 39-year-old school record with a time of 32:34.08 at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 13.

“After watching the men’s 10,000 last night (Thursday), we had a feeling that it was going to go hard from the gun,” said BYU women’s distance coach Diljeet Taylor. “Aubrey was prepared for that, it’s her style of racing. I’m really happy that she could end her last regional qualifier in that fashion.”

After two attempts, javelin thrower Ashton Riner-Lunt stood on the edge of qualifying position with a long throw of 53.43-meters/175-3.

“Today started off a little scary but I listened to my coaches and teammates and they told me to attack,” Riner-Lunt said. “I had to believe in myself and have good self-talk to get into gear.”

The defending national champion then summoned her best toss of the day when it mattered most. Riner-Lunt threw a season-best 55.57m/182-3 on her third and final attempt of the meet, qualifying her for a third-career trip to nationals.

The senior from Connell, Washington sent the javelin farther than six of the nation’s top-10 throwers, including nearly a foot farther than national-leader Rhema Otabor of Nebraska. Riner-Lunt also threw nearly 14 feet farther than cross-town rival Kelsi Oldroyd of Utah Valley. Oldroyd had beaten Riner-Lunt by eight feet at the Robison Invitational on April 22.

“Even though she really hasn’t hit too many big throws this year, she is probably one of the most consistent throwers in the west and it showed today,” said BYU throws coach Nik Arrhenius. “This is the deepest national qualifying round ever and everyone had to be on the top of their game.”

BYU men’s track sends eight athletes to nationals

The Cougars had accrued four additional entries for NCAA Nationals on Saturday to finalize a total of eight entries qualified at this week’s NCAA West Preliminaries.

Kenneth Rooks clinched his spot for a shot at the national title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after running 8:25.06 to win his heat. The two-time All-American maintained a lead in the latter half to edge out conference champions from the Big Ten (Matthew Wilkinson, Minnesota) and Big 12 (Victor Shitsama, Oklahoma State).

“I felt relaxed,” Rooks said. “It felt like a good race and I felt in control. I didn’t give it everything I had and had a lot left. That’s probably the easiest 8:25.00 I’ve ever run, so it feels good.”

The national qualifying time caps a historic May for Rooks, including an 8:17.62 run at the Sound Running Track Fest on May 6 that is now third in NCAA history. Rooks has since been named to the prestigious Bowerman Watch List on May 17 and was awarded USTFCCCA Men’s National Athlete of the Week May 9.

“Kenneth looked smooth in his heat win and pulled away solidly when it counted,” said BYU director of track and field Ed Eyestone.

Dallin Shurts is headed to nationals for the second time in the discus after a crucial heave of 58.20m/190-11 on his third and final attempt. The senior found himself just outside of qualifying position before leaving no doubt with the last throw to move him into eighth place. Entering regionals at No. 8 nationally, Shurts placed ahead of qualifiers from three Big 12 schools, including Kansas’ No. 4 Dimitrios Pavlidis.

Aside from his own 2021 nationals appearance in the discus throw, Shurts is the first Cougar to compete in the discus at nationals since Leif Arrhenius (2011) and third for the program since 1992. Among those three is Shurts’ coach and former olympian Nik Arrhenius.

“Dallin came in clutch there on that last one,” said BYU throws coach Nik Arrhenius. “He has a whole lot left in him. He could have thrown a lot farther today, but was just a little bit off technically. Going to the big show is never easy, there’s a lot of studs in every competition that never make it. I’m happy he did it.”

The men’s 4×400-meter relay squad of Eli Hazlett, Jace Jensen, Landon Maxfield and Josh Taylor is nationals-bound with a No. 3 all-time showing at BYU (3:06.16) to place ninth. The accomplishment comes on the heels of their all-time school record of 3:03.19 at the end of March. This year’s Cougar 4×400-meter iteration is the sixth squad to reach NCAA nationals since 2010.

“Great performance by the guys,” said BYU sprints coach Kyle Grossarth. “Each one gave a great effort and I’m so happy for all of them. They have all worked so hard this season.”

Casey Clinger’s 13:36.27 performance in the 5,000-meters punched his ticket to nationals for the third consecutive season. Clinger – the BYU school record-holder for the event – placed eighth, just behind Nico Young of Northern Arizona.

“It was a good night,” Clinger said. “The race went out pretty fast, it wasn’t a jog-fest, it kind of just gradually picked up as the race went on. Nico Young did a push with 800 meters to go and the race broke open after that. With a lap to go, we knew that we were good as long as we held that position, so it felt like I had a good finish and I came out with a qualifier. I’m super stoked.”

The senior will look to earn his first outdoor First Team All-American honors.

“We had great expectations for Kenneth [Rooks] and Casey and they delivered,” Eyestone said. “It’s tough doubling back from a hard 10,000-meters, but Casey got up in the front two positions in the 5000-meters and never relented.”

Kemboi shines for UVU

Two days after winning the 10k at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds, Utah Valley’s Everlyn Kemboi backed that up with a win in the 5,000-meter semifinals at Hornet Stadium on Saturday evening. Kemboi becomes the first Wolverine woman to qualify for multiple events at the NCAA Championships, which will be held June 7-10 at the University of Texas in Austin.

“She’s an amazing runner and has a shot to go on a do some great things in two weeks,” said UVU head coach Scott Houle. “She’s proven to be one of the top distance runners in the history of the NCAA. I’m proud of her efforts and what she’s done for us and am looking forward to seeing what she can do in Austin.”

Kemboi ran in the second of two heats and finished the race with a time of 15:30.25, edging a pair of University of Utah runners who finished first and second in heat No. 1. The women’s 5,000 at the NCAA Championships will be contested on Saturday, June 10 at 9:55 p.m. CT. Kemboi will also compete on Thursday, June 8 at 10:08 p.m. CT in the 10,000-meter final after running the fastest time in NCAA first-round history (32:05.56) on Thursday night.

Kemboi and the Cougars now look to close the season in style at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas June 7-10.

Courtesy UVU marketing

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