Faulkner breaks her own school record as Cougars continue climb to nationals

PROVO, Utah — Cailee Faulkner’s record-breaking pole vault performance highlighted a double-meet day of impressive marks and times for No. 21 BYU women’s track and field on Saturday.

BYU Indoor Invitational | Smith Fieldhouse | Provo, Utah

Faulkner broke her own schools record in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.40-meters/14-5.25 to win the women's pole vault in the Cougars final home meet of the indoor season.

“Cailee has had a frustrating season trying to put different technical components together, but today was her day,” said BYU pole vault coach Rick McWhorter. “All of her hard work came together for a big school record and national qualifying spot today.”

With her clearance on Saturday, Faulkner positions herself for a second straight NCAA Indoor National Championships qualifying spot. Faulkner’s clearance of 4.40m places her sixth nationally, ahead of vaulters from High Point, Louisville and No. 7 Washington.

BYU continued its jump success with Cierra Tidwell Allphin setting a personal best in the women’s high jump. The sophomore from Gilbert, Arizona cleared 1.87m/6-1.5 to win the event and advance to a tie for No. 2 all-time at BYU with former teammate Andrea Stapleton-Johnson (2019). Tidwell Allphin’s jump solidifies her spot at back-to-back indoor nationals as it puts her in a tie for sixth nationally with athletes from No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 13 Georgia, No. 17 Nebraska and Stephen F. Austin.

Lexi Goff and Heather Hanson also delivered BYU track event wins in the 800-meters and mile, respectively.

Ken Shannon Last Chance Invitational | Dempsey Indoor | Seattle, Washington

The Cougars dominated the 800m podium at Ken Shannon with Claire Seymour in first and Alena Ellsworth quickly behind at third. The pair seized their top-3 spots as they overtook runners from No. 4 Oregon, No. 12 Stanford, Arizona and host Washington.

Seymour clocked 2:02.75, just 0.55 seconds off tying her personal best set at nationals in 2022. With Saturday’s time, the senior from Modesto, Calif. surpasses Bradley’s Wilma Nielsen for No. 10 nationally.

Ellsworth recorded a new personal best at 2:03.31, good for a jump from No. 10 to No. 4 all-time at BYU. Taylor Rohatinsky, Carmen Alder, Krystie Solomon and Madi Moffitt each recorded personal bests in the 800m as well.

Lexy Halladay-Lowry headlined seven BYU milers competing in a strong field that featured the likes of five nationally ranked opponents. Halladay-Lowry clocked a personal best 4:34.83 to take sixth and No. 7 all-time at BYU. The sophomore from Boise, Idaho overcame top-25 ranked runners in Mia Barnett of UCLA and Maddy Elmore of Oregon while becoming BYU’s fourth miler to land on the school’s top-10 board this season.