Trey Hardee talks Diamond League ‘Athletes’ Lounge’ altcast
Alternate broadcasts have become incredibly popular across various sports, and the latest is The Athletes’ Lounge from FloSports. The Athletes’ Lounge will feature famed Olympians Matthew Centrowitz Jr., Trey Hardee, English Gardner, and others, joined by FloTrack personalities Demitra Carter and Nia Gibson, for 10 Wanda Diamond League track and field broadcasts this year. The first […]
Alternate broadcasts have become incredibly popular across various sports, and the latest is The Athletes’ Lounge from FloSports.
The Athletes’ Lounge will feature famed Olympians Matthew Centrowitz Jr., Trey Hardee, English Gardner, and others, joined by FloTrack personalities Demitra Carter and Nia Gibson, for 10 Wanda Diamond League track and field broadcasts this year. The first one is Friday at 11:15 a.m. ET for the Doha Diamond League event from Qatar.
It’s part of FloTrack’s inaugural slate of Diamond League coverage following a deal they struck for rights last year. The debut show on Friday will be free to all on YouTube and FloTrack’s platforms.
‘You get this rush of adrenaline’
Hardee, a famed American decathlete who won silver at the 2012 London Olympics and has worked on NBC Sports’ track and field coverage, helped create this concept, The Athletes’ Lounge. He spoke to Awful Announcing about it this week and said he envisioned this as a way to bring the excitement of an in-person track meet to viewers.
“The challenge for this product, and I think people have a hard time separating the sport from the product, is that when it’s on TV, it’s a product and it’s consumed and it is a very difficult sport to convert into this TV audience.
“When you’re at a track meet, it is so much fun because there’s always something going on. Your eyes can go just jump from thing to thing to thing. And really about every four to five minutes, you get this rush of adrenaline because there’s like quiet for a race or an event or something of great consequence.”
For Hardee, that excitement doesn’t translate during more conventional track and field broadcasts.
“The most fun that I’ve had watching, whether it be programming on television or any kind of digital media, FloSports or wherever it is, is not even close to the experience that you have when you’re there. You are on-site, in-person, sitting next to your buddies, talking about ‘Oh, look at this, look at that, did you hear about this?’
“And you’re talking about the relevant stories to the athlete, and you’re not caught up in the ‘Oh, we’ll be back in three minutes after this commercial break’ kind of thing. There’s not a bunch of vignettes, and then not a bunch of ‘We’re going to force these stories down your throat so that you love this athlete.’”
‘Mystery Science Theater 3000 with a track meet’
The Athletes’ Lounge has been in the works for a long time. Hardee said he’d been toying with the idea for almost 10 years.
“This story goes back almost a decade. When I first started to work for NBC, [producer] Rob Hyland asked, ‘How could we be doing this differently?’ And that was kind of where I where I was coming from, but it didn’t have legs. It didn’t have a format or anything like that. And then a couple of years went by, and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, okay.’
“I had retired, and was just thinking ‘It would be fantastic to do Mystery Science Theater 3000 with a track meet.’ You could have sports personalities and track and field stars.
“We know what’s going on, we’re watching it on TV, we’re watching the screen, we can see the race unfolding. But keep telling that story that we want to hear about from 2016 in Rio when the cab driver drove you down into the favela. Keep us in with that, and we can all just watch this track meet together.”
But this really fleshed out further for Hardee after he saw altcasts‘ popularity explode following the launch of ESPN and Omaha Productions’ Monday Night Football ManningCast in 2021.
“It wasn’t that long ago that the ManningCast premiered, and it was exactly this kind of long-form podcast,” Hardee said. “We’re all watching this football game, and whenever something cool happens, either Peyton or Eli just interrupts and just says, ‘Hey, you see what they did right there? I hate when they do that.’
“Or ‘That was beautiful. Nobody noticed it, but look at this: I remember my center used to do the same thing,’ or ‘I remember when Edgerrin James used to do this.’ That, to me, not only is it different, but for the athlete, that’s who I want to watch the game with.’ And so that’s where this idea came from.”
