BYU’s Ben Barton in lead after Day 1 of NCAA track and field championships

FILE - Runners compete in the men's 10,000 meters during the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. | Thomas Boyd Ben Barton, a senior All-American at BYU, was in first place in the decathlon after the first day of competition at Wednesday’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

>Through five events, Barton totaled 4,414 points, winning the 100-meter dash in 10.65, the high jump at 6 feet, 11 ¾ inches and the 400-meter dash in 47.25. He also finished third in the long jump at 24-3 ½ and 13th in the shot put at 44-0 ¾ .

>Barton, who finished sixth in last year’s NCAA meet, holds a substantial 138-point lead over his nearest rival – Duke’s Maxwell Forte – heading into the final five events, which will be completed Thursday.

>“Ben had an amazing first day,” said Ed Eyestone, BYU’s director of track and field.

>Barton, who is 6-foot–5, is so versatile that he also ran a leg on BYU’s Big 12 championship 4 x 400 relay team. Because of the demands of the decathlon, he was held out of Wednesday night’s 4 x 400 trials, with plans to put him back on the relay if the team advanced to Saturday’s finals. As it turned out, the team did not advance, finishing 20th overall with a time of 3:04.93.

>Carter Cutting, a BYU junior and the defending NCAA indoor mile champion, posted the second fastest time in Wednesday’s trials of the 1,500-meter run. Running in the extremely fast second heat, Carter nearly matched his personal record (3:35.88) to advance to Saturday’s final with a time of 3:35.95, finishing behind Princeton’s Connor McCormick, who clocked 3:35.81. That’s roughly the equivalent of a 3:52-3:53 mile.

>Eyestone often mentions Cutting’s savvy racing skills and he did so again after Wednesday’s race. “Carter is so smart,” the coach said. “He’s never in danger of not advancing.”

>In other local news, Peter Visser, a senior from Weber State, failed to advance to the finals of the steeplechase, finishing 20th in the trials with a time of 8:39.93. Utah State’s Landon Bott posted the day’s 12th fastest time (out of 24 entrants) in the trials of the 800-meter run – 1:46.53 – but finished only sixth in his heat and failed to advance to the finals. Bott’s teammate, Walker Deede, finished 16th in the javelin with a throw of 228 feet, 4 inches.

>The trials for the women’s competition will be Thursday (the men’s finals will be Friday, the women’s Saturday). Eight BYU women will compete in trials competitions Thursday while Jane Hedengren and Jenna Hutchins will compete in the finals of the 10,000-meter run.