Carter Cutting became the 13th BYU men’s indoor national champion after winning the mile with a time of 3:58.94 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on March 14.
Cutting’s victory marks the first time in over a decade that a BYU athlete has won an indoor national title in this event, highlighting a significant achievement for both him and the program. The last Cougar to win was Miles Batty in 2011.
Cutting, who holds the school record in the mile at 3:52.83, entered the championship ranked tenth this season. He won his preliminary heat before pulling away late in the final to secure his first national title. “I am at a loss for words, winning that race is difficult,” distance coach Ryan Waite said. “In a race that requires incredible fitness and tactical acumen Carter made his own luck by running smart and tough. He won because he has always had the mindset of a champion and has always believed in himself and he did all the little things leading up to this race. We did film study and scouting reports for every athlete and every possible scenario. Carter did everything in his power to prepare for this moment and he capitalized.” Cutting said of his win, “I was the underdog, not many people would’ve picked me to win it. I had people in my corner believing that I could do it and instilled that belief in me. I came out here and ran for god and the people around that have supported me.”
Ben Barton finished fifth overall in the heptathlon with a school record-setting 6025 points, becoming the first BYU athlete to score over 6000 points in this event. Barton improved his own school record by 81 points during his final indoor season, finishing third in the 60-meter high hurdles (7.96 seconds), thirteenth in pole vault (4.47 meters), and fourth in the 1000-meter (2:40.46). Multi-athlete coach Tiffany Hogan said, “Coming into this meet I wasn’t sure what to expect out of Ben… However, he kept putting up quality marks in each event and put himself in a very good position going into the last event… I am proud of how he handled himself over the seven events.”
In other results, Isaac Hedengren placed seventh while Tayvon Kitchen finished ninth in the 3000 meters after trading leads early before being overtaken by Habtom Samuel of New Mexico; two runners were disqualified after crossing the finish line.
Arkansas won the team title as host of these championships while BYU tied for seventh place overall with Northern Arizona and South Carolina at twenty points each.
A reairing of coverage from these championships will be available on ESPNU on Sunday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m., with BYU set to begin its outdoor track season at Utah Tech Invitational on March 21.
