What Some Latter-day Saint Athletes Have Accomplished Since October 2023 General Conference

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By Trent Toone, Church News

Waving flags and signs, members of the BYU track and field team and fans gathered at the Salt Lake International Airport to celebrate and welcome home Kenneth Rooks on August 26.

Rooks, who won the silver medal in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was pleasantly surprised.

“Yeah, I was not expecting it,” he told KSL-TV, “but it was an awesome surprise to come home and have the welcome home with the men’s and women’s team and everyone else.”

The smiling Rooks walked through the airport door with his arm in a sling. After the Olympics, Rooks competed in a Diamond League meet in Silesia, Poland. During the race, he tripped and fell over a barrier, landing hard on his right shoulder. He finished in 16th place, holding his arm, and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital.

“I fell with three laps to go,” Rooks told the Deseret News. “I somehow lost focus and hit my lead leg and fell with all my weight on my right shoulder. It was a solid hit, and it took me a bit to get up. I was a bit disoriented for a moment because of how it hurt. I still got up and finished, but didn’t swing my right arm because it hurt the rest of the time.”

Rooks’ recovery is expected to take six to eight weeks. In the meantime, he planned to return to BYU for the last year of his civil engineering degree.

Rooks is one of several athletic members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have made headlines in the last year. Here is a look back at some of those notable accomplishments.

Basketball

In NBA basketball, Sam Merrill played in 61 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2023-24 NBA regular season, where he averaged 8.0 points and 2.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40.4% from the 3-point line.

Merrill, who served in the Nicaragua Managua South Mission, also played in 10 postseason games with the Cavs, who lost in the second round of the playoffs to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics.

The former Utah State University star shined in his return to Utah in April. He scored 18 points in 32 minutes of action as the Cavaliers defeated the Utah Jazz, 129-113.

Also last April, Brigham Young University introduced Kevin Young as its new head basketball coach.

Since then, the former NBA assistant coach has assembled a mostly new team and staff in preparation for the upcoming season, Deseret News reported.

Young is excited for his opportunity to coach basketball at BYU.

“The thing that really moved the needle for me and my wife was the environment that we’re going to be in here at BYU. What this university stands for, what the mission of this university is. I’m a lifelong member of the Church and so to be able to do what I love at the highest level from a career standpoint and blend that with my faith, and being able to with my wife and my little ones, that’s why we came here,” he said at his introductory press conference last April.

Football

A host of Latter-day Saints are playing or coaching National Football League and college football this fall.

The following players made NFL rosters to begin the 2024 season:

• Zayne Anderson, Green Bay Packers, safety, BYU.
• Garett Bolles, Denver Broncos, OL, University of Utah, served as a missionary in Colorado. Bolles was nominated for the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 2023.
• Brady Christensen, Carolina Panthers, OL, BYU, served in Hamilton, New Zealand.
• Britain Covey, Philadelphia Eagles, WR/RS, Utah, served in Rancagua, Chile.
• Breiden Fehoko, Pittsburgh Steelers, DL, Louisiana State University.
• Simi Fehoko, Los Angeles Chargers, WR, Stanford, served in South Korea.
• Matt Gay, Indianapolis Colts, K, Utah, served in Houston, Texas.
• Alohi Gilman, Los Angeles Chargers, S, Notre Dame.
• Taysom Hill, New Orleans Saints, QB/TE, BYU, served in Sydney, Australia.

• Dallin Holker, New Orleans Saints, TE, Colorado State, served in Vina del Mar, Chile.
• Tanner McKee, Philadelphia Eagles, QB, Stanford, served in the Brazil Curitiba South Mission.
• Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams, WR, BYU.
• Ryan Rehkow, Cincinnati Bengals, P, BYU, served in London, England.
• Noah Sewell, Chicago Bears, LB, Oregon.
• Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions, OT, Oregon.
• Kingsley Suamataia, Kansas City Chiefs, OL, BYU.
• Khyiris Tonga, Arizona Cardinals, DL, BYU, served in Wichita, Kansas.
• Sione Vaki, Detroit Lions, RB, Utah, served in the Tonga Nuku’alofa Mission and the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission.

