Three Cougars earn first team All-American honors at NCAA meet
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- BYU’s Lexi Halladay-Lowry finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
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- BYU’s Meghan Hunter (center) finished third in the 800 meters at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
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- BYU’s Lexi Halladay-Lowry finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday, June 14, 2025.
Lexy Halladay-Lowry, Meghan Hunter and Sami Oblad each earned first team All-America honors Saturday evening to close out the final day of the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
Halladay-Lowry earned her sixth First Team All-America honor with a runner-up finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase, capping a record-breaking evening in Eugene. The senior from Meridian, Idaho shattered Courtney Wayment’s school record of 9:16.00 by nearly eight seconds, clocking a massive personal best of 9:08.68–improving her previous mark of 9:18.05 set at the Payton Jordan Invitational on April 25.
“I told myself that no matter if I ran a personal best or raced the best I could that I would be happy but still it’s bittersweet,” Holladay-Lowry said. “On a perfect day, I knew I could run 9:06 and I am really happy with 9:08. That was almost a perfect day for me, so I am happy with my effort.”
Halladay-Lowry’s time ranks second in NCAA history, behind only Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, who set a new collegiate record of 8:58.15 in the same race. The performance also makes Halladay-Lowry the seventh-fastest American ever.
Meghan Hunter closed out her collegiate career with a third-place finish in the 800m final, running 1:59.03 for the fourth sub-two-minute performance of her career. The finish also secured her third First Team All-America honor in the event.
“We got out pretty hot and I just wanted to go for it so that is what I did,” Hunter said. “I was feeling that the second lap but I was still right by Michaela Rose. I started to feel good with 150-meters to go and I was thinking ‘I am doing this, I am doing this’. That first lap affected my second lap but I am proud of how I went for it.”
The Provo, Utah native leaves BYU as the fourth-fastest 800m runner in NCAA history and the program record-holder in both the indoor (2:00.21) and outdoor (1:58.95) 800m.
Oblad capped off her collegiate career with a seventh-place finish in the 400m final, clocking 51.57 to earn First Team All-America honors. With the performance, Oblad becomes the first woman in BYU history to earn First Team All-America recognition in a flat sprint event (100m, 200m, 400m).
“Our plan was to get out like I have been in the past few races and then fight into that last home stretch,” Oblad said. “Then see what I had left. I felt like I did that the best that I could. I feel like I gave a little fight the last little bit to secure that spot. I was happy that I was able to do that.”
The senior from Stansbury Park, Utah finishes her BYU career as a three-time First Team All-American–including back-to-back honors in the distance medley relay (2024, 2025)–and as the program’s school record-holder in both the indoor 400m (51.70) and outdoor 400m (50.49).
Sophomore Taylor Lovell finished ninth in the 3000m steeplechase final with a time of 9:39.43–the second-fastest of her career. She also placed ninth at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships and has now earned Second Team All-America honors in back-to-back seasons. Lovell finishes her second collegiate season ranked No. 3 all-time at BYU with her personal-best mark of 9:37.97, set during Thursday’s semifinal.
Junior Jenna Hutchins placed 11th in the 5000m with a time of 15:40.87 to earn Second Team All-America honors. The Johnson City, Tennessee native capped her 2025 season as a national champion and First Team All-American in the distance medley relay, and ends her junior year ranked No. 3 all-time at BYU in the 5000m with a personal-best 15:16.95 set at the Stanford Invitational on April 4.
Gretchen Hoekstre wrapped up her collegiate career Saturday with a 22nd-place finish in the discus, recording a mark of 50.46m/165-7 on her second attempt to earn Honorable Mention All-America honors. It marks her second Honorable Mention nod of the weekend, following a 24th-place finish in the shot put.
The senior from Seaside, Oregon leaves BYU as the school record holder in the discus with a lifetime-best throw of 57.04m/187-2 at the 2024 NCAA West Preliminary Round, and ranks No. 2 all-time in the shot put at 17.46m/57-3.5 from the 2025 Big 12 outdoor championships.
