The second day of the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon, saw more success from BYU athletes with runner Ben Barton earning the national title in the men’s decathlon.
Barton won the title by just nine points. The final points came off a nine-second advantage over Louisville’s Kenneth Byrd in the final 1500 meters event. Barton scored at 8,169 points in his championship-winning race.
Barton is the first male BYU runner to take the national title since Tito Steiner, who won three outdoor decathlon championships in 1977, 1979 and 1981.
Freshman Jane Hedengren, the NCAA record holder in both the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters races, competed in the latter on Thursday night.
In a turn of events, Hedengren, who was the top seed for the event, finished third. While she held onto her collegiate record, she ran almost two seconds slower than her record-breaking time, finishing with a 31:57.94.
Mercyline Kirwa, a freshman at Iowa State, brought home the title, beating out the second place runner by two seconds.
Jenna Hutchins, the BYU veteran senior, took eighth overall in the 10,000 meters, finishing with a final time of 32:16.16.
BYU’s Carlee Hansen and Carmen Alder both qualified for the 1500-meter finals, which will take place on Saturday. Hansen took fifth overall and ran a new personal-best 4:07.08. Alder took 12th overall, sneaking her way into the final qualifying spot.
The finals-worthy performances continued in the 3000-meter steeplechase where BYU’s Taylor Lovell took fourth place overall and her teammate Raygan Dimond took 12th overall, securing the last qualifying spot.
Despite holding school records in both the 100 and 200 meters, Paje Rasmussen did not qualify for the final race in either event. She placed 21st in the 100 meters and tied for 19th in the 200 meter.
However, Rasmussen did earn herself an All-American honorable mention in the 100 meters. Her teammate Tessa Buswell was also named as an All-American honorable mention in the 800 meters.
Krystie Solomon brought home a second team All-American honor along with a new personal best time of 2:01.40 in the 800 meters.
Coming up on Friday, Carter Cutting will race in the 1,500-meter final. He enters as the No. 4 seed. Isaac Hedengren and Tayvon Kitchen will make their first appearances at the competition, both running in the 5,000-meter final.
The national competition will continue until Saturday.