BYU roundup: Clinger breaks 40-year-old Cougar track record
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- BYU track star Casey Clinger competes in the 10,000-meter race in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., on Saturday, March 29, 2025.
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- BYU players celebrate after a home run during the Big 12 game against Arizona at Gail Miller Field in Provo on Saturday, March 29, 2025.
BYU track and field distance runner Casey Clinger ran 27:11.00 in the 10,000-meters in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., to break a 40-year-old school record.
Clinger cracked the program record long-held by his current head coach and BYU director of track and field Ed Eyestone from 1985 who ran 27:41.05.
“Big night,” Eyestone said. “The record went down from over 40 years ago. It couldn’t have been done by a nicer young man. We knew going into this it was going to break, but we didn’t know by how much. He stuck his nose to break 27 minutes. I’m glad he broke my record by 30 seconds. The time he put down could be held for another 40 years. I’m very proud of him.”
The eight-time All-American and five-time outdoor track and field All-American now holds four individual program records in the indoor 3,000m, indoor 5,000m, outdoor 5,000m and now 10,000m.
“It was good,” Clinger said. “It was about a 50-second personal best so that’s good. Going into this we knew Coach Eyestone’s record was on the table, but that left my mind early on. It became about competing and beating as many people as I could. I’m honored to be on the board alongside Coach Eyestone who is an amazing mentor and an amazing friend. If he was in this race like he was in 1985, he would’ve given me a run for it. I love Coach Eyestone. It’s pretty cool to be coached by someone who has done it and run it. He gets it.”
Since recovering from an injury in the summer of 2023, Clinger had redshirted the 2023 cross country, 2024 indoor track and outdoor track seasons. In comeback fashion, the product from American Fork, Utah led his team to a national title at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall. Clinger was the first Cougar across the line with a 28:45.10 outing over the 10,000m course.
The 2025 indoor track season saw Clinger claim the individual Big 12 title in the 5,000m at the conference championships. The captain crossed the finish line in 13:29.61.
“First of all, the fact that Coach Eyestone’s record had lasted that long shows how hard it was to crack,” said assistant coach Ryan Waite. “With all the high-level athletes that have come through the program since, and with the technological advances and training over the years – those facts say a lot about how difficult that record was to crack. To have Casey break it as much as he did shows who Casey is as an athlete.”
In addition to Clinger’s success in California, the BYU track and field men’s and women’s programs finished competition at the Texas Relays and Bobcat Invitationals Saturday.
The highlight of the day came in the men’s 4×200-meter relay where the BYU squad ran a school record of 1:23.31 at the Texas Relays. The crew composed of Eli Hazlett, Josh Taylor, Riley Hunt and Ty Oustrich took down the previous record of 1:23.38 that had held since the 2017 outdoor season.
The Cougars will head to the west coast to compete at the Stanford and Triton Invitationals at the Stanford and Triton Invitationals April 4-5.
BYU softball closes series by beating No. 11/9 Arizona
BYU softball won its final matchup of a three-game home series against No. 11/9 Arizona, 9-4 at Gail Miller Field in Provo on Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars (21-8, 5-4 Big 12) faced an early 4-0 deficit and responded with nine unanswered runs. With Arizona’s victory on Friday, the Wildcats locked up the series, but the Cougars salvaged a victory with Game 3 win.
It was BYU’s first win over a ranked opponent this season. With the Wildcats at No. 9 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll, it also marked the Cougars first Top 10 win of the year. BYU had a school-record three Top 10 victories last season.
Arizona jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with a three-run homer to left center field in the top of the first inning.
The Wildcats scored another run with two hits in the top of the second before BYU’s Keila Kamoku notched a home run to left center field. The Cougars trailed 4-1 after two.
Jaelynn Lambert doubled and Lily Owens batted her home to open up the bottom of the fourth. BYU scored three more runs in the inning as Ilove’a Brittingham homered to center field and cleared Hailey Morrow and Owens off of the sacks, giving the Cougars their first lead of the three-game series, at 5-4.
