IN HER FIRST FORAY over the steeple barriers this spring, BYU senior Lexy Halladay-Lowry made a splash, cutting more than 4 seconds off her best with a 9:18.05, a time that moved her to No. 5 in collegiate history.
She will definitely be a force in the NCAA steeple later this season, but that’s no shock to anyone who watched her at the NCAA Indoor, where she raced to 2nd in the 5000 and 3rd in the 3000. That made her the top American in both.
The steady drumbeat of success for the Idaho native has been increasing in intensity, something that is no accident for a veteran athlete in coach Diljeet Taylor’s program.
“Even on the recruiting visit, when she sat in my living room, she told me that I had potential to accomplish amazing things,” recalls Halladay-Lowry. “And even my freshman year, she sat me down in her office after a workout and told me that I would eventually have the opportunity to chase winning a national title. In the moment when she said that to me, it just seemed so far away.
“But, I mean, she was right. Even this past indoor season, I had a shot at chasing titles, and it’s just so cool to see that happening in my fifth year. I’ve had great success throughout my career, but I feel so lucky and blessed that my last season is going to be my best. And not everyone can say that, and not every program has athletes doing that all the time.
“You look at the history of BYU, and everyone who’s done well, they’ve done it in their fifth, sixth year. And that just attests to Coach Taylor’s training and her belief and her ability to develop people throughout the years.”
Halladay-Lowry’s high school career had been exceptional, no doubt. While at Mountain View High in Meridian, Idaho, she won 9 state titles, placed 4th at the Foot Locker Nationals, and clocked bests of 4:41.80 for the mile and 10:30.80 for 3200. But in her time in Provo, she has gone well beyond the expectations of many.
She ran her first steeple as a frosh, hitting 10:07.42. The next year, she got down to 9:55.65. The steady work really started to pay off in ’23, when she clocked a PR 9:41.85 for 4th in the NCAA, then improved to 9:31.39 to place 8th at the USATF Championships.
Last year, she had a successful indoor season, winning the Big 12 crown for 3000 and placing 5th…
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