• Kyle Van Noy, Baltimore Ravens, LB, BYU.
• Devaughn Vele, Denver Broncos, WR, Utah, served in Samoa.
• Fred Warner, San Francisco 49ers, LB, BYU.
• Zach Wilson, Denver Broncos, QB, BYU.

Signed to the practice squad:

• Jaren Hall, Seattle Seahawks, QB, BYU, served in Roseville, California.
• Cole Fotheringham, Houston Texans, TE, Utah, served in Nicaragua.
• Max Tooley, Houston Texans, LB, BYU, served in London, England.

Philadelphia teammates Covey and McKee took part in the NFL’s first-ever game in South America, between the Eagles and the Green Bay Packers in São Paulo, Brazil, on Sept. 6. The Eagles won, 34-29.

After leading Kansas City to a third Super Bowl victory last season, Andy Reid is heading into his 12th season as head coach of the Chiefs.

Another Latter-day Saint, Kellen Moore is the new offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles.

In college football, Ken Niumatalolo, a former stake president and the U.S. Naval Academy’s winningest head coach, made his debut as head coach at San Jose State University.

Former BYU and University of Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall also assumed a new role, as head coach at University of New Mexico.

Off the field, Gatlin Bair, a five-star recruit — the highest-rated in Idaho history — before serving in the Texas Dallas West Mission committed to play for the University of Oregon.

Hockey

In June, Latter-day Saint center/wing Derek Ryan and the Edmonton Oilers trailed the Florida Panthers 3-0 in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals best-of-seven series before roaring back with three straight wins to force a Game 7.

The Oilers then fell short in the decisive game to the Panthers, 2-1.

Through the Oilers’ 25-game playoff run, the 37-year-old Ryan played in 19 games, averaged eight minutes and 33 seconds of ice time per game, had one point on one assist, and had 11 shots on net. The 2023-24 season was his ninth NHL season.

2024 Paris Olympics

In addition to Rooks’ silver medal in the steeplechase, three other Latter-day Saints earned medals. Here’s how more than a dozen athletes connected to the Church performed in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Ponipate “Poni” Loganimasi, a 26-year-old returned missionary, was part of Fiji’s rugby sevens team that won the silver medal.

Stephanie “Steph” Rovetti, 32, was part of USA’s historic bronze-medal-winning rugby sevens team. Rovetti played in every match and was a starter against Brazil, France and New Zealand.

Bradley Nkoana, 19, of South Africa, won silver as part of the men’s 4-by-100-meter relay team.

Team USA’s men’s rugby sevens team included 32-year-old Make Unufe of Provo, Utah. The team was eighth overall. The U.S. men’s soccer team, including forward Taylor Booth, 23, of Eden, Utah, finished eighth overall of the 16 teams. Booth played in each of the games.

In the marathon, USA’s Conner Mantz and Clayton Young were eighth and ninth in the 26.2-mile race that took them through Paris to Versailles and back. Mantz and Young are former BYU runners and training partners living in Provo, Utah. Mantz, of Logan, Utah, served in the Ghana Accra West Mission. Young, a California native, served Spanish-speaking in the North Carolina Raleigh Mission.

USA’s Courtney Wayment, a former BYU star from Kaysville, Utah, was 12th in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final with a time of 9 minutes, 13.60 seconds. USA’s Whittni Morgan was overall 14th of the 16 runners in the 5,000-meter final after recovering from knee surgery less than a year earlier. The former BYU runner had a personal best time of 14 minutes, 53.57 seconds.

In the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, USA’s James Corrigan was 10th in his preliminary heat, with a time of 8:36.67. The 22-year-old BYU sophomore from Los Angeles, California, served a mission in Tempe, Arizona. In the men’s 800-meter race, Australia’s Peter Bol finished 18th in the field of 32 runners across all five heats.

