Track and Field honors Pugsley Award winners

PROVO, Utah — The BYU track and field program held its annual Pugsley Award ceremony Thursday night in the Cougar Room at LaVell Edwards Stadium. 

"This was a great celebration of a season of unprecedented success for BYU track and field," said BYU director of track and field Ed Eyestone. "To have the women's and men's programs finish last season ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country, respectively; that signifies the work that our student-athletes and coaching staff have accomplished." 

Named after the late All-American BYU decathlete Curtis Pugsley (2000-04), the awards presentation honored the program's top performers and most inspirational athletes from the 2021 season.

The award-winning athletes and their accolades are as follows: 

Men's Pugsley Award Winner & Men's Outdoor Track Top Performer: Conner Mantz

• Finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in the men’s 5,000 and 10,000 m finals at the U.S. Olympic Trials
• Finished as a national runner-up in the men’s 10,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a time of 27:42.46 to garner All-America First Team honors
• Conner’s 10,000m time at the NCAAs is second all-time at BYU
• Became the first from BYU to receive Mountain Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year since Miles Batty in 2011
• Set school records in the men’s indoor and outdoor 5,000m, with a 13:28.00 indoor time at the UW Invite and a 13:24.78 outdoor time at the Hayward Premiere.

Women's Pugsley Award Winner & Women's Indoor Track Top Performer: Courtney Wayment

• Won the National Championship in the 3000m with a time of 4:08.53 at the NCAA Track & Field Championships, earning First Team All-American honors
• Earned First Team All-American honors as a member of the National Championship DMR team that took first in the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships with a time of 10:52.96

Men's Indoor Field Top Performer: Zach McWhorter

• Finished as national runner-up in the men’s indoor pole vault with a personal and school record-breaking clearance of 5.80m, garnering All-America First Team honors
• Shattered the BYU record for outdoor men’s pole vault with a personal best clearance of 5.70m at the 93rd Texas Relays  
• Competed in the qualifying round of the U.S. Olympic Trials

Men's Indoor Track Top Performer: Lucas Bons 

• Finished ninth in the men’s mile final at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 4:01.96, garnering All-America Second Team honors
• Recorded the second-best men’s indoor mile time in school history with a 3:55.45 at the Husky Classic 
• Posted the third-best men’s outdoor 1500m time in program history with a 3:37.68 at the Fresno State West Coast Relays
• Received USTFCCCA All-Academic honors

Women's Indoor Field Top Performer: Halley Folsom 

• Competed in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, finishing 14th with a score of 3899 and earning Second Team All-American honors
• Finished first in the pentathlon at Championships at the Peak, setting a personal best with a score of 3954
• Competed in the 400H at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, finishing 29th with a time of 60.01
• Set a personal best and finished first in the 400H at the BYU Cougar Invitational with a time of 58.38, good for No. 8 all-time in BYU history
• Finished 3rd and set a personal best in the heptathlon at the Jim Click Shootout with a score of 55-25

Men's Outdoor Field Top Performer: Cameron Bates

• Finished seventh in the men’s javelin throw final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, garnering All-American First Team honors with a mark of 74.25m
• With that mark, Cameron became the first BYU javelin thrower to be named an AllAmerican since 2010. 
• Delivered a school record-breaking and Olympic qualifying toss of 77.17m at the Hayward Premiere
• Became the first BYU athlete to receive Mountain Region field athlete of the year since throws coach Niklas Arrhenius in 2007
• Competed in the qualifying round of the U.S. Olympic Trials

Women's Outdoor Track Top Performer: Anna Camp-Bennett

• Won the National Championship with a personal best time of 4:08.53 in the 1500m at the NCAA Track & Field Championships, also setting a school record and earning First Team All-American honors
• Earned Second Team All-American honors and finished 11th in the 800m at the NCAA Track & Field Championships with a time of 2:03.95
• Competed in the 1500 at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, finishing 6th with a time of 4:13.88
• Finished 1st in four-straight 800m races, including the Hayward Premiere and Oregon Twilight

Women's Outdoor Field Top Performer: Cierra Tidwell

• Competed in the high jump at the NCAA Track & Field Championships, finishing 14th, and earning Second Team All-American honors
• Set a personal best in the high jump at the NCAA West Preliminary Round

Men's Track Rookie of the Year: Lucas Bons

• Finished ninth in the men’s mile final at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 4:01.96, garnering All-America Second Team honors
• Recorded the second-best men’s indoor mile time in school history with a 3:55.45 at the Husky Classic
• Posted the third-best men’s outdoor 1500m time in program history with a 3:37.68 at the Fresno State West Coast Relays

Men's Field Rookie of the Year: Dallin Shurts

• Finished 15th in the men’s discus throw at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, garnering All-America Second Team honors
• No.10 all-time in BYU discus history

Women's Track Rookie of the Year: Meghan Hunter

• Finished first in the 4x400m at the UW Invite with a time of 3:45.94
• Competed in the 4x400m at the NCAA Track & Field Championships, finishing 15th with a time of 3:37.05 and earning Second Team All-American honors
• Competed in the 4x400 and 800m at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, finishing 8th with a time of 3:33.30 and 45th with a time of 2:12.98, respectively

Women's Field Rookie of the Year: Gretchen Hoekstre 

• Set a personal best in the weight throw
• Competed in the NCAA West Preliminary Round, finishing 44th in the discus throw and 38th in the shot put

The following quotes from anonymous teammates highlight the Most Inspirational Athlete recipients. 

Men's Most Inspirational Athlete: Michael Bluth

“It’s kind of hard to think of a specific story other than that he broke the school record. I think it’s more of what I saw him do leading up to breaking the record that was inspirational to me. He always came to practice ready to crush any workout and he never cut any corner. Along with that his humility really stood out to me. He was always willing to talk to and work with underclassmen, he always cheered everyone on, and despite being so successful individually his focus was always on the team. It was a combination of all these little things that made him inspirational.”

Women's Most Inspirational Athlete: Anna Camp-Bennett 

“Anna is always smiling and supporting others, regardless of her own performance. She is the biggest supporter of everybody else. She is selfless and humble, but her performances show how hard she works.”