Cougars head to Eugene for 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

PROVO, Utah – No. 5/11 BYU track and field will have a combined 24 entries compete at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The national meet begins Wednesday, June 9 at Hayward Field and will conclude Saturday, June 12.

Meet Information

• June 9-12
• Hayward Field | Eugene, Oregon
• Meet Schedule
• BYU Schedule
• Start Lists: Men | Women
• ESPN2/ESPNU/ESPN3 (Broadcast schedule below)
• Live Results

The fifth-ranked BYU men will primarily compete Wednesday and Friday, except for the decathlon that will conclude on Thursday. The 11th-ranked BYU women will compete on Thursday and Saturday.

The entirety of the four-day meet will be covered on ESPN networks. The track events will be televised and streamed on either ESPN2 or ESPN while the field events will be streamed on ESPN3. See the broadcast schedule in the table below.

The BYU men’s and women’s teams enter the championship week among the programs with the most bids secured to the final site. The BYU men’s 14 entries are tied with USC for the third-most bids from a single program in the men’s competition, just one fewer entry than Oregon (15) and LSU (15). The BYU women’s 10 entries are tied for the 10th-most bids from a single program in the women’s competition.

The men’s team is headlined by Cameron Bates, All-American Conner Mantz and All-American Zach McWhorter. Mantz has the fastest 10,000m in the NCAA this season with a time of 27:41.16. In the men’s pole vault, McWhorter has the fourth-best performance in the nation this year with a clearance of 5.70m/18-8.25. Bates has the fourth-best javelin throw of any collegiate athlete this year with a mark of 77.17m/253-2. All three will compete in their finals on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s semifinals will include All-Americans Lucas Bons and Talem Franco in the 1500m, Garrett Marsing and All-American Clayson Shumway in the 3000m steeplechase, All-American Michael Bluth in the 400m, All-American Colten Yardley in the 400m hurdles and both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Those that advance will compete again on Friday.

Dallin Vorkink will complete the first half of the decathlon on Wednesday before concluding the second half of the event on Thursday. Dallin Shurts, discus, and All-American Casey Clinger, 5000m, will both have their finals on Friday.

The women’s team is headlined by All-Americans Whittni Orton and Courtney Wayment. Doubling in the 1500m and 5000m, Orton ran the fastest 5000m in the nation this season with a time of 15:12.91 and has the third-fastest 1500m with a time of 4:09.31. Wayment ran the fastest 3000m steeplechase in the NCAA with a time of 9:31.37, more than 5 seconds faster than the next best time.

Thursday’s semifinals will include All-Americans Anna Camp-Bennett, Kate Hunter and Orton in the 1500m, All-Americans Sara Musselman and Wayment in the steeplechase, All-Americans Camp-Bennett and Claire Seymour in the 800m, and the 4x400m relay.

Including those that advance from Thursday's semifinals, Saturday will feature Orton in the 5000m final and Cierra Tidwell Allphin in the high jump final.

This will be the Cougars’ first opportunity to compete at the outdoor championship meet since 2019 after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 outdoor season to be canceled. Both teams finished in the top 25 at the 2019 outdoor championships as the BYU men placed 8th overall and the BYU women tied for 25th.

The Cougars recently racked up six USTFCCCA region awards. BYU swept the men's Mountain Region awards for the first time in program history as Conner Mantz claimed Track Athlete of the Year, Cameron Bates received Field Athlete of the Year, director of track and field Ed Eyestone collected Coach of the Year and Kyle Grossarth was named Assistant Coach of the Year.

The women also made history as Whittni Orton became the first BYU runner to win the outdoor Mountian Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year and associate director of track and field Diljeet Taylor became the first coach to receive Mountain Region Women's Assistant Coach of the Year.

Wednesday, June 9

Thursday, June 10

Friday, June 11

* -- If qualified

Saturday, June 12

* -- If qualified