Fast Feats

---

By A. Jeff Call (BA ’94) in the Summer 2024 issue

Illustrations by Valerie Chiang

ON A PLEASANT SPRING MORNING, a veritable Olympic entourage rolls through the streets of Provo with exactly zero fanfare. Drivers on University Avenue might be excused for overlooking the group—a few runners and a man following close behind on a fat-tired bicycle. Aside from this group’s brisk 5:20 pace, roadside runners are a common enough sight in Provo.

What passersby don’t know is that the group includes three generations of BYU Olympic marathon glory, a confluence of elite talent pounding the pavement at a wearying speed. Call it the BYU men’s distance-running Eras Tour.

Bringing up the rear on wheels is BYU head track and field coach Edward D. Eyestone (BS ’85, MS ’90), the first BYU grad to qualify for the Olympics in the marathon—both in 1988 (Seoul) and 1992 (Barcelona). He’s coaching professional runner Clayton A. Young (BS ’19, MS ’22), a former NCAA 10K national champion at BYU. Young qualified for the Paris Olympics at the US Olympic marathon trials in February, running stride-for-stride with training partner and fellow former Cougar Conner B. Mantz (BS ’22), himself a two-time cross country national champ. It was a historic moment as the friends and competitors rallied together to finish No. 1 and 2 and secure the first two US Olympic marathon slots.

Running alongside Young is Jared B. Ward (BS ’15, MS ’15)—known in running circles as Wardy—who found Olympic fame in the 2016 Rio Games, finishing 6th in the marathon. On hand in Orlando to watch his running buddies’ historic US trials triumph, he couldn’t hold back the tears.

“I don’t think people realize how incredible it is what these guys have done,” he says. “To be the top two guys in the nation, from the same state, from the same program, . . . that just doesn’t happen.”

And BYU’s representation in the Paris marathon lineup doesn’t end there. Rory E. Linkletter (BA ’19), another former Cougar, qualified to represent Canada.

“There’s only going to be 80 men in the world on the start line of the Olympic marathon,” Linkletter says. “And three of them are BYU graduates.”

With another pair of Cougar men qualifying for the Olympics in the steeplechase—Kenneth Rooks (’24) and James A. Corrigan (’27)—it’s a heady time to be affiliated with BYU men’s distance running. And the men aren’t the only ones burning up the track.

Led by Coach Diljeet Taylor, the Cougar women are experiencing a return to national prominence, winning a cross-country national title in 2020 (and taking 2nd in 2019 and 2021) and securing the team’s inaugural Big 12 championship last fall. Like Eyestone, she now coaches former BYU runners as professionals.

Several BYU women also made a run at the Olympics—with NCAA champs Courtney Wayment (BS ’20) and Whittni Orton Morgan (BS ’21) earning spots in the steeplechase and 5000m, respectively.

“[BYU is] one of the preeminent programs, especially when it comes to distance running,” says John Anderson, who anchored ESPN’s SportsCenter for 25 years and has covered track for even longer. Sure it’s improbable for one school to land seven runners in the Olympics, Anderson acknowledges. But “if this was going to happen, this is where it would be because that’s where the conditions are right.”

At the 2023 US Outdoor Track and Field Championships, amid a field of professional steeplechasers, BYU runner Kenneth Rooks (’24) took a tumble over one of the barriers midway through the race. Dazed but unfazed, he hopped to his feet with a determination to give it his all and just one thing on his mind—Henry D. Marsh (BA ’78).

Prior to that race, Rooks had spoken with the legendary 1970s BYU steeplechaser, picking his brain about pacing, and studied Marsh’s trademark come-from-behind racing strategy. After falling, Rooks said he simply went into “Marsh-mode,” passing runners one by one before breaking free down the stretch for an improbable victory.

Marsh was a key part of BYU’s last wave of men’s distance dominance, which peaked in 1984. At the US Olympic trials, three BYU grads—Marsh, Douglas F. Padilla (BS ’83), and Paul R. Cummings (BS ’77)—swept the distance races (the 3000m steeplechase, 5000m, and the 10000m, respectively) to qualify for the Los Angeles Games.

“That was a big deal,” remembers Eyestone, then an All-American for the Cougars who would soon join these three on the world stage. “Had that had happened in the days of the Internet, the running sites would have gone crazy about how dominant BYU was.”

