BYU’s James Corrigan Claims NCAA Steeplechase Title

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By Trent Toone, Church News

BYU’s James Corrigan won the 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday, June 13, at the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon, continuing a Cougar tradition of dominance in the event.

One year after making the United States’ Olympic team in Paris, the 23-year-old junior from Los Angeles, California, gained the lead with less than 200 meters to go, kicking past Louisville’s Geoffrey Kirwa to cross the finish line first with a personal-best time of 8 minutes and 16.41 seconds at Hayward Field.

Corrigan’s victory marked an impressive step forward from his ninth-place finish at the 2024 NCAA championships.

Asked after the race how it feels to be an NCAA champion, Corrigan told reporters, “It feels amazing.”

“Two days ago, I was asked why I chose the NCAA and why I peaked for this meet and not just focus on a long-term world championship,” Corrigan told reporters after the race. “I think there are goals down the line. To win an NCAA championship is special because it shows that you can show up and win on the day. To me, it was a big goal, and I’m just glad that I was able to pull it off.”

Corrigan is the latest in a distinguished line of BYU athletes who have won the NCAA steeplechase: Josh McAdams in 2006, Kyle Perry in 2009 and, more recently, Kenneth Rooks in 2023 and now Corrigan in 2025.

On the women’s side, the Cougars’ Courtney Wayment claimed the title in 2022, while BYU athletes won the first three steeplechases at the NCAA women’s championships — Elizabeth Jackson in 2001, Michaela Mannova in 2002 and Kassi Anderson in 2003.

Rooks and Corrigan finished first and third, respectively, at last summer’s U.S. Olympic trials to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team that competed in Paris. Rooks won the silver medal, delivering one of the biggest surprises of the Olympic track competition.

Corrigan, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who served in the Arizona Tempe Mission, was one of several Latter-day Saints who competed at the NCAA championships.

BYU’s men’s team finished in a tie for 11th place at the NCAA championships with 19 points.

BYU’s women’s team finished 18th with 16 points.

New Record Set — but Runner Up

In the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, BYU’s Lexy Halladay-Lowry set a school record by more than seven seconds — but still came in second place to Alabama’s Doris Lemngole.

Halladay-Lowry, a senior from Meridian, Idaho, recorded a new personal best of 9:08.68.

“I told myself that no matter if I ran a personal best or raced the best I could that I would be happy but still it’s bittersweet,” she said. “On a perfect day, I knew I could run 9:06, and I am really happy with 9:08. That was almost a perfect day for me, so I am happy with my effort.”

In the 800-meter run, BYU’s Meghan Hunter, a senior from Provo, finished third (1:59.03) to secure her third first team All-American honor.

“We got out pretty hot, and I just wanted to go for it, so that is what I did,” Hunter said. “I was feeling that the second lap,” she said. “I started to feel good with 150 meters to go, and I was thinking ‘I am doing this, I am doing this.’ That first lap affected my second lap, but I am proud of how I went for it.”

Sami Oblad, a senior from Stansbury Park, Utah, who served in the California Oakland Mission, became the school’s first first-team All-American sprinter with a seventh-place finish (51.57) in the 400-meter run.

Decathlon

Mississippi State’s Peyton Bair, a junior from Kimberly, Idaho, who served in the Arizona Mesa and Mexico Cancún missions, took home the 2025 NCAA decathlon title.

The first American man to win the event in a decade, Bair’s 8,323 points was the 14th highest in NCAA history, and the 10th highest in NCAA Championship history, according to a Mississippi State news release.

The decathlon consists of 10 track and field events: 100-meter sprint; long jump; shot put; high jump; 400-meter run; 110-meter hurdles; discus; pole vault; javelin throw and 1,500-meter run.

BYU’s Ben Barton, a junior from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, who served in the Nevada Reno and Hungary/Romania missions, finished sixth in the decathlon with 7,777 points. His sixth-place finish is the highest by a Cougar in the decathlon since 2000.

Boise State’s Landon Helms, a junior from Emmett, Idaho, finished ninth overall with a personal-best score of 7,696 points. He was the first Bronco decathlete to compete at nationals in 13 years.

Air Force freshman Brayden Richards, of Perry, Ohio, tallied 7,488 points to finish 18th. He was the first athlete in 14 years to represent Air Force at the NCAA championships, according to a news release. Richards will serve in the California Ventura Mission starting in August.

Barton’s BYU teammate, sophomore Jaden Roskelley, of Arlington, Washington, was 19th, with 7,475 points. Roskelley served a mission in Ecuador.

All-American Team Honors

The BYU 4x400-meter relay team of Eli Hazlett, Jonah Heimuli, Josh Taylor and Trey Jackson set an all-time school record with a time of 3:02.51, good for seventh in the final behind champion South Florida (3:00.42).

The top-10 finish marks the first All-American first-team honor in the relay in BYU history.

Heimuli served in the Mozambique Beira Mission, Taylor in the Mexico Puebla and Texas Lubbock missions and Jackson in the Mexico Querétaro Mission.

Another Cougar, senior Danny Bryant, of Valencia, California, took sixth place in the shot put. Bryant, who served in the New Zealand Auckland Mission, finished his collegiate career as a two-time first-team All-American, having been victorious in 27 shot put competitions.

BYU junior Creed Thompson, of Lehi, Utah, also earned first-team All-American honors by placing eighth in the 10,000 meters in his first appearance at the NCAA outdoor championships.

Also making his first NCAA appearance, Luke Grundvig finished 23rd in the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:54.70. He served in the Philippines Angeles and Washington Spokane missions.

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