‘It’s invaluable to have those types of perspectives.’
What’s that going to look like? Hardee said the format provides opportunities for deeper dives, such as a recent preparatory one he did on star pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis.
“I think we can just afford to be pretty inventive. Just the other day I had a three- or four- minute breakdown of ‘What makes Mondo Duplantis so good?’ On no television show would you have that much time to do that.”
But beyond a feature like that, The Athletes’ Lounge will then feature athletes from different events discussing it and sharing their unique perspectives.
“Then I go and I sit back down and I’m still explaining that same thing to Matt Centrowitz, an Olympic gold medalist in the 1500m, and he’s still saying stuff that everybody’s thinking, stuff that I don’t really think about because I’m in it so much,” Hardee said. “I think they come with a unique ability to ask the right questions.
“It’s the same way I would be talking to a marathoner about their preparation: I think I kind of know how you would build it up, but I really have no idea. And so it’s invaluable to have those types of perspectives in the conversation and as a part of the show, because it kind of keeps us honest and keeps us from being too inside baseball.”
The ManningCast, in particular, is often notable for its guests, and Hardee said that’s another element The Athletes’ Lounge will focus on.
“What I’m really, really excited about is we have just full liberty to invite whoever we want on the show as a guest, whether it’s an American record holder in the women’s discus or the best shot putter who’s ever lived or the fastest man in the world last year or literally anybody. Anyone that wants to come on the show is going to come on the show.
“And we’re going to get to hear about what it was like when they were competing or breaking records, or what they see in the sport, or what they’re seeing in at the meet and so. We’ve got all of the Diamond League events at our disposal, and we’ve got a pretty blank slate in terms of a format to be able to pull people in and just talk to interesting people, talk to people that you want to know more about.”
‘I have at least enough information to be dangerous.’
Hardee said his background as a decathlete has given him at least a base level of knowledge of many events.
“I have at least enough information to be dangerous. I’m not quite at the top of the Dunning-Kruger bell curve. I don’t think I know everything, but I can at least have the conversation with the people who do know. I can understand what it means.”
He thinks that a wide background of knowledge has been key to his track broadcasting career to date.
“It definitely helps, it immensely helps. I think it’s the only reason I kind of got into this to begin with, and probably the only reason I’m still in it is just that baseline knowledge of multiple events.”
Friday’s debut of The Athletes Lounge marks the fruition of Hardee’s idea, which he first had a decade ago. He’s thrilled with how it’s turned out and optimistic about what it could mean as a different approach to track broadcasting.
“I think this is going to be the best show on FloSports, I really do. I think this is going to be the coolest, best, most interesting way to present our sport that is out there. It feels like we got a very rare opportunity to have both just media partners that can that are just handing all of the content, and then a company and platform that is willing to do this. It just feels like all the things are aligning here to do something really special.”
The UCLA track & field team heads to Eugene, Ore. this week to compete in the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships from Wednesday, June 11, to Saturday, June 14. The meet will be hosted by Oregon at Hayward Field. Thirteen Bruin individuals qualified for this week’s competitions, 10 on the women’s side […]
The UCLA track & field team heads to Eugene, Ore. this week to compete in the 2025 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships from Wednesday, June 11, to Saturday, June 14. The meet will be hosted by Oregon at Hayward Field.
Thirteen Bruin individuals qualified for this week’s competitions, 10 on the women’s side and three on the men’s side. An additional three Bruin women qualified as part of 4×100 or 4×400 relay squads. The top-nine finishers from track semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday will advance to finals on Friday and Saturday.
The four-day meet will be available for live viewing each day through a paid subscription to ESPN+, and live results can be followed here.
