11 men to compete at outdoor track and field championships

PROVO, Utah - No. 14 BYU men's track and field will have 11 athletes compete in eight events at this week's NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myer's Track Stadium in Austin, Texas June 7-10.

See MEET CENTRAL for a comprehensive BYU event schedule, live stream links and results.

Meet Information

• Dates: June 7-10
• Host: Texas
• Venue: Mike A. Myer's Track Stadium // Austin, Texas
• Men's Events: June 7, 8*, 9
• Women's Events: June 8, 10
• Watch
  • Wednesday: ESPN2 (6:30 p.m. CDT)
  • Thursday: (See MEET CENTRAL for men's decathlon live stream event links)
  • Friday: ESPN2 (8:00 p.m. CDT)
• Live Results
• Tickets

*Men's Decathlon

Men's Qualifiers

Casey Clinger // 6'0, Sr. // American Fork, Utah // American Fork High School

Clinger is the only Cougar to qualify in two events: the 10,000-meters and 5,000-meters. He enters nationals seeking his sixth career All-American honor, fresh off two First Team awards at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships in March. The senior's highest outdoor nationals placement is 10th, recorded at the 2022 outdoor championship 5,000m where he crossed the line at 13:33.20.

At this year's NCAA West Preliminaries, Clinger placed ninth in the 10,000m at 28:23.41 while taking eighth in the 5,000m with a 13:36.27 performance.

The distance runner currently holds three outdoor top-10 slots in BYU history. He is the school record holder in the 5,000m (13:23.33, 2022) and No. 5 all-time in both the 1500m (3:38.16, 2021) and 10,000m (28:01.67, 2023). His No. 5 all-time 10,000m race came this season at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

Clinger is a business management major and served a full-time mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sapporo, Japan (2019-20). He is married to former BYU women's volleyball libero, Morgan Bower Clinger.

Caleb Witsken // 6'3, Sr. // Logandale, Nevada // Moapa Valley High School

Witsken enters this week's pole vault final with hopes of a fifth career All-American honor across indoor and outdoor seasons. The senior appeared in last year's outdoor nationals in Eugene, Oregon, placing 10th with a clearance of 5.45m/17-10.5 for Second Team All-American honors. Just this year, he earned First Team All-American honors in March for his sixth-place 2023 NCAA Indoor Nationals finish.

At this year's NCAA West Preliminaries, Witsken placed seventh at 5.40m/17-8.5. Currently ranked No. 15 nationally among pole vaulters, the senior will aim to continue some Texas magic as his season-best clearance of 5.51m/18-1 took place at the 95th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on April 1.

Witsken is No. 3 all-time at BYU in the pole vault (5.56m/18-3, 2022). His appearance marks the third straight year that the Cougars have had a pole vaulter at outdoor nationals.

The exercise science major served a full-time mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Medellin, Columbia (2015-17). He is married to Alaina Witsken.

Kenneth Rooks // 5'10, Jr. // Walla Walla, Washington // College Place High School

Rooks will race in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, entering the competition ranked No. 2 in the country. His second all-time steeplechase finish in NCAA history on May 6 (8:17.62) was narrowly surpassed by Montana State's Duncan Hamilton at May's NCAA West Preliminaries after Hamilton clocked a time of 8:16.23. Rooks ran 8:25.05 to punch his ticket to the national meet. 

The junior is the BYU school record-holder in the steeplechase after his May 6 performance surpassed Henry Marsh's 46 year-old record by four seconds. Rooks seeks his third First Team All-American honor and fourth career All-American award. He is the only 2019 BYU All-American that will be competing at this year's nationals for the Cougars.

The civil engineering major served a full-time mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kampala, Uganda and Orem, Utah (2019-21).

Josh Taylor // 6'0, So. // Richfield, Utah // Skyridge High School

Eli Hazlett // 6'1, So. // Moab, Utah // Grand County High School

Jace Jensen // 6'0, So. // Bountiful, Utah // Bountiful High School

Landon Maxfield // 5'10, Jr. // Sandy, Utah // Alta High School

Taylor, Hazlett, Jensen and Maxfield are set to race as members of the 4x400-meter squad. Maxfield brings valuable experience at the highest collegiate stage, with three outdoor relay All-American honors under his belt, including Second Team 4x400m honors in 2021.

