BYU’s Taylor Lovell wins 3000m steeplechase to pace Big 12 championships-leading Cougars

PROVO — Steeplechase U. was in full force on the second day of the Big 12 outdoor track and field championships.

And the Cougars used their premier event to surge into the lead.

Taylor Lovell finished with a big kick to win an individual title, and the BYU women’s track and field team used a massive run through the 3,000-meter steeplechase finals to surge into first place Friday at Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Arizona.

Lovell set a meet and facility record in 9 minutes, 40.98 seconds to win her first individual outdoor title, finishing her final 400-meter split in 1:15.48 to beat runner-up Mercy Kinyanjui of West Virginia by nearly 14 seconds. It’s the second Big 12 title for BYU since arriving in Tucson, joining Creed Thompson’s 10,000-meter championship Thursday.

BYU teammate Raygan Dimond finished third in 9:59.02, Utah’s Mackenzie Rogers was fourth in 10:08.90, and BYU freshman Addie Meldrum added a fifth-place finish with a personal-record time of 10:12.11 to round out the top five. Emerald Kehr added an eighth-place finish for BYU in 10:28.10, and River White was 10th in 10:31.90.

In all, BYU placed six runners in the top-12 of the event, and earned a total of 21 points including 10 for Lovell’s win. Utah added another top-10 finisher in Sona Kourilova (10:29.36, 9th) in the steeplechase, as well.

TAYLOR LOVELL WINS THE BIG 12 TITLE IN THE STEEPLE BREAKING THE MEET AND FACILITY RECORD WITH A 9:40.98!!!!!!

📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/sR8cTtwP2I

— BYU Track & Field/Cross Country (@BYUTFXC) May 16, 2026

The surge helped propel the BYU women from third after Thursday’s opening round to first with 46 points, 9 more than second-place Arizona. Baylor and Oklahoma State are both 2 points back with 35, and Iowa State rounds out the top five with 30 points.

BYU’s Kali McEuen was fifth overall int he 100-meter hurdles preliminary heats to qualify for Saturday’s finals in the event in 13.26 seconds. Tessa Buswell added the third-best time in the 800-meter prelims in 2:02.15, and teammate Krystie Solomon also qualified for the finals with the eighth-best time in 2:04.37.

Cailee Faulkner finished seventh in the women’s high jump, eclipsing a mark of 4.17 meters (131-8 1.4), and Ku’upualili Pili and Katharine Beachler both finished in the top-10 in the shot put finals with throws of 15.02 meters (49-3 1/2) and 14.80 meters (48-6 3/4), respectively.

BYU men fall back at Big 12 championships

The BYU men’s team slipped to sixth place after Friday’s preliminary rounds and steeplechase finals. Among the highlights was Carter Cutting, who returned a day after qualifying for the finals in the 1,500 meters to win his 800-meter heat in 1:47.97 and stroll into the finals comfortably at seventh overall.

Garrett Stanford led the way in the steeplechase, finishing fifth with a personal-best time of 8:43.82, striding nearly arm-and-arm across the finish line with sophomore teammate Jefferson McMullin (8:43.97). Max Davis was eighth in 8:47.26, and James Corrigan — the U.S. Olympian who set a Big 12 meet record last year in 8:22.20 — finished ninth with a season-best time of 8:47.87.

Mark Bryant and Tyler Poole each added a podium finish int he shot put. Bryant finished fourth with with a personal-best mark of 17.71 meters (58-1.25) and Poole was sixth with a toss of 17.54 meters (57-6.5).

Kaden Passey wrapped up the decathlon with 7,356 points, good for ninth in the conference. The sophomore from Surprise, Arizona, finished first in the discus with a throw of 45.98 meters (150-10), and top-1o marks in the pole vault (4.43 meters), javelin (55.85 meters) and 1,500 meters (4:25.65).

Meet wraps up Saturday

Saturday’s final day of competition begins at 3:30 p.m. MT with the men’s high jump, discus throw and triple jump. Action on the track begins at 5:30 p.m. with the 4×100-meter relays.

Each event will be streamed live on ESPN+.