Women’s Qualifiers
Ka’Leila Abrille – Pole Vault
Katerina Adamiec – Pole Vault
Aly Conyers – 4×400 Relay
Valentina Fakrogha – High Jump
Kaylen Fletcher – 200m, 4×100 Relay
Naomi Johnson – 200m, 4×100 Relay, 4×400 Relay
Sydney Johnson – Long Jump, Heptathlon
Kayla McBride – 4×400 Relay
Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck – 100m Hurdles, 4×100 Relay
Celeste Polzonetti – 100m Hurdles
Taylor Snaer – 200m, 4×100 Relay, 4×400 Relay
Jana van Schalkwyk – Javelin
Marie Warneke – 800m
Men’s Qualifiers
Gabriel Clement II – 400m
Tamaal Myers II – 400m Hurdles
Michael Pinckney – Discus
MEET INFORMATION (Outdoor NCAA Championships):
Date(s): Wednesday, June 11 to Saturday, June 14, 2025
Location: Hayward Field (University of Oregon – Eugene, Ore.)
Time: Events begin at 12 p.m. PT on Wednesday, 9:45 a.m. on Thursday, 11:45 a.m. on Friday, and 12:30 p.m. on Saturday
Pepperdine Volleyball’s Reilly selected for Team USA’s VNL pool • The Malibu Times
Pepperdine men’s volleyball libero Jacob Reilly bumps up a ball for his teammates during a Waves match earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics The junior libero joins a national training pool of elite athletes — from Olympians to rising stars Pepperdine Waves men’s volleyball player Jacob Reilly, 21, has dreamed of playing for Team USA […]
Pepperdine men’s volleyball libero Jacob Reilly bumps up a ball for his teammates during a Waves match earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics
The junior libero joins a national training pool of elite athletes — from Olympians to rising stars
Pepperdine Waves men’s volleyball player Jacob Reilly, 21, has dreamed of playing for Team USA since he was a youth.
The junior libero could don the red, white, and blue for the USA Volleyball Men’s Senior National Team in the Volleyball Nations League this summer. Reilly was one of 30 players — a mix of Olympians, professionals, and top amateurs — selected to a pool from which Team USA will draw its VNL roster.
Team USA will take the court at VNL competition stops in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from June 11-15; Hoffman Estates, Illinois, from June 25-29; and Chiba, Japan, from July 16-30.
Reilly said being named to the pool is an honor.
“It’s super exciting,” he said. “I get to play with the best players around the country so, I’m super excited about this. It has been one of my biggest goals and a dream since I was a kid.”
A member of the U.S. U21 U.S. team two years ago, Reilly began practicing with USA Volleyball for VNL on May 21.
Reilly, a self-described gritty and competitive player, said it would be incredible to travel to the VNL sites and make an impact on the court.
“I would be happy to make any roster, honestly,” he said. “I’m hoping to help in any way I can. I also want to grow as a player.”
Team USA head coach Karch Kiraly will select 14 players for the tournament. The U.S. will face international competition as it aims to advance to the VNL Final Round in Ningo, China, from July 30 to Aug. 3.
Kiraly praised the mix of talent and depth available for USA Volleyball.
“The veterans on this roster continue to lead by example, while our younger athletes are pushing hard, bringing fresh energy and hunger,” he said. “It’s a powerful combination. This VNL season will be a vital part of our journey toward the 2025 World Championships and beyond.”
Reilly is thrilled that one of his favorite volleyball players, Erik Shoji, a libero on national team since 2012, is in the pool of players.
“I get to be his teammate now,” he said.
The men’s national team is ranked third in the world and has medaled four times in VNL history, earning the bronze medal in 2018 and silver medal in 2019, 2022, and 2023.
Reilly is the first Pepperdine men’s volleyball player to be selected for the men’s national team since Sean Rooney in 2013.
Two of Reilly’s Waves teammates were also selected by USA Volleyball for national teams in April. Grant Lamoureux was invited to the training group for the U.S. Boys U19 National Team, while Cole Hartke was named to the U.S. Men’sU21 roster. Both will compete in the NORCECA Pan American Cup and FIVB World Championships in their respective age divisions.
Reilly said the number of Team USA selectees on the Waves’ roster highlights the strength of Pepperdine’s volleyball program.
“We are all very competitive and we’re trying to be the best players we can,” he said. “It shows how awesome our coaching staff is and how they develop us as players.”
