Frentheway smashes 39 year-old 10,000-meter school record at Bryan Clay

PROVO, Utah — Aubrey Frentheway added yet another superlative to her BYU distance career as she rewrote the BYU women’s 10,000-meter record book with a 32:34.08 performance at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California on Thursday night.

Bryan Clay Invitational | Azusa, California | Cougar Athletic Stadium

Frentheway took fifth in the 10,000m, less than a second behind Cailie Logue of Iowa State yet with a 15-second lead over sixth-place finisher Florance Uwajeneza of West Texas A&M. Mercy Chelangat of Alabama won the event at 31:55.80.

The senior from Cheyenne, Wyoming arrived at her school-record time after slicing nearly 30 seconds off her previous best, a 33:03.49 plateau reached at the Hayward Premiere in April 2021. Frentheway’s climb to 32:34.08 surpasses Carey May’s long-time school record of 32:51.20 set in 1984.

"Aubrey has had her eye on the 10k school record for a few years now," said BYU women's distance coach Diljeet Taylor. "She raced with great determination and grit today and executed the race plan perfectly."

Frentheway now adds 10,000m school record-holder to her BYU distance resume already consisting of indoor Second Team All-American (2023), Outdoor Honorable Mention All-American (2022), three-time Cross Country All-American, defending West Coast Conference Individual Women’s Cross Country Champion and three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree.

Women’s distance runners also competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Thursday night.

Lexy Halladay-Lowry peeled nearly six seconds off her previous best to clock 9:49.95 and take fifth. The junior from Boise, Idaho jumped former teammate Sara Musselman (2021) for No. 6 all-time at BYU and did so while beating the nation’s sixth-ranked steeplechaser, Laura Taborda of Arkansas.

Sadie Sargent, Madi Moffitt and Riley Chamberlain rounded-out BYU’s top-30 finishers in the steeplechase event that saw 119 total competitors across seven heats. Sargent placed 15th at 10:06.24 while Moffitt notched a personal-best 10:11.32 to take 22nd. Chamberlain came in 30th at 10:18.62.

Pacific Coast Intercollegiate | Long Beach, California | Jack Rose Track Stadium

Cierra Tidwell Allphin continued her high jumping dominance as she won Thursday’s event over a field of 30 other athletes from around the country. Tidwell Allphin cleared 1.76-meters/5-9.25 to take first while Colorado State’s Sharde Johnson and Erin Wilde of Montana finished second and third, respectively. Tidwell Allphin currently ranks fourth nationally after clearing a season and career-best 1.85m/6-0.75 at the Aztec Invitational on March 25.

BYU’s Christina Blackmon joined Tidwell Allphin among the top-10 finishers as she tied for sixth after tying her personal-best clearance of 1.66m/5-5.25.

Cailee Faulkner and Rebekah Ross finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the pole vault with clearances of 4.06m/13-3.75. Ross’s mark on Thursday brought her within an inch of tying her personal-best set at the Robison Invitational in April 2022. Maren Garnett cleared 3.91m/12-10 to finish ninth and help the Cougars join No. 12 Arkansas as the only two teams with three or more top-10 finishers among the 25 teams represented in Long Beach on Thursday.  

The Cougars are back at it on Friday with women’s javelin beginning the day at the Beach Invitational at 9 a.m. PDT. Women’s distance returns to the track in Azusa with the 800-meters at 2:30 p.m. PDT.