Four decades later, their times still show up in BYU’s record books. Marsh’s 1977 steeplechase record of 8:21.60 held for 46 years until last summer, when Rooks bested it with a time of 8:17.62.

“That was awesome to see,” says Marsh, who has endowed two scholarships in his name.

The record was broken again in June, when James Corrigan notched an 8:13.87 to clinch his place on the US Olympic team.

Young says newer generations of BYU runners are fully aware of the legacy they’ve inherited. “Great athletes of the ’80s are coaching the athletes of today and [bringing their] experience and culture. . . It creates a really, really strong brotherhood.”

It’s that tradition that drew Linkletter to Provo. Previous generations, he says, “prove that you can do some pretty spectacular things at BYU. When I chose BYU, part of it was that I knew I could be successful because others had done it before me.”

For the BYU women’s distance-running program, the previous high-water mark came from 1995 to 2003, when the Cougars won four cross country national championships and three runner-up finishes under Coach Patrick E. Shane (BS ’71). Runners like Courtney Pugmire Meldrum (BS ’07), Elizabeth A. Jackson (BS ’01), Tara Rohatinsky Northcutt (BS ’02), Michaela Mannova (BA ’08), and Kassi R. Andersen (BS ’04) racked up All-America citations.

Under the guidance of Diljeet Taylor, who replaced Shane when he retired in 2016, the Cougar women have risen back to national glory as perennial contenders in cross country and second-place finishers in their first Big 12 outdoor track and field championships this spring.

Anna Camp-Bennett (BA ’21), who won a 2021 NCAA title in the 1500m and who now competes professionally under Taylor’s training, has noticed big changes in the way observers regard the women’s program.

“People will come up and get pictures with the runners and Coach Taylor because BYU is so big now,” she says. “People are seeing the culture of the team. . . . People want a piece of what that is. The more I get out into the world, the more I realize how special it is at BYU.”

The call came at midnight.

In the summer of 2018, Courtney Wayment had been hampered by an injury for months. Increasingly frustrated with the slow healing process, one night Wayment decided she was going to quit the sport. Crying, she called Coach Taylor.

Taylor listened with compassion for an hour, ultimately convincing Wayment to stay the course. By November Wayment was training again and vying for All-America honors. Then, days before the cross country national championships, she woke up with E. coli poisoning and had to be treated at the emergency room. Sitting outside the hospital in her car, Taylor was once again on the phone with Wayment, getting updates on her condition.

Not only did Wayment recover, but four days later she finished in the top 25 to earn All-America status as her coach/confidant/hype woman screamed her on to success from the sidelines.

“It’s probably a little bit crazy, but I’m energetic, passionate, and loud,” Taylor says. “I’m the biggest hype person when my athletes are racing and very invested. That’s my coaching style.”

ESPN’s Anderson describes Taylor as a “whirlwind.”

Taylor grew up in California after her parents emigrated from India. Her family practiced the Sikh faith. Coaching at BYU was never something Taylor had considered before accepting the job. But she’s found a home in Provo.

“This place has been amazing for my career. I’m a big ambassador for BYU. BYU’s also been a big ambassador for me,” Taylor says. “The trajectory of my career and my future and all of the other doors that have opened for me [have happened] because I’m at a place where I can shine bright.”

“She’s surpassed any expectations that I had for her,” Eyestone says of Taylor, who is now the associate director of track and field. “It’s amazing what she’s done with the women’s program.”

Camp-Bennett says Taylor coaches with high expectations and high love. “She coaches with a lot of love—for the sport and her athletes. She has a love for BYU,” Camp-Bennett says. “She has a love for bringing the sisterhood together. She makes her athletes’ dreams her dreams, and then she chases them with an incredible passion.”

Among Taylor’s traditions is crafting hand-written notes to each of her runners prior to their races, containing a recurring theme intended to motivate them.

Taylor says her goal is bigger than just records and championships—it’s also to empower women. “My real hope is that what [the runners] learn in the program helps them navigate the next stages of their lives. That’s when you know you’re really winning.”

Anderson says the world is taking notice. “She is building women to shape a changing world. They’re out front,” he says. “Not only that, but they’re out front when they actually run too.”

