Courtesy BYU Athletics

BYU’s James Corrigan was named the Mountain Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Friday.

The junior becomes the third Cougar to win the award joining Conner Mantz (2021) and Miles Batty (2011) after leading BYU to an 11th place finish at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

After finishing ninth and missing out on the podium in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2024, Corrigan proved that his run to the Olympics last summer was no fluke en route to winning the steeplechase title a week ago at Hayward Field. He used a strong final 400-meters to run down Louisville’s Geoffrey Kirwa to win the Cougars fifth steeplechase title in the fastest winning time in 47 years, 8:16.41.

He was the high point scorer at the Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships after winning the steeplechase and 5,000-meters in record breaking fashion. He defended his title in the steeplechase breaking his own meet record running 8:22.20. Less than 24 hours later, Corrigan won the 5,000-meters in another meet record in 13:25.46 moving him up to third on BYU’s all-time performer list.

Along with the other regional winners, Corrigan will now advance to consideration for the National Men’s Track Athlete of the Year, which will be announced on June 23.

Track, cross country program earns national recognition

BYU men’s track & field and cross country program finished third in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Program of the Year standings.

The USTFCCCA Program of the Year Standings are calculated by adding up the combined finishes of each program’s cross country, indoor and outdoor track & field placements at the NCAA Championships.

The Cougars won their second-ever national title in cross country with four runners earning All-American honors. They followed that up with a 14th-place finish in indoor track before finishing 11th at the outdoor championships where James Corrigan became the fifth runner in program history to win a national title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Arkansas was first on the strength of third place finishes in cross country and outdoor track. Oklahoma State, fifth in indoor track and eighth in cross country, was third.

Under Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ed Eyestone, BYU has now finished in the Top 3 four times since 2018-19 including being named the John McDonnell Division I Men’s Program of the Year in 2022-23.

Creed Thompson was one of six runners in the country to earn All-Americans honors in cross country and First Team accolades in indoor and outdoor track & field.