Carter Cutting, Tayvon Kitchen, Isaac Hedengren, and the 4×400-meter relay squad from Brigham Young University secured berths in the NCAA National Championships during the NCAA West Preliminary round hosted by the University of Arkansas on May 29 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Cutting finished second overall in the 1500-meter quarterfinal race with a time of 3:37.64, just behind NCAA record holder Simeon Birnbaum. This performance earned him a spot in the semifinals at the national championship and marked his personal best, making him third all-time at BYU in this event. The junior managed to hold off competitors down the final stretch of what is anticipated to be a preview of the upcoming final in Oregon.
In the 5000-meter event, Hedengren placed eighth overall with a time of 13:43.28 to qualify by time for nationals. Freshman Kitchen also advanced after finishing fourth in his heat and twelfth overall with a time of 13:45.94. They were joined by Creed Thompson (17th), Noah Jenkins (21st), and Hunter Kitchen (35th), who also competed but did not advance.
The BYU men’s 4×400-meter relay team—composed of Ben Barton, Jonah Heimuli, Jayden Jessee, and Josh Taylor—recorded a time of 3:03.79 to take ninth place overall and secure their place at nationals as well. Taylor ran an unofficial split of 44.69 seconds on his anchor leg, which would have set a school record for an individual 400-meter dash.
Other notable performances included Olympian James Corrigan finishing twentieth in the 3000-meter steeplechase, with teammates Jefferson McMullin (23rd) and Max Davis (29th). Mark Bryant competed in discus while Silas Zimmerman participated in pole vault after rescheduling due to weather conditions.
BYU will send five athletes competing across four events to Hayward Field at Eugene, Oregon, for the NCAA National Championships scheduled June 10-13.
