PROVO, Utah – BYU track and field and men’s cross country coach Ed Eyestone has been selected for induction to the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be held Sept. 17 at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City.
“It’s certainly an honor,” Eyestone said. “The state has produced a number of great athletes and coaches and to be included among them is very humbling. I’m happy for all the people who have put me in a position to receive this honor, the mentors, coaches, family and supporting cast that have allowed me to pursue my running dreams. I’m so grateful that I can share this with all of them.”
As a student-athlete at BYU, Eyestone was a four-time national champion in cross country and track. His first title came at the 1984 NCAA Track and Field Championships when he claimed his first of two 10,000-meter titles. His second title came in the fall of 1984, as he won the NCAA cross country title. At the 1985 NCAA Track and Field Championships, Eyestone won the 5,000 and 10,000-meter titles.
In addition to his national championships, Eyestone was a 10-time All-American, a CoSIDA Academic All-American and a recipient of the NCAA’s Top Six Award.
Following his BYU career, Eyestone ran professionally for 15 years and was a two-time Olympian. He was also a three-time member of the United States Cross Country Team.
In 2000, Eyestone returned to BYU as the men’s cross country coach and distance coach with the track team. As cross country coach, Eyestone has led the Cougars to 10 conference titles and has been named conference coach of the year six times. He has led BYU to a top 25 finish at the NCAA Championships each season, including top 10 finishes in 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
On the track, Eyestone has coached more than 30 All-Americans and three of his distance runners have earned individual national championships. In 2011, he coached BYU’s distance medley relay team that won the title at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In 2013, BYU combined its men’s and women’s track and field programs and Eyestone was named head coach.
Eyestone will be inducted along with Kelly Downs, Scott Mitchell, Cael Sanderson and the late Wayne Estes.
Downs, a Viewmont High School graduate, pitched in the major leagues for eight years with San Francisco and Oakland. He appeared in the 1989 World Series with the Giants. His best seasons in San Francisco came in 1988, when he posted a 13-9 record and 1991, when he went 10-4.
Mitchell, from Springville High School and the University of Utah, played in 97 NFL games as a quarterback for Miami, Detroit, Baltimore and Cincinnati. He made two playoff appearances with the Lions. In three seasons at Utah, he threw 69 touchdown passes.
Sanderson, from Wasatch High School, went 159-0 in four years as an Iowa State wrestler, considered one of the greatest achievements in college sports history. He won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics. As Penn State's coach, Sanderson won four consecutive NCAA wrestling titles (2011-14).
Estes died in February 1965, the night he topped the 2,000-point mark in his Utah State basketball career. He was averaging 33.7 points as a senior and was posthumously named to All-America teams. Estes is still the No. 3 scorer in Aggie history.
Visit UtahSportsHallofFame.org for information on the Hall of Fame Induction Banquet.