Creed Thompson’s 10K title helps BYU track and field keep pace on opening day of Big 12 championships

TUCSON, Ariz. — Creed Thompson had plenty left in the tank.

BYU’s fifth-year senior had trailed Oklahoma State’s Denis Kipngetich and Iowa State’s Sanele Masondo for much of the 10,000-meter final Thursday on the opening day of the Big 12 outdoor track and field championships at Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.

But with 400 meters to go, Thompson found a new gear.

The Skyridge High alum blitzed his final split in 1:01.06, overtaking Kipngetich and Masondo on the final straightaway to win the conference championship in 29 minutes, 20.31 seconds and help the Cougars to fourth place after the first day.

“I thought it was going to be like last year, which was really slow,” Thompson told ESPN+ in a post-race interview. “But as Kipngetich made a really hard move early, and I was like, Oh boy; this is going to hurt.

“I just pushed as hard as I could,” he added, “and got the dub.”

Kipngetich finished second in 29:23.30, and Masondo third in 29:29.53. All three — as well as fourth-place finisher Victor Kipkoech of Texas TEch (29:35.76) broke the facility record of 29:37.72 set by Washington State’s Peter Koech in 1985.

“It feels really good to go out with a bang. Last year was a really good race for me,” Thompson added, “but this feels so good to win my second Big 12 title.”

BYU teammate Hunter Kitchen was 12th in the event in 30:08.90 as the Cougars improved to fourth place after the first days’ events. Iowa State leads the team race with 22 points, followed by Kansas State (2) and Arizona (18) two points ahead of BYU.

CREED WINS AND BREAKS THE FACILITY RECORD IN THE 10,000M WITH A 29:20.31 🤯

📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/Hqs0N0Q0je

— BYU Track & Field/Cross Country (@BYUTFXC) May 15, 2026

Carter Cutting added a sixth-place time of 3:47.08 in the 1,500-meter preliminaries to advance to Saturday’s final. He’ll be joined by BYU teammate Logan Hubler, whose 51.01-second finish in the 400-meter hurdles was good enough for third in his heat and eighth overall in Thursday’s prelims.

Carson Riner just missed the podium in the men’s javelin with a fourth-place throw of 67.40 meters (221-1).

BYU women 3rd at Big 12 championships

BYU’s Alyssa Keller had a third-place throw of 52.08 meters (170-10) in the women’s javelin throw, edging teammate Katharine Beachler (48.79 meters) to lead the BYU women to third after the first day.

Iowa State’s Mercyline Kirwa won the 10,000-meter title in 34:02.42, upending former BYU standout Carey May’s facility record of 34:11.90 that had stood since 1983 to help the Cyclones to 24 points and the first-day lead. Oklahoma State was second with 21 points.

Utah’s Annastasia Peters finished fifth in the 10,000 in 34:29.15, just ahead of BYU’s Nelah Roberts (34:38.89).

As expected, the Cougars dominated the women’s 1,500-meter run — but not just because of freshman star Jane Hedengren. The former Timpview High star and two-time indoor national champion finished comfortably in 4:16.49 for third place among the preliminary heats, less than two seconds behind teammate Carmen Alder‘s facility-record time of 4:14.08 to lead all runners.

In all, BYU advanced five of the 12 runners to Saturday’s finals, including Taylor Rohatinsky (4;17.12), Jenna Hutchins (4:18.90) and Carlee Hansen (4:19.23) leading their heat. Freshman teammate Zariel Macchia clinched the final spot in the finals in 4:23.62, edging out Cincinnati’s Gwen Stare by less than a second.

Add in Utah’s Lindsey Peters and Josie Fale, and seven of the 12 finalists at the Big 12 championships will hail from the Beehive State.

CREED WINS AND BREAKS THE FACILITY RECORD IN THE 10,000M WITH A 29:20.31 🤯

📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/Hqs0N0Q0je

— BYU Track & Field/Cross Country (@BYUTFXC) May 15, 2026

Big 12 championships continue Friday

Friday’s competition continues with the men’s shot put at 4 p.m. MT, and on the track with BYU’s Garrett Copelin and Ben Barton in the men’s 110-meter hurdle prelims at 5:30 p.m.

Utah’s Maria Alvarado will contest the women’s 110 hurdles, followed by BYU’s Carter Cutting in the men’s 800 meters and Krystie Solomon on the women’s side.

The night sessions will include nationally rated James Corrigan in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and four of his teammates among the 16 finalists with the U.S. Olympian.

The women’s steeplechase final will include Mackenzie Rogers and Sona Kourilova from Utah, and BYU’s Taylor Lovell, Raygan Dimond, Addie Meldrum, Emerald Kehr, River White and Karissa Chamberlain at 8:30 p.m.

Every event will be streamed on ESPN+.