FAYETTVILLE, Ark. — BYU men's track and field qualified athletes from five events for the NCAA National Championships during the NCAA Preliminary First Round on Friday night at John McDonnell Stadium.
The Cougars will be represented with eight total qualifications, seven individual and one relay team, at the NCAA National Championships in Eugene, Oregon in two weeks.
Dallin Shurts started the day off strong for the Cougars by qualifying for the NCAA National Championships in the discus throw, launching for 62.14-meters/203-10. Shurts threw the distance on his first throw and finished with the top overall spot in the field. After failing to qualify two years ago at the same stadium, the senior from Banks, Oregon will prepare to attend his third collegiate national championships.
Sebastian Fernandez placed second in heat three of the 800-meter quarterfinal round with a time of 1:47.77. Fernandez will attend the national championships for the second time in his career, the first being his 1:47.66 performance in 2022.
James Corrigan finished first in heat one of the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 8:38.81. Back in 2023, Corrgian missed advancing to the national championships in the 5000m with a 14th place finish. His upcoming performance in Eugene, Oregon will be his first outing at the national meet.
Wyatt Haughton earned the final national's spot in the 3000m steeplechase with a time-qualifying 8:47.89 performance. The true freshman from Fairway, Kansas is the youngest individual male qualifier from BYU in the last decade.
Aidan Troutner reached Eugene with a time-qualifying spot in the 5000m. Troutner finished the distance in 13:52.86 for his first-career NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance. Fellow Cougars Isaac Hedengren, Luke Grundvig and Joey Nokes also competed in the event but did not advance.
The Cougars' 4x400m relay team of Eliz Hazlett, Abram Schaap, Jace Jensen and Trey Jackson finished second in their heat with a time of 3:04.21. Schaap's 44.77 in the second lap helped boost the squad to national-qualifying spot.
Other notable performances came from Lucas Bons and Riley Hunt on Friday. Bons advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 1500m at 3:41.89 but came up short of the national meet. Riley Hunt advanced to the quarterfinals in the 110-meter hurdles after his school record breaking performance on Wednesday but just missed national qualifying on Friday.
Quotes
Ed Eyestone - BYU Director of Track and Field
"I'm ecstatic. We finished with eight qualifications through the week on the men's side, with representation from various groups. It was a really good day for us all the way around. Dallin got us started by getting some revenge on his performance from two years ago here, so we are happy for him to do well today. There were great performances and effort from everyone. We had some guys punch their tickets to nationals and that's great. Everybody else put in amazing effort. I'm really proud of everyone."
Dallin Shurts - Discus
"I'm feeling pretty good about my performance today. That chip on my shoulder I finally got off. The first throw was what I needed. It's good to come back to Arkansas and get revenge on my old self. It was nice to qualify on my first throw and just chill. For months, I've been working on the same cues. It's just about refining them and doing them a little bit better."
James Corrigan - 3000-meter Steeplechase
“I’m super excited to move on to nationals. Last year, I missed out by half a second, so this year I was happy to be in a situation where I didn’t have to guess if I was making it. It feels good to be in contention for the win consistently and I’m gaining the confidence I need for the next race."
Wyatt Haughton - 3000-meter Steeplechase
“I feel extremely blessed and happy to qualify for nationals. There were a bunch of things during the race that I could have done differently or better to make it not as close for the spot. I’m excited to apply those things I've learned at nationals and run better.”
Aidan Troutner - 10,000-meter
"It was good. It felt like something I should've been able to do. It was a goal of mine to qualify, so I'm happy that it ended up working out. It wasn't a perfect race by any stretch of the imagination, but obviously I'm happy that I hit my goal. I'm happy for all of the other guys and to see their hard work pay off as well."
Kyle Grossarth - Sprints/Hurdles/Relays Coach
"The guys from our group had a great week. Riley started us off great on Wednesday with a big personal best and that kind of just built momentum for the week. The 4x400m relay team capped it off to get the automatic qualifier and that's huge. We are excited to go to Eugene and see what we can do."
On Deck
The BYU track and field women's program will resume competition Saturday beginning with the discus throw at 1:00 p.m. CT. See all live stream and results information on the Meet Central page.