Owens singled, Morrow was walked and Brittingham doubled for two more RBI in the bottom of the sixth. On the very next pitch, Lindy Milkowski homered to left field for two more runs. The Cougars scored four in the inning and stretched their lead to five at 9-4.
Despite Arizona loading the bases in the seventh, BYU held the Wildcats scoreless to clinch the 9-4 game three victory.
BYU will be back at Gail Miller Field on Tuesday, April 1 to face Utah Valley. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. MDT with action being streamed on ESPN+.
Cougar golfer Peter Kim ties for first at The Goodwin
The Cougars (275-286-279-840) finished The Goodwin at even par, capturing fourth place on Saturday at Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.
“This was a solid finish for us,” Director of Golf Todd Miller said. “We were more consistent throughout the tournament. This course and field will help prepare us for the kind of golf we need to play at the Big 12 conference championship, NCAA Regionals and Nationals.”
For the third consecutive day, sophomore Peter Kim (67-71-67-205) led BYU, earning the first first-place finish of his career. In the final round, the Salt Lake City native recorded three birdies and no bogeys. Additionally, Kim totaled 43 pars throughout the event, the most of any player, helping him secure a co-champion finish.
“We played great golf today and there were a lot of good signs,” Kim said. “The weather today was tough to judge. The wind switched around four times today and it got cold quickly. Looking forward, the team is pumped and ready for the next event. We have been really solid in the final rounds this season and that momentum is going to carry over.”
No. 15 UCLA (283-272-274-829) claimed the team championship after shooting 11-under-par.
The Cougars will return to play from Apr. 14-16 in the 78th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Course in Santa Cruz, Calif.
BYU baseball loses rubber match to West Virginia
Despite seven combined RBI from outfielders Luke Anderson and Bryker Hurdsman, BYU baseball fell in a 19-15 shootout to No. 23 West Virginia at Miller Park in Provo on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a wild game,” said BYU head coach Trent Pratt. “We just have to find a way to pitch a little better.”
After trailing 7-0 midway through the third inning, the Cougars responded with five in the bottom of the third and 10 in the bottom of the fourth for 15 unanswered runs. The game of dramatic swings continued with West Virginia putting 12 straight runs on the board.
BYU scored once more in a ninth-inning comeback effort but fell short, 19-16, in the marathon, season-long game of four hours and 14 minutes.
The Cougars’ 16 runs came on 15 hits with one error and 11 left on base. WVU scored 19 on 20 hits with three errors and stranded six. BYU and West Virginia combined for 80 runs over three games – the most in a Big 12 series this season.
With the loss, BYU drops to 14-11 and 4-5 in Big 12 play while the Mountaineers go to 22-4 (4-3).
The Cougars head out for an eight-game road swing beginning with Oral Robers in Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 1. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. CDT with coverage on the Summit League Network and BYUradio.
Cougar women’s tennis upsets Kansas, men’s tennis loses to Baylor
The BYU women’s tennis team (16-6, 6-3 Big 12) pulled off their second ranked win this week with a singles ranked victory from Bobo Huang and a third-set tiebreak victory from Maddy Smith to clinch the match.
“What a weekend!” said head coach Holly Hasler. “Two ranked wins at home is unreal, but how it happened is what will be most memorable for the team. To lose every first set in singles, other than one, and then fight back was pure grit, fight, and determination. Today, we walked away winning the last point for two reasons: number one, heart, and number two, love for team. The perfect recipe for success.”
The Cougars will head on the road next week on Apr. 3 and 5 as they face No. 60 Kansas State and No. 26 Oklahoma State.
On the men’s side, BYU dropped its match 4-2 against Baylor in Provo on Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars got off to a good start, winning the first two doubles sets and earning the first point of the night. With the rain, the Cougars were at the indoor courts and had to play the singles in waves.
BYU went 1-3 in the first wave and lost the first match to finish in the second. This ended the match 4-2 for the Bears.
The Cougar men go back on the road next week to compete against the Arizona teams. Arizona State will be first on Thursday at 6 p.m. and then No. 15 Arizona on Saturday at 1 p.m.
