PROVO, Utah – BYU’s Casey Clinger, Ben Barton, Creed Thompson, Joey Nokes and Trey Jackson were all named to the Academic All-District Team selected by the College Sports Communicators.
The 2025 Academic All-District® Men’s Track & Field teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the track, in the field and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes men’s track & field honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must maintain at least a 3.50 grade point average while finishing in the Top 50 at a regional cross country championships or rank in the Top 50 in their respecitive region in an indivdidual event.
Clinger, a 2023 Third Team Academic All-American, finished his collegiate career as the fastest Cougar in four events on the track including breaking Ed Eyestone’s 10,000-meter record in his final race at BYU. His time of 27:11.00 at The Ten broke Eyestone’s s record by more than 30 seconds and is the fifth-fastest time in NCAA Division I history.
The American Fork native led the Cougars to their second-ever cross country team title finishing sixth at the national championships marking the fifth time he earned All-American honors. He followed that up with a Big 12 title in the 5,000-meters indoors where he would finish fourth at the indoor championships in the fastest time in program history, 13:13.46.
Barton, an exercise science major, earns the award for a second time as the junior earned First Team All-American honors at both the indoor and outdoor championships. He finished fourth at the indoor championships in the heptathlon after setting the program record in the event en route to a runner-up finish at the Big 12 Championships. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich. native finished sixth in the decathlon with 7,777 points, the highest finish by a Cougar since Curtis Pugsley finished sixth in 2000.
Jackson, an information systems major, finished his collegiate career running the leadoff leg on the 4x400-meter relay that finished seventh at the outdoor championships with the fastest time in program history, 3:02.51. He also ran a leg on the mile relay that finished sixth at the indoor championships in 3:05.56. The senior earned Big 12 All-Academic First Team accolades in 2024 and CSC Academic All-District honors in 2023.
Nokes graduated with his degree in exercise science this spring before finishing 14th in the 10,000-meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn Second Team All-American honors. He also finished 12th in the 5,000-meters indoors running 13:31.61. During BYU’s run to the cross country national title in the fall, Nokes finished 31st covering the 10,000m course in 29:21.5.
Thompson was one of six runners in 2024-25 to earn All-American honors in cross country and First Team All-American accolades in indoor and outdoor track & field. The computer science major finished 12th at the cross country championships before finishing eighth in the 5,000-meter indoors with the second-fastest time in program history. He finished his season with an eighth-place finish in the 10,000-meters outdoors running his final lap in 55.89 to pass four runners.