June 16th, 2025, 11:00am MDT
James Corrigan of BYU continued his cougar tradition at the event, winning the 3,000-meter obstacle race at the NCAA Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Friday, June 13th.
A year after creating the US Olympic team in Paris, the 23-year-old junior from Los Angeles, California, took the lead in under 200 metres, passing Jeffrey Kilwa in Louisville and crossed the finish line with an eight-minute personal time and a 16.41-second personal best time at Hayward Field.
Corrigan’s victory marked an impressive step from his ninth place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championship.
Asked how he felt after the race to become an NCAA champion, Corrigan told reporters, “I feel it’s great.”
“Two days ago I was asked why I chose the NCAA and why I didn’t peak at this tournament and focus on the long-term world championships,” Corrigan told reporters after the race. “I think there’s a goal on the line. Winning an NCAA Championship is special because it shows you can show up that day and win. It was a big goal for me.
Corrigan is the latest in the prominent line of BYU athletes who won the NCAA obstacle course. Josh McAdams in 2006, Kyle Perry in 2009, and most recently Kenneth Rooks in 2023, and now Corrigan in 2025.
On the women’s side, the Cougars Courtney Wayment won the title in 2022, with the BYU athletes winning the first three children with disabilities at the NCAA Women’s Championships, Elizabeth Jackson in 2001, Michaela Mannova in 2002 and Cassia Anderson in 2003.
Lukes and Corrigan finished first and third in the US Olympic trials last summer, respectively, and competed in the US Olympic teams they competed in Paris. Lukes won a silver medal and offered 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 on the Arizona Tempe Mission, was one of the Latter-day Saints who competed in the NCAA Championship.
BYU’s men’s team came in 11th place in the NCAA Championship with 19 points.
BYU’s women’s team finished 18th with 16 points.
New Record Set – But Runner-up
In the girls’ 3,000 metre obstacle race, BYU’s Lexy Halladay-Lowry set a school record for more than seven seconds, but still placed second in Alabama’s Doris Lemngole.
Senior Halladay Laurie from Meridian, Idaho, recorded his new personal best at 9:08.68.
“I told myself that I was running my personal best or that I would be happy, even if I competed as much as I could, it was still bittersweet,” she said. “I knew on a perfect day I could run 9:06. I’m really happy with 9:08. It was an almost perfect day for me, so I’m happy with my efforts.”
On the 800-meter run, Provo senior BYU’s Meghan Hunter finished third place (1:59.03) to secure his third first team All-American Honor.
“We got pretty hot and I wanted to go for it, so that’s what I did,” Hunter said. “I felt it was the second round,” she said. “I started to feel better at 150 meters. I was like, ‘I’m doing this, I’m doing this.’ That first lap had an impact on my second lap, but I’m proud of how I went for it. ”
Sami Oblad, a senior at Stansbury Park, Utah, worked for the Oakland Mission in California, and became the first team’s first team national sprinter with a seventh place finish (51.57) on the 400 metres.
decathlon
Mississippi’s junior, Kimberly, Idaho, Payton Bear, worked for Arizona Mesa and the Cancun Mission in Mexico, winning the 2025 NCAA Decathlon title.
According to a news release from Mississippi, Bear, the American to win the event for the first time in a decade, has 8,323 points, the 14th highest in NCAA history and the 10th highest in NCAA Championship history.
Decathlon consists of 10 track and field events. 100 meters sprint. Long jumps; Shot puts; High jumps; 400 meters of driving; 110 meters of hurdles; discus throws; pole vaults; javelin throws and 1,500 meters of driving.
BYU’s Benburton, a junior from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, worked for missions in Reno, Nevada and Hungary/Romania, finishing sixth with 7,777 points for Decathlon. His sixth place finish is the best since 2000 by a Decathlon cougar.
Boise’s junior, Emmett, Idaho, Landon Helms finished ninth overall with a personal best score of 7,696 points. He was the first Bronco demon to compete in the Nationals in 13 years.
Air Force freshman Braden Richards from Perry, Ohio, finished 18th with a tally of 7,488 points. According to a news release, he was the first athlete in 14 years to represent the Air Force at the NCAA Championship. Richards will be working at the California Ventura Mission from August.
Sophomore Jaden Roskelley, a BYU teammate from Burton in Arlington, Washington, was 19th with 7,475 points. Roskelly served on the mission in Ecuador.
National Team Honor
The BYU 4×400 metre relay team of Eli Hazlett, Jonah Heimuli, Josh Taylor and Trey Jackson set the highest school record ever in the 3:02.51 hour.
The top 10 finish marks the honor of the first national team in the BYU history relay.
Heimli worked for Jackson on the Mozambique Beira Mission, Taylor in Mexico’s Puebla, the Texas Laboc Mission and the Queretaro Mission in Mexico.
Another cougar, senior Danny Bryant from Valencia, California, came in sixth in the shot put. Bryant, who served on the Auckland Mission in New Zealand, finished his college career as the US for two first teams to win 27 shot put competitions.
BYU Junior Creed Thompson of Lehigh, Utah, also made his first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, finishing eighth in the 10,000 meters, earning the first team national honors.
Also brought his first NCAA appearance, Luke Glanvig finished 23rd in the 5,000m in the hour of 13:54.70. He served in the Spokane Mission in Washington with Angels in the Philippines.
