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BYU's Carter Cutting (in blue) competes in the 1,500-meter semifinals at the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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BYU's Ben Barton reacts while competing in the decathlon at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.

Courtesy BYU Athletics

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EUGENE, Ore. – Carter Cutting became the fastest BYU athlete ever in the 1500-meter alongside securing his spot in the NCAA final while Ben Barton set personal records on his way to lead the decathlon standings through five events on opening day of the NCAA Outdoor National Championships at Hayward Field Wednesday.

Cutting set his second school record this year by chopping 0.3 seconds off the previous best BYU record and nearly two seconds off his personal best in a 3:35.95 finish in the semifinals of the 1500m. The Wilsonville, Oregon product returned to the track he calls “home” to secure a spot in the national final race in the event to take place Friday with his second place overall finish.

“Hayward Field feels like my home track,” Cutting said, “I still feel like the underdog despite winning the indoor mile this year, but whatever comes on Friday pace wise I’m ready for it, coach Waite went deep in his bag to help me be ready for what we will see in the final.”

Cutting closed the last fifty meters of the race fist bumping Michigan’s Trent Mcfarland as they crossed the line together to take second and third to automatically qualify for the final race. The decorated junior is the reigning national champion and BYU record holder in the indoor mile. Cutting is set to race against the nation’s finest Friday including Oregon’s NCAA record holder Simeon Birnbaum.

Barton finished the first half of the decathlon sitting atop the standings after taking first in three of the five events. The senior, who is no stranger to the national stage in his third national championship decathlon, opened the day with a 10.65 second 100-meter in which he finished first to secure 940 points. He then finished third in the long jump with a personal record distance of 7.40m/24-3.5 garnering him 910 points. That is an improvement of 0.14 meters or just under six inches for the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan native.

Barton then nabbed 693 points in his 13th place finish in the shot put with a toss of 13.43m/44-0.75 before closing the day with back-to-back wins in the high jump and 400-meter. The All-American set another personal record in the high jump clearing 2.13m/6-11.75 in a nearly flawless series of jumps that scored him 925 points. Barton finished first in the 400-meter with a 47.25 second finish that secured an additional 946 points. The senior competing in his final season as a Cougar ended the day with 4414 points leading the competition by more than 130 points.

The 4×400-meter relay group featuring senior and All-American Josh Taylor, junior Jonah Heimuli, sophomore Jayden Jessee and junior Logan Hubler competed in the semifinals of the national race. The group finished 20th overall in a time of 3:04.93 to become honorable mention All-Americans.

Women’s volleyball adds Cruz as association head coach

BYU women’s volleyball head coach Rob Neilson announced the hiring of associate head coach Donan Cruz on Wednesday.

“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Donan, his wife, Anna, and their three boys, Nixon, Nevon and Micah, to BYU,” Neilson said. “Donan is an elite coach who led Grand View and Ball State to historic success as a head coach and, most recently, helped guide Hawaii’s men’s team to a national championship last month. We are excited to leverage Donan’s offensive expertise, volleyball IQ, experience and international recruiting connections. He is beloved by his players and the staffs he has worked with and has a unique ability to bring people together. I can’t imagine a better person to finalize our staff.”

Cruz joins the Cougars fresh off an NCAA men’s volleyball national championship with the University of Hawai’i, where he spent the last year as an assistant coach with the Rainbow Warriors.

Prior to his time with the ‘Bows, Cruz spent four seasons as the head coach at Ball State, leading the Cardinals to the Final Four in 2022 and amassing a 292-91 (.762) record in Muncie, Indiana.

He was named the AVCA Men’s Division I/II National Coach of the Year in 2022 and was tabbed the MIVA Coach of the Year in both 2022 and 2023, coaching Ball State to three straight MIVA regular season titles (2022-24) and an MIVA tournament championship in 2022.

Cruz also served as the men’s volleyball head coach at Grand View, an NAIA program in Des Moines, Iowa, from 2012-21, while also an assistant coach for the Vikings’ women’s staff from 2009-16.

Cruz is a graduate of Baldwin High School on Wailuku, Maui. He was born on the island of Guam and stays connected to his roots in the South Pacific.

Akina tabbed for another All-American award

Freshman golfer Kihei Akina was selected to Golfweek’s 2026 Men’s College Golf All-America First Team, the publication announced on Wednesday.

Since 1999, Golfweek has been awarding All-Americans in addition to Players and Coaches of the Year in men’s and women’s golf.

Akina can add this on top of his accolade-filled freshman season. The No. 7 golfer and top-ranked freshman in the NCAA received First Team All-American honors from the GCAA last week. Akina also garnered the Phil Mickelson Outstanding Freshman Award, a Haskins Award finalist recognition and conference honors that include Big 12 Freshman of the Year and a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team.

After accumulating two individual wins and two runner-up finishes this season, Akina ended his rookie campaign with an eighth-place finish in the NCAA Championship.

Golfweek’s All-America teams consist of 10 players on the first, second and third teams each and 20 honorable mentions.

Women’s golf signs Walker

Women’s golf head coach Carrie Roberts has announced the signing of Kate Walker to the 2026-27 roster.

“We are very excited to have Kate join us for this upcoming season,” Roberts said. “She’s an extremely successful player as well as a person of high character. She will bring an added layer of competition to our squad that will elevate our team tremendously.”

Walker graduated from Crimson Cliffs high school in May, and will join the Cougars for the 2026-27 season.

The St. George, Utah native was a three-time 4A individual medalist at Crimson Cliffs and claimed three First Team All-State selections. Walker led the school to a state title in 2025.

Walker has shown excellence as an amateur and junior golfer. She was honored as the most recent UGA Women’s Player of the Year, the first high schooler to do so since 2012. Walker finished runner-up in the 2025 Utah Women’s State Amateur and won four junior golf events.

Banz qualifies for Utah Men’s State Am

BYU women’s golfer Whitney Banz qualified for the 128th Utah Men’s State Amateur at a qualifier at Wasatch Mountain Golf Course on Wednesday.

The senior became the fifth woman ever to punch a ticket into the men’s State Am, and the second BYU player to do so. Former Cougar Naomi Soifua qualified for the event in 2017.

Banz carded a 2-over 74 at Wasatch Mountain’s Lake Course to earn her spot in the prestigious tournament. The Salt Lake native tied for 15th out of 83 competitors in the qualifier.

Banz has had great success in previous amateur events. She was a co-champion in the 2024 Provo Open, a medalist in the 2025 Utah Women’s State Am, a runner-up in the 2025 Idaho Women’s State Am and third in the 2024 Utah Women’s Open.

Banz will play in the men’s State Am, the oldest continuous golf tournament in the world, on July 6-11 at Soldier Hollow Golf Course in Midway, Utah.