Barton claims NCAA Decathlon national title

EUGENE, Ore. – Ben Barton was crowned the decathlon national champion, the first BYU champion in the multi-event in more than 45 years on the second day of the NCAA Outdoor National Championships at Hayward Field Thursday.

The senior, competing in his final season in a Cougar uniform, ended with 8169 points, the second most in BYU history just behind Tito Stiener’s national title performance in 1981. Barton finished out the final five events winning by a margin of just nine points over Louisville’s Kenneth Byrd. 

Make every event count 🔥

Ben Barton passes Louisville's Kenneth Byrd in the final event of the Decathlon, the 1500m. He was down 50 points entering the 1500m. He posted a 4:32 1500m (728 pts) compared to Byrd's 4:41.73 (669 pts) for the overall win.

Barton wins with a personal… pic.twitter.com/qtNMWdQ873

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) June 12, 2026

"Coach Hogan put me in a really good spot to take the title today" Barton said after the meet, "I made a few mistakes in some areas but was able to make up for it in others and ultimately win it."

The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan product opened the day with a 14.20 second 110-meter hurdles in which he took third overall to claim 949 points. The All-American then garnered 706 points in the discus where he threw a personal-record 42.15m/138-3 and took 12th. Barton then cleared a season-best 4.31m/14-1.75 in the pole vault to finish 16th in which he earned 705 points. He then broke another personal best in the javelin throw with a mark of 55.15m/180-11 on his second attempt. 

Heading into the final event Barton trailed Byrd by 50 points and needed to beat the sophomore by over seven seconds in the 1500-meter to claim the championship title. The decorated senior did just that producing his fastest ever 1500m and crossing the line in 4:32.61 beating his previous best by just over one second. He finished nine seconds ahead of Byrd and eighth overall in the event, nabbing 726 points to secure the national title.

Barton, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is now the second straight NCAA decathlon champion of his faith with Mississippi State's Payton Bair, a fellow Latter-day Saint, winning the title in 2025.

Full Results

Up Next

The Cougars will finish out their season with Carter Cutting competing in the 1500m final, Tayvon Kitchen and Isaac Hedengren set for the 5000-meter final on Friday June 12. Live coverage of the championships will be available on ESPN 2.