BYU Track and Field Squad Secures Ten Spots for NCAA National Championships

Brigham Young University athletes have secured ten qualification spots for the NCAA Division I Track & Field national championships, following a decisive performance at the West Preliminaries in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The qualifiers will now prepare to compete at the national finals, scheduled to take place from June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. This marks the 17th time the national championships will be held in the state of Oregon.

The final day of the prelims saw significant success in the distance events, headlined by freshman Jane Hedengren. Having already qualified for the 10,000 metres final after winning that event on Thursday, Hedengren competed in the 5,000 metres on Saturday night. She won her heat with a time of 15 minutes, 17.93 seconds but finished third overall behind Iowa State’s Betty Kipkore and New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei. Kipkore’s winning time of 15:14.28 broke the facility record previously held by Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat.

In the women’s 3,000 metre steeplechase, BYU’s Taylor Lovell delivered the state’s strongest showing by placing first with a time of 9:38.36. Fellow BYU junior Raygan Dimond also advanced, finishing fourth with a time of 10:03.02. Lovell and Dimond will join Hedengren in Eugene, alongside a group of mid-distance runners including Carlee Hansen, Tessa Buswell, Kristie Solomon, and Carmen Alder.

Hansen and Alder both qualified in the 1,500 metres, finishing eighth and ninth respectively with times of 4:09.46 and 4:09.77. In the 800 metres, Buswell and Solomon advanced to the national semifinals, placing 10th and 12th with times of 2:02.02 and 2:02.21. Sprinter Paje Rasmussen secured her spot in both the 100 and 200 metres, finishing 12th in each event.

Discus thrower Kaiah Fisher also punched her ticket to nationals with an 11th-place finish, recording a throw of 54.67 metres. While the meet was delayed due to lightning and the women’s 4x400 relay was not contested by the time of reporting, the ten qualifiers represent a substantial contingent for BYU as they head to the national stage.