No stranger to success in Texas, the 4x400m A-squad blazed to a school-record, 3:03.19 finish at the Texas Relays on April 1. That time currently stands at No. 13 in the nation.

At last month's NCAA West Preliminaries, the squad qualified with a No. 3 all-time BYU showing (3:06.16) to place ninth. With the finish, the squad became the sixth 4x400m relay squad at BYU to reach NCAA nationals since 2010.

Ben Barton // 6'4, So. // Birmingham, Michigan // Birmingham Seaholm High School

All times central.

Barton will compete at NCAA nationals for the first time in his career, having solidified his decathlon qualifying status on May 12-13 at BYU's Last Chance Invite when he posted a total of 7,734 points. The score was good for No. 6 all-time at BYU.

Barton did not compete at the NCAA West Preliminaries, as qualifying decathletes (top 24) automatically advance to nationals. He extends the Cougars' streak of decathlon entries at outdoor nationals to seven consecutive years.

The sophomore competed for the Cougars this year for the first time since 2019, shattering personal records in nine of 10 events. The multi-athlete served a full-time mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Reno, Nevada and Hungary (2020-22).

Cameron Bates // 6'2, Jr. // Spanish Fork, Utah // Maple Mountain High School

Bates returns to outdoor nationals for the second time and first since 2021, having earned First Team All-American honors at his first appearance. Standing alone atop the BYU record books in the event (77.17m/253-2, 2021), Bates is ranked No. 7 in the country this season after a toss that measured 76.07m/249-7 on March 31 at the Texas Relays. He joins several other Cougars who come to nationals having earned their season-best mark or time in Austin.

At this year's NCAA West Preliminaries, the junior placed sixth with a toss of 70.89m/232-7. Entering Wednesday's competition, he is among twelve Cougars to have been named an All-American in the javelin in BYU history. He aims to become just the third Cougar to earn multiple All-American honors in the javelin and first since 1979-80 (Jari Keihas).

The physical education and coaching major served a full-time mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Lima, Peru. He is married to Emily Bates.

Brandon Garnica // 5'6, Sr. // Springville, Utah // Springville High School

Garnica is back at nationals for the second year in a row after having earned Second Team All-American honors in the 10,000-meters in 2022. Ranked No. 11 in the nation, he owns a season-best time of 28:04.62 set on April 13 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. The senior has recorded two BYU top-10 performances in his career, including a No. 7 all-time run in the 10,000m.

Garnica clocked a 28:24.05 10,000m run at the NCAA West Preliminary round last month to place 10th. He and fellow qualifier Casey Clinger finished within a second of each other. The pair continue the program's streak to 10 consecutive years with a 10,000m qualifier at outdoor nationals.

The electrical engineering major has been a member of BYU track and field since 2019.

Dallin Shurts // 6'6, Sr. // Banks, Oregon // Banks High School

Shurts is set to compete in his second NCAA nationals appearance. The senior discus thrower last competed in 2021, earning Second Team All-American honors. At No. 8 in the country, he joins Rooks, Bates and Clinger as the four Cougars entering nationals ranked in the top 10 of their respective events.

His season-best also came at the Texas Relays with a toss a 62.21m/204-1. At May's NCAA West Preliminaries, Shurts tossed a 58.20m/190-11 to place eighth. He aims to break his career-best toss of 62.32m/204-5 (No. 6 all-time at BYU) set at last year's USATF Championships.

The molecular biology major served a full-time mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

National Entry Standings

BYU's 17 combined men's and women's entries are tied for 13th nationally with Oklahoma, making the program one of just 16 programs with 15 or more combined entries.

The Cougars nine men's entries are tied for ninth nationally with Kansas, Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, and USC. The men's team is one of 15 teams with nine or more men's entries.

Among 2023-24 Big 12 teams, only Texas Tech (12) and Texas (10) have more men's entries than BYU's nine.