SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, California – BYU track and field distance runner Casey Clinger ran 27:11.00 in the 10,000-meters to break a 40-year-old school record.
Clinger cracked the program record long-held by his current head coach and BYU director of track and field Ed Eyestone from 1985 who ran 27:41.05.
“Big night,” said Eyestone. “The record went down from over 40 years ago. It couldn’t have been done by a nicer young man. We knew going into this it was going to break, but we didn’t know by how much. He stuck his nose to break 27 minutes. I’m glad he broke my record by 30 seconds. The time he put down could be held for another 40 years. I’m very proud of him.”
The eight-time All-American and five-time outdoor track and field All-American now holds four individual program records in the indoor 3000m, 5000m, outdoor 5000m and now 10,000m.
“It was good,” said Clinger. “It was about a 50 second personal best so that’s good. Going into this we knew Coach Eyestone’s record was on the table, but that left my mind early on. It became about competing and beating as many people as I could. I’m honored to be on the board alongside Coach Eyestone who is an amazing mentor and an amazing friend. If he was in this race like he was in 1985, he would’ve given me a run for it. I love Coach Eyestone. It’s pretty cool to be coached by someone who has done it and run it. He gets it.”
Since recovering from an injury in the summer of 2023, Clinger had redshirted the 2023 cross country, 2024 indoor track and outdoor track seasons. In comeback fashion, the product from American Fork, Utah led his team to a national title at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall. Clinger was the first Cougar across the line with a 28:45.10 outing over the 10,000m course.
The 2025 indoor track season saw Clinger claim the individual Big 12 title in the 5000m at the conference championships. The captain crossed the finish line in 13:29.61.
“First of all, the fact that Coach Eyestone's record had lasted that long shows how hard it was to crack,” said assistant coach Ryan Waite. “With all the high-level athletes that have come through the program since, and with the technological advances and training over the years – those facts say a lot about how difficult that record was to crack. To have Casey break it as much as he did shows who Casey is as an athlete.”
Up Next
The Cougars will head to the west coast to compete at the Stanford and Triton Invitationals at the Stanford and Triton Invitationals April 4-5.