PROVO, Utah – The Cougars completed their 13th season under director of track and field Ed Eyestone, a season where they produced six First-Team All-Americans and claimed national titles during both indoor and outdoor seasons.
BYU recorded 24 top 10 all-time performances including five school records between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Carter Cutting led the charge setting the BYU school record in the mile at the Boston John Thomas Terrier Classic with a time of 3:54.38 before breaking it again on the same track at the David Hemry Valentine Invitational setting the mark at 3:52.84.
The Junior didn’t stop there, following those record setting performances by crowning himself the national champion in the event at the indoor NCAA national championships in March with a 3:58.94 to become the first BYU men’s indoor champion in more than ten years.
The Wilsonville, Oregon product carried that momentum into the outdoor season where he set the BYU school record in the 1500-meter with a 3:35.95 performance on his way to an eighth place finish at the NCAA outdoor national championship that earned him his second First-Team All-American honors of the year.
Cutting notably won the 1500m Big 12 title in 3:58.63 and was named the Big 12 outdoor scholar athlete of the year on top of setting the the No. 7 BYU all-time record in the outdoor 800-meter with a 1:47.02 time at the Robison Invitational.
Ben Barton finished his final season in a Cougar uniform taking home the national championship trophy in the decathlon after recording 8,169 points in the event at the NCAA outdoor national championship to become the first decathlete to win the title for BYU in more than 45 years.
The No. 2 all-time BYU performance earned him his second First-Team All-American honors of the year after becoming the first BYU athlete to surpass 6,000 points earlier this year in the indoor heptathlon with a 6,025 point performance at the NCAA indoor national championship that placed him fifth. The mark is the BYU school record and Barton’s fourth appearance on the top 10 boards with him also holding the No. 3 60-meter hurdle record and the No. 4 indoor long jump record.
Barton leaves BYU a five time First-Team All-American and three time USTFCCCA Academic All-American. The redshirt senior was also named the 2026 USTFCCCA Mountain Region Field Athlete of the year.
Freshman Tayvon Kitchen followed his All-American cross country season by setting the BYU school record in the indoor 3000-meter with a 7:36.23 performance at the David Hemry Valentine Invite that ranked him No. 8 all-time in the NCAA’s history and made him the fastest true freshman to ever compete in the event.
Kitchen also set the indoor 5000-meter No. 2 all-time BYU record with a 13:19.17 performance at the John Thomas Terrier Classic. The Central Point, Oregon product then finished runner up at the Big 12 indoor championships in the 3000-meter with a 7:52.91 before turning around and helping the DMR group take home the Big 12 championship crown with a 9:35.98 effort.
After claiming First-Team All-American honors at the NCAA indoor national championships with an eighth place finish in the 5000m, Kitchen opened his outdoor career by setting the Cougar school record in the outdoor 5000m with a 13:16.27 mark. He then went on to become the sixth person in history to break four minutes in the mile within the state of Utah at the BYU Robison Invitational before closing the outdoor season with a 14th place finish at the NCAA outdoor national championships.
Following his fourth place finish at the Big 12 outdoor championships in the 5000m, Kitchen was named the Big 12 Outdoor Outstanding Freshman of the Year.
Isaac Hedengren set the No. 3 all-time BYU record in the indoor 3000m with a 7:41.48 performance at the David Hemry Valentine Invite before taking seventh a the NCAA indoor national championships in the same event, earning a spot on the First-Team All-American lists. The junior also helped the DMR squad take sixth at the national meet.
The Provo, Utah native translated those successes into outdoor season where alongside Kitchen he became the seventh person to ever break four minutes in the mile in the state of Utah before setting the No. 8 all-time BYU record in the 5000m at the Stanford Invitational with a 13:28.55 time.
Hedengren went on to podium in the event at the NCAA outdoor national championship meet producing an eighth place 13:48.84 performance to close his junior season claiming his second First-Team All-American honors of the year.
Creed Thompson closed out his final season as a BYU Cougar setting the No. 6 all-time school record in the indoor 3000-meter with a 7:48.08 effort at the David Hemry Valentine Invite before crowning himself the Big 12 Champion in the event in late February.
The senior from Lehi, Utah also captured the Big 12 outdoor 10,000-meter title with a 29:20.31 performance. Thompson leaves BYU with his name on four different top 10 record boards at the university.
The Distance Medley Relay group featuring Brayden Packard, Jonah Heimuli, Cutting and Hedengren finished sixth in a time of 9:25.81 at the NCAA indoor national championship earning each member of the relay squad a spot on the First-Team All-American list.
Packard individually set the No. 9 all-time BYU record in the indoor 800-meter with a 1:49.07 performance at the Penn Elite invite while Heimuli set the No. 8 all-time BYU record in the indoor 400-meter finishing in a time of 46.81 and taking first at the Colorado Last Chance Meet in late February.