Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Utah Valley distance runner Everlyn Kemboi added silver to her growing collection of collegiate medals Saturday evening.
The Wolverines' harrier finished second in the women's 5,000-meter final in 15 minutes, 39.57 seconds to wrap up the NCAA outdoor track and field championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Utah's Emily Venters was just behind Kemboi in third at 15:42.40, and Utes teammate Simone Plourde added a seventh-place finish at 15:50.10.
"I'm so happy I was able to finish second. My main goal was to win the 10K and hang in there on the 5K. I'm grateful for that finish. It will take a while to process everything. I'm so happy to be here. It's a humbling place," said Kemboi, an Arizona transfer who clinched All-American status for the fourth time in her UVU career. "I'm so happy they (UVU) were able to accept me when I transferred and give me a chance to be a part of the family. They were patient with me, and it's a good ending. I'm so proud and forever grateful. I'll bleed green always."
North Carolina State's Katelyn Tuohy, the collegiate record holder in the 5,000 with a time of 15:03.12, opted to scratch the final after finishing seventh in the 1,500-meter final earlier Saturday. That left Plourde, Venters and Kemboi — the 10,000-meter national champion and first individual champion in Utah Valley's Division I history from Thursday — among the favorites in the final.
Venters and Kemboi trailed Florida's Parker Valby with a mile remaining in second and third, but Valby took a commanding lead into the bell lap before finishing in first in 15:30.57.
"Coach told me to trust my instincts, trust my gut, and I did," Valby told assembled media after her race, "and it worked out. … I didn't even know if I'd run this season. I got hurt in December, and it's been a lot of training, not training, misdiagnoses and question marks. it's been up in the air. But I kept faith that everything happens for a reason, and it all worked out in the end."
🏃♀️ We caught up with @GoUVU runner Everlyn Kemboi after her second place performance at the @NCAATrackField championships on Saturday night in Austin, Texas! Her 18 points helped Utah Valley to a tie for 12th place in the nation!#WACotf | #NCAAtfpic.twitter.com/7iKA0FUtnb
— The Western Athletic Conference (@WACsports) June 11, 2023
Texas clinched its first women's outdoor national championship since 2005 with 83 points. Florida, Arkansas, Oregon and Texas A&M also finished in the top five.
Powered by Kemboi's gold and silver, Utah Valley finished tied for 12th with 18 points — and 1 point outside of the top 10. Utah finished 15th and BYU 17th in the team standings. It's the fifth top-25 finish for the 19th-ranked Cougars since 2012.
BYU's Claire Seymour found the podium in the 800-meter final, finishing third in 2:00.55 behind LSU's Michaela Rose and Oklahoma State's Gabija Galvydyte.
Cougar teammate Meghan Hunter finished eighth in 2:04.05 as the former Provo High standout raced in the 800-meter final for the first time in a collegiate career that started with a severe car crash, a broken back, and intense hours of physical rehabilitation.
"It was a little windy on the backstretch," said Seymour, who joined Shea Martinez Collinsworth in 2016 as the only BYU women to record three or more outdoor All-American honors in the 800 meters in a career. "The hard thing about the 800 meters is that it's deep. There's so many talented and incredible women out in that field. Honestly, it's an honor to race with them."
Lexy Halladay-Lowry added a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final with a personal-best time of 9:41.85, clinching first-team All-American status for the first time in the sophomore's career in an event whose meet record is still held by former BYU teammate Courtney Wayment.
"My race plan was just to race smart," Halladay-Lowry said after her race. "I knew my fitness was there, and all it would take was having a smart race and I knew I'd take top-five. The goal was top-six, so I'm happy."
Cierra Tidwell-Allphin added a seventh-place finish for BYU in the high jump, clinching first-team All-American status for the fifth time in her career with a leap of 1.84 meters (6-1/2).
"She jumped very well," BYU associate head coach Mark Robison said of Tidwell-Allphin. "This is the best she's performed at a national meet. I'm very pleased with her."
The meet wraps up the final season for the Cougars as an independent track and field team during the outdoor season (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for indoor track and field), as the team joins the Big 12 Conference in most sports — including track and field — beginning July 1.
