PROVO — Sami Oblad never expected to be where she was Thursday night at the close of the first day of the NCAA Division I women’s outdoor track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The senior from Stansbury Park — and a converted volleyball player turned former heptathlete and high jumper — became the first flat sprinter (100, 200 or 400 meter) to qualify for an NCAA final in BYU women’s track history when she advanced out of Thursday night’s semifinals at Hayward Field.
Oblad, who is scheduled to race in the 400-meter finals Saturday night, clocked the third-fastest time of her career in 51.20 seconds to finish eighth and become the first BYU female sprinter in seven tries to make a final.
“I never expected to be here,” Oblad said after her race. “I’m glad that hard work is paying off, and it’s putting me where I want to be. … I’ve been on the verge of tears all day. I’m very emotional right now.”
Oblad was one of four BYU women to advance to Saturday’s final for one of the premier distance running programs in the country. The others were more natural to the Cougars’ historic legacy, though.
Meghan Hunter broke the two-minute barrier for the third time in her storied career to finish fourth in the 800-meter semifinals in 1:59.96 and advance to Saturday’s final.
Lexy Halladay-Lowry and Taylor Lovell both qualified in the 3,000-meter steeplechase — arguably the university’s most accomplished event, where men’s teammate and U.S. Olympian James Corrigan will race for a championship Friday night.
Halladay-Lowry eased to a third-place time of 9:36.24 as the senior from Meridian, Idaho looks to add a sixth first-team All-America honor, and Lovell after clinching a spot with a personal-best time of 9:37.97 — the No. 3 mark in BYU history.
The duo will compete at 5:38 p.m. MDT Saturday for a spot on the podium, and they’ll be joined by Utah State’s Shelby Jensen.
The sophomore from Saratoga Springs advanced to the first national final of her career in 9:38.01, a fifth-place finish in her heat and 10th overall. Jensen is the first Aggie woman to advance to the finals of an NCAA outdoor championship race since Cierra Simmons-Mecham in the steeplechase final in 2018.
“She executed the race like a pro and responded when girls went by her in the latter half of the race,” Utah State coach Artie Gulden said of Jensen. “She responded and was able to follow them and just compete like crazy over the last two laps.”
Oblad will be the fifth BYU 400-meter runner to race in a final this year, but the first in an open race. The men’s 4×400-meter relay squad — led by Oblad’s fiancé Eli Hazlett — qualified with the last spot in Wednesday’s semifinals to earn a title bid.
“That definitely got me more amped,” Oblad said. “If all my training partners were doing it, then I just had to join them.”
Four BYU women contested finals Thursday, including the 1,500-meter duo of Riley Chamberlain and Carlee Hansen who finished back-to-back. Hansen, the junior from Bountiful who transferred from North Carolina before setting the program record at the NCAA West prelims in 4:07.64, finished 15th in 4:12.35 — officially .08 seconds behind Chamberlain, a junior from Loomis, California.
Both earned second-team All-America honors.
Gretchen Hoekstre added a 21st-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 15.88 meters (52 feet, 1.25 inches), and freshman Tessa Buswell was 21st in the 800 in 2:05.94.
Kelsi Oldroyd became the first-ever All-American from Utah Valley in the javelin with her eighth-place throw of 56.37 meters (184-11), capping a banner season that included a third straight WAC outdoor javelin title and a national semifinal for the third consecutive season.
Utah’s 4×100-meter relay squad, led by Emily Rose, closed out the season just .02 from breaking their own school record, finishing in 43.86.
Morgan Jensen and McKaylie Caesar finished neck-and-neck in the 10,000-meter run in 33:11.05 and 33:34.36, respectively, for 19th and 20th overall.
While Thursday’s competition was mostly about the women, two dozen athletes wrapped up the men’s decathlon. That included BYU junior Ben Barton, who posted a sixth-place finish with 7,777 points for first-team All-American honors.
Barton is the highest-placed finisher in the decathlon from BYU since Curtis Pugsley also placed sixth in 2000. He briefly moved up to second behind Mississippi State star Peyton Bair with a 14.22 110-meter hurdle and a discus throw of 36.86 meters (120-11).
BYU sophomore Jaden Roskelley finished 19th with 7,475 points, including the second-best mark in the discus with a hurl of 45.72 meters (150-0). Bair added to his indoor multi-event national title with a first-place finish and a personal-best 8,323 points with first-place finishes in the 100 (10.25) and 400 (46.00).
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