Reilly was one of five Waves who earned American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American accolades in May. Ryan Barnett was named to the first team and Reilly and Hartke were named to the second team. Gabe Dyer and James Eadie received honorable mention honors.
Reilly, a transfer from Concordia, averaged 1.8 digs per set and had a .954 reception percentage his first season at Pepperdine. He led the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in efficiency — only 26 reception errors on 621 attempts. In the Waves’ run to the MPSF tournament championship in April and NCAA Tournament Final Four in May, Reilly allowed only three reception errors on 139 attempts.
He said Pepperdine had a great season.
“We peaked at the right time,” Reilly recalled. “This team is very special. We all worked hard. We all loved playing for each other.”
Reilly grew up playing volleyball in Cypress, Texas, with his four older sisters.
“I was pretty much raised in the volleyball gym,” said Reilly, who has played volleyball since he was 11. “I’d watch my older sisters play. I would go to their practices and pick up a ball. I have always enjoyed playing. I had a great time whenever I found myself on the court.”
Team USA’s VNL schedule includes matches against Ukraine, Iran, Slovenia, and Cuba in Brazil; China, Canada, Poland, and Italy in Illinois; and Turkey, Argentina, Germany, and Japan in Japan.
Reilly is looking forward to all the experiences he will have with the national team this summer.
“It would be so awesome if I could make any of the rosters for VNL this year,” he said. “I want to grow as much as a Ican as a player and as a leader. I want to take some of the skills I learn back to Pepperdine and instill that into my teammates.”
Pepperdine men’s volleyball libero Jacob Reilly keeps the ball in play during a Waves game this year. Reilly is competing for a spot on the U.S. Senior National Team that is competing in the Volleyball Nations League. Photo courtesy of Pepperdine Athletics
The Big West Boasts Twelve Qualifiers at 2025 NCAA Track & Field Championships
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The Big West will be represented with 12 qualifiers at the 2025 NCAA Track & Field Championships, held June 11-14 at Oregon’s Hayward Field. The four-day extravaganza will air on the ESPN family of networks. Qualification for nationals, except for the multi-events, hinged on being in […]
The Big West will be represented with 12 qualifiers at the 2025 NCAA Track & Field Championships, held June 11-14 at Oregon’s Hayward Field. The four-day extravaganza will air on the ESPN family of networks.
Qualification for nationals, except for the multi-events, hinged on being in the top 12 in their event at the NCAA West Preliminaries, held May 28-31 at Texas A&M. For the decathlon and heptathlon, the top 24 declared student-athletes in each event based on their position on the national descending-order list were accepted.
The meet will begin on Wednesday at noon PT with the 100m portion of the decathlon. The Big West has two representatives in the event, UC Santa Barbara’s Brad Thomas (8108 points, 3rd) and Long Beach State’s Ryan Greogory (7808 points, 7th). Both recorded their qualifying marks at the 2025 Big West Championships, with Thomas winning the crown with a new facility, school, meet and overall conference record. Day two of the decathlon will start on Thursday at 9:45 a.m. PT with the 110m hurdles.
The Cal Poly hammer throwing duo of Rory Devaney and Travis Martin are set to compete on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. PT. Martin was third with a toss of 67.81m/222’5”, while Devaney was 10th with a mark of 65.49m/216’4” at regionals for their qualification.
The Cal State Fullerton 4x100m relay of John Clifford, Isaiah Emerson, Dominic Gates and Ian Dossman is set to compete at 4:05 p.m. PT on Wednesday. The Titans booked a trip to Oregon by finishing third in heat three, ninth overall, with a time of 39.26 at the west regionals. Abel Jordan, Joshua Hornsby and Carter Birade are listed as alternates for the Titans.
Hornsby will be running in the 110m hurdles at 5:08 p.m. PT. The senior claimed the last spot to nationals, placing 12th overall (13.58) at College Station two weeks ago.
UC Irvine’s Liam Miksic will be part of the javelin field, starting Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. PT. Miksic grabbed the 12th and final spot in the men’s javelin with a toss of 68.57m/224’11” two weeks ago at Texas A&M.
