PHILADELPHIA — BYU women’s track and field’s distance runners began the historic Penn Relays at Franklin Field on Thursday, led by Lexy Halladay’s performance in the steeplechase.

Halladay ran a 9:59.27 on her way to a first-place finish in the event, the first 3000m steeplechase event win of the COVID-freshman’s young career.

The Cougars also placed three runners in the top-10 of the 1500m: Carmen Alder (4:17.80), Kate Hunter (4:21.34) and Heather Hanson (4:22.24).

BYU will continue competition at the Relays on Friday, with Lauren Ellsworth-Barnes, Alena Ellsworth, Claire Seymour and Courtney Wayment set to race in the distance medley relay at 1:45 p.m. EDT.

PROVO, Utah — Following a dominant showing at the Robison Invitational, No. 8/No. 8 BYU men's and women's track and field will compete at three meets across the country Thursday through Saturday, April 28-30. 

Meet Information

Penn Relays

• Dates: Thursday through Saturday, April 28-30
• Host: Penn
• Venue: Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Results/Tentative Event Schedule​​​​​​
• Live Stream ($)
• Events featuring BYU athletes are tentatively scheduled for:
  • Thursday at 6:15 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. EDT 
  • Friday at 1:45 p.m. 
  • Saturday at 12:30 and 2:47 p.m. 

A limited number of BYU women's athletes will compete at the prestigious Penn Relays. The Cougars will compete in the steeplechase and 1500m along with 4x800, 4x1500 and distance medley relay. 

Ninety-six Division I teams will be represented at the annual meet. BYU will be among six ranked in the USTFCCCA Women's Top-25. The Cougars will face top competition against the likes of No. 1 Texas, No. 6 Arkansas and No. 10 Ohio State. 

Payton Jordan Invitational

• Friday, April 29 
• Host: Stanford
• Venue: Cobb Track and Angell Field in Stanford, California
• Distance events scheduled to begin at 7:07 p.m. PDT and run through 10:40 p.m. 
• Live Stream ($)
• Live Results
• Tickets

The Cougars will compete a limited number of men's distance runners at Stanford on Friday. Those athletes will seek to improve their times toward qualifying for the NCAA West Preliminary in May. 

Desert Heat Classic

• Saturday, April 30
• Host: Arizona
• Venue: Roy P. Drachman Stadium in Tucson, Arizona. 
• Events scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. PDT for the women and 3 p.m. for the men.
• Live Results
• Tickets

Rankings and Recognition

Both the men's and the women's teams remained at No. 8 in the USTFCCCA rankings this week. BYU also continued to be one of eight programs in the country with both men's and women's teams ranked in the top-10 of the USTFCCCA National Rankings. The Cougars share this honor with four programs from the SEC, two from the Big 12 and one from the Pac-12.

Fifteen BYU athletes rank in the top-10 nationally for individual event results, with Courtney Wayment controlling the top spot in the steeplechase and Ashton Riner's performance last weekend earning her the No. 1 spot in the javelin.