U.S. Steeplechase Champion Recounts Journey From Small-Town Idaho To BYU To Team USA Ahead Of Tokyo World Championships
By Marlowe Hereford for DyeStat
DyeStat Photos
Remember who you are and whose you are.
Those words written by BYU head women’s cross country coach Diljeet Taylor on cards she has distributed to her runners before races have remained with Lexy Halladay-Lowry as she began her professional running career this summer with Nike Swoosh TC under Taylor’s direction.
“There’s a bigger purpose for each of us,” Halladay-Lowry said of Taylor’s words. “It’s not for your individual goals.”
On Aug. 2 at Hayward Field, those words embodied the journey that led to the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase title she won in 9:09.14 at the USATF Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In her debut race as a professional, she secured her first individual national title and a spot on Team USA for the World Athletics Outdoor Championships scheduled to begin Sept. 13 in Tokyo.
That victory followed second-place finishes at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships in March in the women’s 5,000 final and at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in June in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final. Halladay-Lowry concluded her collegiate career for BYU as an eight-time All-American.
The win was made more gratifying by the army of people she said traveled to Eugene to support her and who all shared post-race embraces with her.
Her parents, Scot and Jenniffer. Three of her siblings. Her husband and fellow Mountain View (Idaho) graduate, Jorgen, and her in-laws. Her grandmother. Her BYU and professional teammates and their families.
“I felt so loved on that day,” Halladay-Lowry said. “Most of them have been to a lot of races prior to this and it hasn’t quite worked out, but they’ve been there through the journey.”
The embrace she shared with Taylor, who had lost her voice during the meet but instructed Halladay-Lowry through hand signals from where she stood behind the barrier between the stands and the track, was extra special.
“It was just as I had imagined it,” Halladay-Lowry said. “Having that moment after winning a USA title, I was so grateful for it. I wanted an NCAA title. After coming up short so many times and going into this race and getting that USA title and getting to go over and look into her eyes and know she’s one of the only humans who understands the fight and the grind, everything that had gone into that moment. Those moments, that’s…
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