Clayton Young captured a national title for BYU, winning the 10,000-meter in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The American Fork native outpaced Alabama’s Gilbert Kigen in the final lap of the race, finishing with a time of 29:16.60. Kigen would finish just under two seconds behind Young with a time of 29:18.10.
BYU saw three of its athletes among the top finishers in the 10,000-meter event with Connor McMillan placing third and crossing the finish line with a time of 29:19.85 and Conner Mantz finishing fourth with a time of 29:19.93. With these three top place finishes, the men’s track and field team finds themselves in second place with 21 points on the leaderboard after day one.
It’s been exactly ten years since BYU won a national title in track and field on the men’s side, with Kyle Perry capturing the championship title in the steeplechase event in 2009. BYU track and field coach Ed Eyestone was the last member of BYU men’s track and field to capture the 10,000-meter national title, winning it in 1985.
Young is no stranger to the NCAA championships as he also made appearances in 2017 and 2018. The senior took 23rd in the 10,000-meter in 2018, taking 12th in the 5000-meter that same year. In 2017, Young placed 17th in the 10,000-meter and 15th in the 5000-meter.
Clayton Young after taking the #NCAATF title in the 10k:
Tired? I don't know who that is…pic.twitter.com/JvoBgDns7B
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) June 6, 2019
Young set a BYU record in the 5000-meter on Feb. 9 at the Iowa State Classic with a time of 13:34.36, finishing more than six seconds ahead of the old record of 13:41.01. Young’s time also set a meet and facility record, beating old records by nearly three full seconds.
Prior to the 2019 season, Young had received USTFCCCA All-Academic honors three times in addition to being named to four All-American second teams at nationals.