Long Beach State’s Tristyn Flores is a double qualifier in the 100m and 200m, starting Wednesday at 5:25 p.m. PT and 6:20 p.m. PT, respectively. Flores earned a spot to nationals with a 10.05, a new personal best, school mark and conference record, in the 100m to place 12th overall and was second place in heat two (20:46) in the 200m at west regionals.
Cal Poly’s Aidan McCarthy is a participant in the men’s 800m for a second time. McCarthy ran a 1:47.01 for fifth overall at west regionals. McCarthy was an All-American in the same event in 2023 with a seventh-place finish. The half-mile race begins on Wednesday at 5:58 p.m. PT.
Long Beach State’s Claudine Raud-Gumiel qualified for the heptathlon with a seasonal-best of 5698 points, set at the 2025 Big West Championships. Day one of the heptathlon will start on Friday at 11:45 a.m. PT. Day two will begin at 3:30 p.m. PT on Saturday.
UC Irvine’s Zharia Taylor punched a ticket to Eugene in the high jump, with a ninth place (1.81m/5’11.25”) at College Station. The women’s vertical jump competition begins Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
Competitors at the NCAA Track & Field Championships earn All-America First Team status by finishing in the top eight in their event. All-America Second Team honors go to those who finish between ninth and 16th place.
The Big West at 2025 NCAA Track & Field Championship
Toohey needed just over a minute to make her dream come true
Sixteen-year-old Sienna Toohey, a New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship athlete, finished Day two of the Australian Trials in tears . . . but she shed tears of triumph. Toohey, from Albury on the NSW-Victoria border, was emotional after sealing her place in the Dolphins squad that will compete at next month’s World Aquatics […]
Sixteen-year-old Sienna Toohey, a New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship athlete, finished Day two of the Australian Trials in tears . . . but she shed tears of triumph.
Toohey, from Albury on the NSW-Victoria border, was emotional after sealing her place in the Dolphins squad that will compete at next month’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore after winning the women’s 100m breaststroke event from lane six.
Her stunning performances during April’s National Age Championships – she won four gold medals and set two Australian age records – had Toohey earmarked as a potential bolter for the World Championships in Singapore. With the spotlight on her in Adelaide the talented teenager proved she possessed both the skill and will that’s needed to represent Australia.
Toohey who started swimming because she wanted to play water polo, finished first in a blistering 1:06.55. She also sliced almost half a second off her personal best in the process as she finished ahead of Paris Olympics silver medallist Ella Ramsay (1:06.86) with Sienna Harben third (1:07.02).
The emerging star, whose preparation routine is tightly structured: compression boots, home-cooked meals from mum, and plenty of TV, including Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, admitted missing selection for last year’s Olympic team had made her even more determined to swim against the world’s best in Singapore
“I’m definitely very, very happy with myself,” said a triumphant but tearful Toohey, who is coached by 71-year-old Wayne Gould.
“Missing out on the Olympic team last year … was definitely something that I really wanted to be a part of, just watching it, and Ella, obviously being on it, all of these people being my idols. Now I get to be on the team. So, I’m very happy.”
“I really wanted to make the national team, and I knew that if I didn’t make it in the 100m, I always had the 50m tomorrow. But I’m definitely happy that I’ve done it now.”
Toohey revealed the impact Leisel Jones, whose swag of nine Olympic medals included three gold, had on her after she broke Jones’s 23-year-old national age record.
“I first met her (Jones) last year at the Olympic trials on the final night,’ she said. “And then after nationals this year, she sent me a video the night after I broke her 100m (breaststroke) record, just congratulating me.”
“It honestly made my week. It meant a lot. Just getting something personalised from her and her just reaching out and telling me to keep going and that things can happen when you’re at a young age, it’s definitely inspiring.”
“I’ve been doing very hard training more than what I’ve ever done before. So I’m very happy that it’s paid off with a PB.
While Toohey originally had a dream to play water polo at the highest level, she said watching her brother’s progress as a swimmer made her reconsider her sporting ambition.
