BYU’s Jenna Hutchins, a sophomore from Tennessee, placed sixth in the 10,000-meter run Thursday night at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, earning first-team All-American honors.
Hutchins, a two-time Tennessee Gatorade Athlete of the Year in both track and cross country as a prep athlete, finished with a time of 32:44.05, making her the second fastest in school history. Only Aubrey Frentheway, who set a school record of 32:28.85 in 2023, has run faster. As expected, Thursday’s race was won by collegiate record holder Parker Valby of Florida. She finished with a meet-record time of 31:46.09.
Hutchins’ teammate, Rebekah Erikson, a sophomore from Washington, placed 11th in the pole vault with a clearance of 14 feet, 1 ¼ inches, a half-inch shy of the school record she set earlier this season. The event was won by Rutgers’ Chloe Timberg, who set a collegiate record of 15-5 ½.
In the semifinals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, BYU sophomore Taylor Lovell had the 10th fastest time and advanced to Saturday’s finals. Her time: 9:54.10. Doris Lemngole of Arkansas had the fastest qualifying time, 9:38.69.
BYU’s other entrants failed to advance to the finals.
Sophomore Riley Chamberlain, running in the 1,500-meter semifinals, recorded the fourth fastest time in school history, 4:10.24, yet placed only ninth in her heat and 13th overall. Four women ran under 4:07.
Jaslyn Gardner, a senior running in her final collegiate competition, finished with the 15th fastest time in the semifinals of the 100-meter dash, clocking 11.24. As expected, the competition was extraordinarily fast. Five women broke 11.09.
The University of Utah competed in four semifinal events on the track Thursday and failed to reach the finals. Harley Daniel ran a fast 57.56 in the 400 hurdles, but was 17th overall. Josefine Eriksen broke her own school record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:01.66, but was no better than 11th. Remarkably, seven women ran under 2:01, times that would have won all but two NCAA championships.
Erin Vringer was 21st in the 1,500 semifinals, with a time of 4:16.66.
Utah’s 4 x 400 relay team of Ally Gomm, Eriksen, Daniel and Bailey Kealamakia finished with a time of 3:34.50 to place 19th overall.
The finals of the four-day NCAA championships will be held Friday for the men and Saturday for the women.