Jimmer Fredette, 35, was a member of USA’s 3x3 basketball team, which finished seventh overall. The former BYU basketball star was injured during the team’s second pool game against Poland and wasn’t able to play in the team’s remaining five games.

Church News Meet Latter-day Saints Competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics

2024 Paralympics

Four Latter-day Saints claimed medals in the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.

Paul Schulte, 45, who serves as bishopric second counselor in the University Park Ward of the Sarasota Florida Stake, was part of Team USA’s wheelchair basketball team that defeated Great Britain to win the gold medal.

USA’s wheelchair rugby team, including 44-year-old Josh Wheeler, won silver in the final against Japan.

USA’s David Blair won bronze medal in the men’s discus T64 (for lower limb impairments) with a throw of 57.76 meters.

New Zealand’s Peter Cowan won bronze in the competitive men’s va’a single 200-meter VL3 race, with a time of 48.28 seconds, less than a second behind the gold-medal winner.

Also, competing were archer Eric Bennett, 50, of the United States, who was in his history-making fifth Paralympic Games.

Swimmer Tupou Neiufi, 23, of of New Zealand in her third Paralympics, was ninth in the women’s 100-meter backstroke S8 (for physical impairments) and was 10th overall in the 50-meter freestyle heats S8 (for physical impairments).

Swimmer Alejandra Aybar of the Dominican Republic raced in three events in her second Games: 200-meter individual medley SM7 (for physical impairments), coming in 11th; eighth in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke SB6 (for physical impairments); and was 15th in the 50-meter butterfly S7 (for physical impairments).

Paris was the first Paralympics for sprinter and long jumper Lindi Marcusen of Spokane, Washington, she was sixth in the women’s 100-meter T63 final with a time of 15.11 seconds and was eighth overall in women’s long jump T63.

Church News Meet the Latter-day Saints Competing in the 2024 Paris Paralympics

Rodeo

In December, Latter-day Saint Kade Madsen, of Honeyville, Utah, stepped away from professional bull riding to serve a mission in Nashville, Tennessee.

His brother, Briggs Madsen, who served a mission in South Carolina, rides bulls for the Missouri Thunder of the Professional Bull Riders League.

Soccer

The BYU women’s soccer team had a memorable season in 2023. The Cougars reached the semifinals of the NCAA women’s soccer tournament, defeated a No. 1-ranked opponent, became No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches rankings, and captured headlines with a stunning, come-from-behind 4-3 victory over North Carolina in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, among other accomplishments. The roster featured 10 returned missionaries, and following the season, five BYU women’s soccer players were selected in the National Women’s Soccer League draft, the most BYU soccer players drafted in a single season.

Professionally, 18-year-old Latter-day Saint Olivia Moultrie continues to distinguish herself by playing for the Portland Thorns of the National Women’s Soccer League. She has also been playing for the U.S. Women’s National Team. Moultrie was named the 2023 U.S. Soccer’s Young Female Player of the Year.

Church News Latter-day Saint Soccer Pro Olivia Moultrie Featured in ESPN Article

Softball

Latter-day Saint Jocelyn Erickson, star catcher and the 2024 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, helped her Florida Gators to a third-place finish at the Women’s College World Series, the highest finish for the program since the team was national runner-up in 2017. Erickson, of Phoenix, Arizona, won an NCAA title as a freshman outfielder with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2023.

Track and Field

Meghan Hunter, a BYU middle-distance runner who came back from a broken neck to become a two-time All-American, was named a Big 12 Conference nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year award and a finalist for the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards’ Honda Inspiration Award.

Daniel Simmons, a two-time national Gatorade Cross-Country Athlete of the Year from American Fork, Utah, who has already garnered a number of awards and accolades, chose to serve a mission in Atlanta, Georgia.

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