“I started swimming because I wanted to play water polo, but my parents told me that I couldn’t do water polo if I didn’t swim,” she said.
“So, I started swimming for that reason, and then my brother started to get really good at it when I’d watch him at State championships. And then I was like, hang on, this might be something that I want to do.
“I got to the point where I had to choose between swimming and water polo. Obviously, I chose swimming and it was the right choice.”
Toohey has a stacked international schedule. Besides earning selection in the Dolphin’s World Aquatics team, she was also picked for the Junior Dolphins who’ll compete Romania from the 19th – 24th August.
Joe Hand Promotions and ESPN Announce Multi-Year Extension to Deliver Year-Round Live Sports to Commercial Venues | News
PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jun 9, 2025– Joe Hand Promotions (JHP), the nation’s largest and most experienced distributor of premium live sports television to commercial establishments, and ESPN jointly today announced a multi-year extension of their agreement for ESPN+ for Business, enlisting JHP to continue to provide an unparalleled lineup of live sports programming to bars, restaurants, casinos, […]
Joe Hand Promotions (JHP), the nation’s largest and most experienced distributor of premium live sports television to commercial establishments, and ESPN jointly today announced a multi-year extension of their agreement for ESPN+ for Business, enlisting JHP to continue to provide an unparalleled lineup of live sports programming to bars, restaurants, casinos, and other commercial venues nationwide.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250609455012/en/
This renewed agreement covers seven (7) exclusive sports channels across the ESPN+ for Business platform and delivers year-round programming, including an average of nearly 200 live, *exclusive events per month—totaling more than 2,200 events annually.
*Games and live events not otherwise available nationally or in market.
“Since launching this service in March 2021, we’ve continually raised the bar for what businesses can offer their sports-loving patrons,” said Joe Hand III, President of Joe Hand Promotions. “This agreement ensures our hospitality customers have access to the largest multi-sport premium content package in the commercial marketplace today—making their venues the go-to spot for sports fans. We want to thank the team at ESPN for being great partners and for providing valuable content day-in, day-out to our customers.”
ESPN+ for Business programming highlights Include:
More than 400 college basketball games in 2024, featuring as many as 200 ranked teams across Big 12, SEC and all conferences.
At least 125 college football matchups featuring many nationally ranked teams from powerhouse conferences including Big 12, SEC, and American Athletic Conference.
Elite international soccer including LaLiga, Bundesliga, FA Cup, and Copa del Rey.
30+ PGA TOUR LIVE weekends annually.
UFC Fight Nights.
More than 50 exclusive NHL games.
Live court feeds from Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Broad college sports coverage: soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, field hockey, and gymnastics.
The comprehensive content offering not only covers prime-time and weekend viewing but also delivers value throughout the day—giving business owners a competitive edge in driving traffic across multiple dayparts.
To make it easier for fans to find the action, JHP’s proprietary bar finder tool, OnTap Sports (available at https://www.ontapsports.live ) allows users to search for licensed venues by event and location—ensuring fans never miss a moment.
About Joe Hand Promotions
Founded in 1971, Joe Hand Promotions is the nation’s largest and most experienced premier distributor of pay-per-view and premium live sports content to commercial establishments. For over 50 years, the company has helped businesses turn sports fans into loyal patrons through high-impact viewing experiences.
View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250609455012/en/
CONTACT: Media Inquiries:
Chris DeBlasio,
DeBlasio Communications for Joe Hand Promotions
m: 917.445.7467
e:cdeblasio99@gmail.com
Olivia Coryell
ESPN Communications
m: 904.303.3538
e:olivia.coryell@espn.com
KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA PENNSYLVANIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SPORTS GENERAL SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING ADVERTISING COMMUNICATIONS EVENTS/CONCERTS RESTAURANT/BAR TV AND RADIO RETAIL
SOURCE: Joe Hand Promotions
Copyright Business Wire 2025.
