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Can The BYU Women Win NCAAs? The Cougars Know One Thing For Sure: They're Prepared
Meghan Hunter (right) hungs Tessa Busswell (left) as the BYU teammates look on after competing in ... More the women's 800 meters at the NCAA First Round in College Station.
If there was one constant in College Station, Texas, on Saturday during the NCAA women's Track and Field First Round, it was the navy blue of the Brigham Young University women.
On and on the routine went, the Cougars crossing the line with nearly two handfuls of national qualifiers, from the 400 meters to the 800, 1,500, 3,000 meter steeplechase, 5,000, discus and shot put.
The Cougars did well enough, in fact, that it made you wonder just what kind of performance is in store for the program at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships from June 11-14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
'The goal was to get as many women through as possible,' said Lexy Halladay-Lowry, the team's star steeplechaser who is ranked third-best in the NCAA at the discipline over the 2025 season. 'We've [did]
This is a team largely known for its exceptionalism on grass during the fall. With national cross country titles in 2024 in Wisconsin, another in 2020 and two more second-place finishes in 2021 and 2019, the Cougars have been among collegiate's elite for five years running.
Located in Provo, Utah, at just the right elevation to receive all the natural benefits of endurance training, the women's team has also flourished under head coach Diljeet Taylor, who's BYU's associate director of women's track and field and cross country and in February, supplementing her work with the Cougars, became a professional coach with Nike.
Unsurprisingly, she was hired just four years before her first national title on grass – enough time, perhaps, to build a roster with her own recruits.
BYU women's director of track and field and cross country Diljeet Taylor celebrates with Carlee ... More Hansen, who punched a ticket to the NCAA Championships in the 1,500 meters on Saturday at the NCAA First Round in College Station.
But the national outdoor track and field championships are a tougher arrow to nail on target, with various disciplines all funneling into the total score. The BYU women were ninth in the team standings in 2022 and 10th in 2021, but that's the closest the program has gotten over the last five years.
A year ago, it took 63 points to win the women's team title, with Arkansas earning top honors after scoring first, second, third and fourth in the 400 meters and first in the 4x400. Over those two events alone, the Razorbacks scored 29 points, totaling 46-percent of their overall scoring. In 2011, the Texas A&M women snatched victory with the lowest-tally in championship history at 49.
At NCAAs, the Cougars will have nine athletes, including seven in distance events. That's the most Taylor has ever had on the starting line at nationals.
'We have to make the finals first,' Taylor said of the preliminary heats, when fields are whittled down to the top nine performers. 'That's my focus as a coach. Going into the championships, we're not focused on the outcome from a team standpoint, but having individuals take care of what they want to accomplish.'
NCAA Outdoors has been dominated by SEC schools and Power Four programs for as long as the competition has been afforded to women–the championships, in fact, were instituted in 1982, which is ironic, perhaps, because that year the meet was held in Provo.
Performing across the board, then, has been more difficult to master for programs with more direct links to distance success.
Ultimately, the Cougars may have to be perfect to secure a historic result.
'The preparation is there. The confidence is there. They are racing prepared and confident. Now they need the opportunity. That's the starting line in Eugene.'
Riley Chamberlain competes in the women's 1,500 meters at the NCAA First Round in College Station.
On paper, however, the women of BYU are comprised of some of the NCAA's top talent, such as Halladay-Lowry, in her final year with the program. Tessa Busswell (800m), Riley Chamberlain (1,500m), Carlee Hansen (1,500m), Meghan Hunter (800m) Gretchen Hoekstre (shot put, discus), Jenna Hutchins (5K), Taylor Lovell (3K steeple) and Sami Oblad (400m) are also qualified.
'These women, their why makes their how easy,' Taylor said. 'They are really purposeful and intentional on doing things the right way. When you have women who have bought-in and have adopted the leadership of the coach, it makes these things possible. It makes the hard possible.'
Having first arrived with the program in 2020, the 23-year-old Halladay-Lowry has certified herself as one of the best in school history, with school records in the indoor 3,000, and the indoor and outdoor 5,000 meters. She opted out of last year's outdoor season in order to have a full year of eligibility left for 2024-2025, but that's only made the moment more poignant.
Nationals will represent Halladay-Lowry's last races as a Cougar. That fact may have made her regional performance that much more important in College Station.
'The end goal was to get through,' Halladay-Lowry said. 'And with it being really hot and humid, it's like, we want a full send – but at the same time, we want a controlled full send.'
Halladay-Lowry's teammate Lovell, who was third in her 3,000 meter steeplechase heat, echoed those thoughts.
'The way that we train is just give everything all the time,' she said. 'And so if you just give everything, that's the BYU way. And it's nice to always have my teammates around the track. I can always hear them.'
You can never quite predict how the national outdoor track and field championships will go. But in this sport, certainty is usually less fun.
The only thing BYU can control, Taylor said, is their preparation and readiness on meet day.
'We just finished our last hard workout and I threw every stop watch I had in the air, about three of them in total,' Taylor said. 'The preparation is there. The confidence is there. They are racing prepared and confident. Now they need the opportunity. That's the starting line in Eugene.'
