USA Track and Field outdoor championships: Meghan Hunter’s 800m podium finish wraps up finals

SALT LAKE CITY — Several former BYU track and field standouts and other Utah professionals wrapped up the final day of the USA Track and Field outdoor championships Sunday in New York City.

Former BYU and Provo High standout Meghan Hunter found the podium in the women’s 800-meter final, wrapping up competition with a 1-minute, 59.67-second third-place finish at Icahn Stadium.

Hunter hung with the leaders from the start, a half-second behind Akins after the first lap in third place. But Akins erupted down the final stretch, securing the sub-2 minute victory by moving from seventh to first and finishing just ahead of Adidas athlete Addy Wiley (1:59.40) and the BYU 800-meter record holder from Provo in a season-best time of 1:59.25.

Racing in the mid-day heat of the warmest day of the U.S. championship weekend, Hunter admitted she “didn’t really know how the race was going to go” when she lined up at the starting line.

“I knew I wanted something in the final 70. I went a little earlier than maybe I planned,” she said after in the post-race mixed zone, per Citius Magazine. “But I’m happy I made the move to get out and give myself the best chance that I could.

“All of these girls are just amazing and super fit,” she added. “I think my chance to be in it was to relax, and wait for my move.”

800M IN UNDER 2 MINS! 👏
Nia Akins turned on the JETS in the final stretch for the 800m U.S. National Title!

📺 USATF National Championships on NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/TxNIjPMGYQ

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 26, 2026

Hunter ran the second-fastest preliminary time at the outdoor championships, clocking 2:00.32 in the semifinals to cruise into the finals behind only Roisin Willis’ 1:59.83.

Willis, the New Balance athlete who ran collegiately at Stanford, finished fourth in Sunday’s final in 1:59.68.

Former BYU heptathlete Marsha Mark-Baird finished fourth in the 80-meter hurdles, Masters division, with a time of 13.06 seconds. The 2004 Olympian that represented her native Trinidad and Tobago in Athens and currently lives with her family in Lehi finished behind Allison Murphy’s winning time of 12.35 in the track, field and race walking division for adults age 35 and older.

Courtney Frerichs, the American record holder in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, wrapped up her outdoor finals with a sixth-place finish in the women’s 5,000 meters Sunday.

The 33-year-old Nike athlete and Olympic medalist who won an NCAA championship in the steeplechase at New Mexico turned pro with Nike and Bowerman Track Club.

After winning a silver medal in Tokyo in 2020, she became the first American to break 9:00.00 when she clocked 8:57.77 at the Prefontaine Classic in 2021.

But after tearing her ACL, Frerichs left Bowerman in early 2024 and moved to Utah to train under BYU coach Ed Eyestone and work out with local professional group Run Elite Program.

Frerichs ran with the pack for much of Sunday’s final, clocking in at ninth place until passing the 4,000-meter mark and finishing with a 33.56-second final split for a season-best time of 15:13.80.

Reigning indoor national champion Emily Mackay finished first in 14:55.82, just ahead of Shelby Houlihan (14:57.88) and Parker Valby (15:06.25).

Grant Fisher, the American record holder in the 5,000 meters who trains in Park City and works with Run Elite Program, withdrew late from Sunday’s final.

The 29-year-old Stanford graduate finished second in the 10,000 meters to fellow Nike athlete Woody Kincaid. UnderArmour’s Vincent Ciattei won Sunday’s finale in 13:46.75, edging out Nike athlete Cooper Teare (13:46.88) and Adidas’ Samuel Parker (13:46.93).