VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Casey Clinger took fourth overall in the 5,000-meter to highlight an impressive Friday night from BYU’s distance crew at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
“Casey ran an amazing race and I’m super proud of him,” said director of track and field Ed Eyestone who has coached Clinger for seven years. “It was a great close to his final campaign. Any other year his performance would’ve earned him an individual national title. He showed real grit today. It’s an exclamation point on his indoor track and field career. I couldn't be any more proud.”
Clinger clocked 13:13.46 across the finish for a new personal best. The runner from American Fork, Utah improved his previous school record of 13:17.36 that he achieved in 2022. Clinger is now a three-time First Team All-American in his indoor track career.
Creed Thompson and Joey Nokes earned First and Second Team All-American status in the 5,000m, respectively. Thompson placed eighth with a 13:19.24 finishing time, while Nokes placed 12th in 13:31.61.
"Our distance medley relay team performed every leg perfectly," continued Eyestone. "All five top team times would've been NCAA records till this year. All four men did phenomenal. Carter started us strong, Josh had the fastest 400-meter split of the event, our true freshman Tyler performed amazing and the final push from Lucas was incredible - to finish the final leg in 3:52.31 was solid. It was a really great evening."
The men’s distance crew continued to show out with a fifth-place finish in the distance medley relay. The four-man team of Carter Cutting, Josh Taylor, Tyler Mathews and Lucas Bons - clocked a 9:18.31 finish through the varied distances and achieved First Team All-American status. The result also etched a new school record.
"Every single one of the guys executed their legs as well as we could have hoped for," said assistant men's distance coach Ryan Waite. "Carter got us in great position to start, Josh and Tyler moved us up a couple more spots, and Lucas ran the kind of leg we knew he could. Capping off the indoor season with a school record and First-Team All-American honors is great momentum for these guys heading into outdoors."
“I just feel super blessed,” said Taylor. “It took me four years to get on that podium. I’m super grateful for three other stellar teammates and a mountain of support behind me to get up there. It feels really good.”
Ben Barton also impressed through the first day of competition in the men’s heptathlon. Barton secured 3340 points through four events. The multi-event athlete from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan placed second in the standings behind Peyton Bair of Mississippi State.
“Ben had a solid first day,” said multi-event coach Tiffany Hogan. “He has put himself in striking distance of finishing in one of the top spots tomorrow. He still has three events to go, but he knows how to compete under pressure.”
Up Next
The Cougars will return to action Saturday for day two of the NCAA indoor championships. Barton resumes competition in the heptathlon 60m hurdles at 9:30 p.m. ET. Live results can be found here with live streaming on ESPN+.