PUB: 06/09/2025 12:00 PM/DISC: 06/09/2025 11:59 AM
What to expect from BYU track teams at NCAA championships – Deseret News
It’s difficult to remember when or if BYU has ever headed into the hyper-competitive NCAA track and field championships with three athletes who rank among the top three in their specialties. That bodes well for BYU’s team-race ambitions. “Our men could be top-15 and women could be top-four if the big guns show up,” says […]
It’s difficult to remember when or if BYU has ever headed into the hyper-competitive NCAA track and field championships with three athletes who rank among the top three in their specialties. That bodes well for BYU’s team-race ambitions.
“Our men could be top-15 and women could be top-four if the big guns show up,” says Ed Eyestone, BYU’s director of track and field.
The big guns are Meghan Hunter, Lexy Lowry and James Corrigan, who have had brilliant, even sensational, seasons to date. If Casey Clinger had not turned pro in the middle of the season, BYU would have four top-three favorites.
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The NCAA championships will be held June 11-14 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The men compete Wednesday and Friday, the women Thursday and Saturday. BYU qualified 19 athletes for the meet, counting members of a relay.
Hunter, a senior from Provo, recently became the third-fastest 800-meter runner in NCAA history, running 1:58.99 to win the Big 12 championship and then 1:58.95 to win the NCAA prelims.
Lowry, a senior from Idaho, is the fifth-fastest collegian of all time in both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run.
Corrigan, who represented the U.S. in last summer’s Paris Olympic Games, has the third-fastest time in the nation, 8:22.20, which makes him the seventh-fastest American collegian ever.
The BYU trio will face formidable competition in Eugene, to say the least — most of them Kenyans who are running for U.S. schools.
“James is running very well right now, but the Kenyans on the men’s side are stronger and deeper than ever,” says Eyestone. “It might be more difficult to get top three at the NCAAs than at (the U.S. national championships).”
Five of the men’s top seven collegiate steeplechasers this season are Kenyans — Louisville’s Geoffrey Kirwa, New Mexico’s Mathew Kosgei, Kentucky’s Collins Kipngok, Iowa State’s Joash Ruto and Akron’s Bismack Kipchirchir. Kirwa is the second-fastest collegian ever, at 8:13.89.
Corrigan posted a time of 8:13.87 last summer in an 11th-hour effort to meet the Olympic qualifying standard — a time that would easily be the American collegiate record except it occurred after the collegiate season had ended and therefore isn’t recognized by the NCAA. He has not lost a steeplechase race this spring. On the other hand, he hasn’t met a field as formidable as the one he’ll see in Eugene.
Lowry, who will not contest the 5,000 because there’s not enough rest after the steeplechase, will compete against, among others, Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, a 23-year-old Kenyan and the defending NCAA champion in both cross-country and the steeplechase.
Lemngole set the NCAA record in the steeplechase earlier this season with a time of 9:10.13. BYU’s Courtney Wayment holds the American collegiate record of 9:16.00, but Lowry is closing in, running 9:18.05 earlier this season. Lowry, one of the most improved athletes in the country, will have to top that mark to win in Eugene.
Hunter is one of the most talented track athletes ever to come out of the Utah high school ranks. She was largely a sprinter at Provo High who dabbled in the 800. As a senior she pulled off a rare quadruple performance at state, winning the 100, 200, 400 and 800. She set an all-classification state record in the 400-meter dash of 52.59 in 2018 that no one has come close to breaking, even with the arrival of the new high-tech shoes.
What happened next has been widely covered. She was in a serious car accident the summer before she entered BYU, breaking her neck. She underwent surgery to fuse several vertebrae and her recovery was long and difficult, both physically but especially emotionally. She suffered from PTSD and, more specifically, panic attacks, from the violence of the rollover car wreck.
After a so-so start to the 2025 season, she has performed sensationally the last six weeks. Only Olympic champion Athing Mu (1:57.73), the former Texas A&M star and Olympic champion, and LSU’s Michaela Rose (1:58.12), the 2023 NCAA champion, have run faster. Hunter will face Rose in Eugene in what will be one of the meet’s most anticipated races. Three other women have also run under two minutes this season.