Taylor’s boss, Ed Eyestone, takes a decidedly lower-key approach to coaching. “He’s the most chill coach in the NCAA,” Mantz says. “But he expects results.” His athletes have nicknamed him “Easy E” for his laid-back demeanor. But that calm belies a competitive fire equal to Taylor’s.

“We’re probably more similar than dissimilar because we’re both very passionate about how well our people do,” he says. “We are extremely competitive, and we want to see our BYU athletes . . . dominate and rise to their full potential.”

Young and Mantz have experienced Eyestone’s full investment in their success. “Ed will help you and elevate you as much as you are willing to pour into it,” Young says.

“He’s a phenomenal coach,” adds Mantz. “As an athlete, he showed what’s needed to be great. It makes you believe in the program. If Coach Eyestone did this and made two Olympic teams, then this must have worked. He’s not just the type of guy you want coaching you but the type of guy you want around in your life as a mentor.”

Eyestone’s runners also call him a Renaissance Man. A father of six daughters, Eyestone has many interests outside of running. He plays the guitar, dabbles in the theater, has worked as a track broadcaster, and has served as a bishop. “Being one-dimensional is boring,” he says. “I like a lot of different things.”

Having competed and won at the highest levels, Eyestone can lead by example.

When Jared Ward was 18, Eyestone paid him a recruiting visit. Ward noticed a ring festooned with Olympic rings on Eyestone’s finger. “That’s just one of the perks of going to the Olympics,” Eyestone said. “It was then that it hit me—I had the chance to be coached by an Olympian,” Ward says.

Ten years later, when Ward made the US Olympic marathon team, Eyestone hadn’t forgotten their conversation. With tears in his eyes, he said, “You’re going to get one of those rings.”

Why is distance running flourishing at BYU? It depends on whom you ask. Some point to the ability to train at a high altitude. Some note BYU’s location in running-crazed Utah, which features many of the nation’s top cross country high school squads. Others credit BYU’s distinctive mission and honor code, which appeal to those who follow the hard-working, clean-living lifestyle conducive to distance running. And many attribute it to BYU’s growing reputation for collegiate and professional excellence—success breeding success.

Whatever it is, the demand to be part of what BYU has going has never been greater.

“We have a really good pool to draw from,” says Eyestone. “We’re seeing Latter-day Saint talent like we’ve never seen before in terms of numbers. If we had 100 roster spots, I think I’d be able to fill that with 100 really good distance runners on the men’s side. Coach Taylor could do the same on the women’s side.”

Taylor says BYU attracts athletes who “are used to structuring their lives in a way that they’re committed to excellence. That breeds good results for college and keeps them motivated for post-collegiate running.”

And Latter-day Saint athletes say that attending and running for BYU, in turn, builds their faith and gives them opportunities to represent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“My relationship with God and Christ has helped me as a person and helped me to grow in my running career,” says Wayment. “I’m grateful for running because it’s helped me grow and helped me in my relationship with Them.”

Mantz says a spiritual lens keeps things grounded. “There are so many parallels between running and living the gospel. My faith in Jesus Christ grounds me. This is just a sport,” he says. “It’s important, but it’s not that important in the grand scheme of things. It helps me understand what truly makes me happy. It’s not winning a race. It’s being with my family and my wife. Running is just a part of my life.”

That perspective is seen in how many BYU runners have taken a break from the sport to serve full-time missions. Olympians Eyestone, Ward, Mantz, Young, Rooks, and Corrigan all took two years off from the sport to serve the Lord.

“That’s an impressive quality,” says Anderson. “Both Ed and Diljeet manage to keep those kids confident and successful, and they’re still able to serve their faith admirably.”

Young says he was teased about being an older athlete following his mission. But nobody’s laughing now as he and a pack of BYU returned missionaries prepare to compete on the biggest stage this summer.

Just as they were inspired by Eyestone’s and Ward’s Olympic successes, they too are now creating a road map for the next generations of current and future BYU athletes.

“They were . . . believers in the system and saw people who had gone through it and done well,” Eyestone says. “Confidence comes when . . . guys that you train with and hang with are making the [Olympic] team. They say, ‘Why not me?’”

And so the BYU distance-running version of the Eras Tour continues to roll through the streets of Provo. Next stop: the Paris Olympics.

Jeff Call is the manager of BYU’s sports-media lab and a former writer for the Deseret News.

Feedback Send comments on this article to magazine@byu.edu.