EUGENE, Ore. – Former Seattle Pacific athlete Kaylee Mitchell earned her first world team spot Saturday as part of an exciting women’s steeplechase final at the 2025 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.
Mitchell was part of a legion of newcomers who will represent the U.S. in the event at September’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, placing third in a time of 9:11.36. The performance was three seconds off her season and lifetime best of 9:08.66, run at the Prefontaine Classic on July 5, which ranks No. 10 in the world this season.
Lexy Halladay-Lowry, who placed second in the steeplechase at the Division I Championships in May for Brigham Young, won in a time of 9:09.14. Angelina Napoleon of North Carolina State was the runner-up in 9:10.96.
The opening round of the women’s steeplechase at the World Athletics Championships will run on Monday, Sept. 15, with the finals taking place on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
Mitchell, who now lives in Eugene and runs for Nike, placed second in the steeplechase at the 2019 GNAC Outdoor Championships and set the SPU steeplechase record at 10:37.53, a mark recently broken by Maya Ewing at the 2025 Bryan Clay Invitational (10:27.61).
The 2018 GNAC Cross Country Freshman of the Year and All-American with a 35th-place finish at the 2018 NCAA Division II Championships, Mitchell transferred to Oregon State ahead of the 2020-21 season, where she set the Beavers’ school record in the steeplechase (9:34.59) and was a two-time All-American in the event.
Emy Ntekpere, the reigning GNAC Female Athlete of the Year and NCAA Division II champion in the high jump and triple jump, competed in both events as she gained her first taste of senior-level national competition. In Saturday’s triple jump, the rising junior placed 12th with a best of 41 feet, 1.5 inches (12.53m). In the high jump on Friday, Ntekpere failed to clear the opening height of 5 feet, 8.75 inches (1.75m).
Jeret Gillingham, a two-time GNAC champion in the steeplechase for Western Washington who recently finished his collegiate career at Division I Northern Arizona, finished 11th in his opening-round heat of the men’s steeplechase in a time of 8:47.61. Gillingham was a Second Team All-American in the event for WWU in 2024. He placed fourth for NAU at May’s Big Sky Conference Championships in 8:50.48.
Gillingham finished his WWU career as the conference record-holder in the steeplechase, running 8:45.40 at the 2024 GNAC Outdoor Championships.