Individual national championships are difficult to come by, of course. BYU men have won only two championships since 2009, both of them in the last six years — Clayton Young in the 10,000 in 2019 and Kenneth Rooks in the steeplechase in 2023. BYU women have won three individual events since 2012, all in the last three years — Wayment in the steeplechase and Ashton Riner in the javelin in 2022, and Anna Bennett in the 1,500-meter run in 2021.
BYU is one of the premier distance running schools in the country. The Cougars won both the men’s and women’s NCAA cross-country championships last fall, only the fifth time a school has pulled off that double.
BYU’s team hopes in the men’s NCAA track championships took a big hit in mid-April when Clinger signed a pro contract with Brooks, ending his collegiate eligibility (the NCAA allows NIL contracts, but it does not allow pro contracts because of the amount of the money and the inclusion of performance incentives).
BYU coach Ed Eyestone coaches from the stands during the 2024 NCAA regionals in Fayetteville, Arkansas, May 24, 2024. | Nate Edwards
Two weeks before he signed the contract, Clinger broke a 40-year-old school record in the 10,000-meter run. His time of 27:11.00 finally took down the mark held by none other than his own coach. Eyestone, a four-time NCAA champion and two-time Olympian, set the long-enduring record of 27:41.05 in 1985.
If Clinger had not turned pro, he would be the fastest collegian in the country by 25 seconds.
The BYU women’s team is set up to make a strong team showing in Eugene. Aside from the Big Three, BYU also has strong entries in the revived Carlee Hansen and Riley Chamberlain, who will compete in the 1,500-meter run.
Hansen, a junior from Woods Cross, transferred to BYU from North Carolina in 2023. In the two seasons since then, she has cut a whopping eight and a half seconds off her 1,500-meter time and qualified for nationals.
Her best time at North Carolina was 4:16.02. Like Hunter, Hansen saw little improvement until six weeks ago, when she ran 4:12.42 for a 13th-place finish. She made another dramatic improvement at the Big 12 championships two weeks later, when she posted a time of 4:08.70 to place second.
At the NCAA prelims two weeks ago, she placed fifth with a time of 4:07.64, breaking the school record of 4:08.53 set by Anna Bennett en route to winning the 2021 NCAA championships. In that same race, Chamberlain, a versatile junior from California, also broke Bennett’s record and qualified for nationals, finishing seventh with a time of 4:08.42.
“Meghan and Lexy could win, and Riley and Carlee could combine for some good points in the 1,500,” said Eyestone.
Teammates Jenna Hutchins (5,000 meters), Taylor Lovell (steeplechase) and Sami Oblad (400 meters) are also solid bets to score.
Aside from the distance races, BYU’s strongest event on the men’s side is the decathlon. Jaden Roskelley scored 8,000 points four weeks ago during a meet in Provo — ranked No. 4 in the nation — but it was teammate Ben Barton, a 6-foot-5 junior from Michigan with 10.48 100-meter speed, who won the Big 12 championship.
The BYU women have cracked the top 10 only twice in the team race during the last 19 years — ninth in 2022 and 10th in 2021. The BYU men have placed in the top 10 four times in the last seven years, including seventh last season.
Members of the BYU women’s track and field team pose with coach Diljeet Taylor at the NCAA prelims May 27, 2025. | BYU Photo
Utah collegians competing in NCAA championships
In-state qualifiers for this week’s NCAA track and field championships, with national ranking noted.
BYU
Sami Oblad, 400 meters (10)
Meghan Hunter, 800 meters (2)
Tessa Buswell, 800 meters (19)
Carlee Hansen, 1,500 meters (10)
Riley Chamberlain, 1,500 meters (15)
Taylor Lovell, steeplechase (7)
Lexy Lowry, steeplechase (2)
Jenna Hutchins, 5,000 meters (15)
Gretchen Hoekstre, shot put, discus (19/18)
James Corrigan, steeplechase (3)
Luke Grundvig, 5,000 meters (10)
Creed Thompson, 10,000 meters (11)
Joey Nokes, 10,000 meters (10)
Eli Hazlett-Josh Taylor-Jonah Heimuli-Trey Jackson, 4×400 relay (8)
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