Brigham Young University athletes dominate in track and field.
This year, 17 students competed in the United States Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon. That’s more than any other college in the country. When you add in alumni, it jumps to 22 athletes.
Ed Eyestone has coached the men’s distance running team for over 20 years. He believes the current field is the culmination of years of talent.
“The younger athletes see the success of the older athletes and say, why not me?”
BYU athletes often serve on two-year missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This makes them older than many of the athletes they’re competing against. At times this draws criticism from those who think their age and experience gives them an advantage.
For Eyestone, the trials are a chance to showcase the team’s dominance on a bigger stage where age isn’t a factor.
“You'll always have some of the naysayers going, ‘Well, you're two years older in college, so maybe you should be winning.’ But once you get out of college, age is not a factor at all. I mean, everybody's older. And so, it's the very cream that rises to the top to make the Olympic team,” he said.
James Corrigan, a 22-year-old sophomore, ran the 3000-meter steeplechase on June 23. That’s a distance event where runners also have to leap over barriers and pools of water. For most of the race he was at the back of the pack, but with an incredible kick at the end, Corrigan placed third.
“Even though I was passing people on the backstretch with about 300 [meters] to go, I don't think it sunk in until the last water jump. And I kind of pulled away, then I started freaking out.”
To go to the Olympics athletes have to finish in the top three at the trials and have a good enough time or ranking. Corrigan ran a second race on June 29 to get the Olympic standard time requirement he needed to secure his ticket to Paris.
Two other BYU alumni also made the Olympic track and field team. Kenneth Rooks placed first in the same race as Corrigan. Courtney Wayment placed second in the Women’s 3000-meter steeplechase.
Conner Mantz and Clayton Young also placed first and second respectively in the marathon trials in February. They will also be competing in Paris.
Coach Eyestone will head to Paris with all of them.
“More than anything, it's just rewarding to see these young men and women, most of whom have set goals to compete at the highest level, accomplish that, And then, want to see them do as well as they can at the games.”
The Paris Olympics begin on July 24.
