This is a golden era for BYU runners, and it shows no signs of slowing. Since putting seven current and former distance runners on the U.S. Olympic track team last summer — the most by any school — and winning the men’s and women’s NCAA cross-country championships in November, BYU has continued to make waves on the running scene.
The men’s and women’s teams have combined to break a whopping 14 school indoor records this winter and have produced athletes who rank among the best in the nation in the collegiate and professional arenas, from 400 meters through 5,000 meters (even long sprinters are getting in on the action).
“We are in a really good place of positive momentum (with) junior and senior athletes rising up,” says BYU director/coach of track and field Ed Eyestone. “That, along with hard work from athletes and coaches, leads to positive results. Whether that is manifested by personal records or school records, we have a good thing going.”
This weekend, the Cougars will travel to Lubbock, Texas, to compete in the Big 12 indoor track and field championships, one of the most challenging collegiate competitions. The meet will pit BYU’s distance and middle-distance runners against the league’s world-class sprinters.
BYU finished second in the women’s team race last year (behind the now-departed Texas) and fourth in the men’s competition. BYU returns this season with a stronger team across the board, with athletes ranking among the top seven in the nation in eight events.
“Our women are very strong and can battle for a top-two spot, and our men are hopeful for a top four or five,” says Eyestone. “We will compete so as to maximize points at the conference meet without hurting those that have national aspirations. If we do that, our women’s team has a real chance of snagging a podium spot at nationals, which is always huge.”
It’s indicative of the Cougars’ overall strength and depth that they excel in the distance medley relay, which is a mix of sprint, middle-distance and distance races. On Saturday, BYU smashed still another school record in the DMR during a meet at Notre Dame. Sophomore Carter Cutting led off with 2:52.4 in the 1,200, senior Josh Taylor covered 400 meters in 44.9, freshman Tyler Mathews finished the 800 in 1:45.9 and senior Lucas Bons covered the final mile in 3:57.2.
Earlier this season, the women’s team won the DMR at a big invitational in Seattle. Senior Carmen Alder, senior Meghan Hunter, freshman Tessa Buswell and junior Riley Chamberlain clocked a time of 10:37.58, the fastest ever by a collegiate team (although it can’t count as a national record because it occurred on an oversize track — 307 meters instead of 200 meters or smaller).
The hits keep coming. Nobody has raised his/her game more than Lexi Lowry, an All-American in the steeplechase outdoors who ranks No. 1 among collegians in the 3,000 and No. 3 in the 5,000. In the latter, she ran the fourth-fastest time ever by a collegian.
Chamberlain produced the fifth-fastest time ever by a collegian in the mile. She finished a close (.29 of a second) to Lowry in the latter’s record run in the 3,000 and ranks No. 2 in the nation this year.
Freshman Tyler Mathews, the Arizona state prep record holder for 800 meters, took down Shaquille Walker’s nine-year-old record at that distance by running 1:46.62 on the oversized track at the University of Washington.
Meghan Hunter, a senior from Provo, ran 2:00.21 in the 800, ranking her No. 3 in the nation and 10th in the world. Stanford’s Olympic finalist, Juliette Whittaker, is No. 1 among collegians at 1:59.44.
BYU is known for its distance-running prowess, but this season, sprinters are asserting themselves. Forced by dramatically reduced roster limits mandated by the NCAA, BYU will cut back its sprinter-hurdler group in the future and will invest largely in the long sprinters and hurdlers (400 meters). Kyle Grossarth, the team’s sprint-hurdle coach, has proven adept at developing those athletes for years.
Sami Oblad, a senior from Stansbury Park whose best time was 56.14 in high school, blazed a time of 51.71 a week ago, the fourth fastest in the nation and No. 19 in the world. Josh Taylor, a senior from Richfield, and Trey Jackson, a senior from Alpine, have run the fastest and second fastest indoor times in school history this season, 45.83 and 46.12.
Besides the 14 school records, four other athletes have produced the second-fastest times in school history — Alder (mile), Chamberlain (3,000 meters), Hunter (400 meters), Jackson (400 meters). Hunter set an indoor school record in the 400 of 53.01 on Feb. 8, only to see teammate Oblad smash it a few days later.
It’s likely the records will continue to fall at this weekend’s Big 12 championships.
BYU indoor school records set this season. National ranking is in parentheses
Women
400 meters
- Meghan Hunter, 53.02 (No. 44)
- Sami Oblad, 51.71 (No. 4)
800 meters
- Meghan Hunter, 2:00.21 (No. 3)
1 mile
- Riley Chamberlain, 4:26.19 (No. 7)
3,000 meters
- Lexi Lowry, 8:40.60 (No. 1)
5,000 meters
- Lexi Lowry, 14:57.63 (No. 3)
Pole vault
- Maren Garnett, 14-7 ¼ (No. 11)
Distance medley relay
- Carmen Alder, Meghan Hunter, Tessa Buswell, Riley Chamberlain, 10:37.58 (No. 1)
Men
400 meters
- Josh Taylor, 45.83* (No. 17)
800 meters
- Tyler Matthews, 1:46.62* (No. 15)
3,000 meters
- Casey Clinger, 7:41.05 (No. 18)
4 x 400 relay
- Trey Jackson, Josh Taylor, Ty Oustrich, Eli Hazlett, 3:04.67 (No. 19)
Distance medley relay
- Carter Cutting, Josh Taylor, Tyler Mathews, Lucas Bons, 9:20.72 (No. 11)
Heptathlon
- Ben Barton, 5,814 (No. 7)