Five former All-Americans inducted into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame

PROVO, Utah — BYU inducted five former All-Americans into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame in a formal ceremony on Friday evening hosted by the Cougar Club at LaVell Edwards Stadium. 

The 45th Hall of Fame Class includes Miles Batty (track and cross country), Lindsi Lisonbee Cutshall (soccer), Rachel Newren Harmon (women’s golf), Ivan Perez (volleyball) and Dennis Pitta (football) were inducted at a ceremony hosted by the Cougar Club at LaVell Edwards Stadium. 

The five inductees will also be honored during a special halftime presentation during the BYU-Wyoming football game on Saturday, Sept. 24.

Since its inception in 1975, nearly 250 student-athletes, coaches, trainers, administrators, broadcasters and teams and have been inducted into the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame. Among the criteria to be considered for induction are All-American status, other national awards and recognition, university graduation, professional accomplishments and community service. 

Below is a detailed career bio of each of the five 2022 inductees.

Miles Batty 
During his career at BYU (2006, 2009-12), Miles Batty etched his name in the BYU record books with a wide variety of accomplishments and awards.                                                   

Batty’s crowning athletic achievements at BYU came on March 11-12, 2011, when he won two NCAA National Championships, teaming with Brian Weirich, Chris Carter and Justin Hedin to win the men’s distance medley relay title and later clocking a sub-four-minute mile at 3:59.49 to win the men’s indoor title the next day.

The USTFCCCA named Batty NCAA Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2011. He also garnered eight All-American honors in cross country (2), indoor (4) and outdoor (2) track and field, while being named NCAA Mountain Region Men’s Athlete of the Year in both. 

In conference, Batty captured individual championships in the MPSF Indoor 800-meters and the MWC Mile as well as the MWC Outdoor 1,500-meters. He combined with Weirich, Carter and Hedin in 2011 to win the MWC Men’s Indoor Distance Medley Relay and won the title again in 2012 at the MPSF Championships with Rex Shields, Shaquille Walker and Ryan Waite.  He also won the individual cross country conference championship in 2010 (MWC) and 2011 (WCC).

Batty led BYU to team indoor conference championships in 2009 and 2011 as well as outdoor titles in 2006, 2009 and 2011. He owns BYU records in the indoor mile, distance medley relay and outdoor 1,500m, along with top-10 rankings in both indoor 800m and 3,000-meters. Batty also broke the NCAA record in the mile at the Millrose Games with a time of 3:54.54.

He also won numerous academic awards throughout his collegiate career. Batty is one of just seven BYU athletes to receive the NCAA Today’s Top-10 Award and is the only Cougar to ever be awarded the NCAA Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship. 

In addition, he received seven-career national academic honors, including recognition as the USTFCCCA National Men’s Indoor Scholar Athlete of the Year (2011) and CoSIDA Men’s Track and Field/Cross Country Academic All-American of the Year (2011).                

Batty graduated from BYU in April 2012 with a double-major in neuroscience and exercise science. He later graduated from medical school at UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2019 and is currently completing surgical training at the Harvard Combined Orthopedic Residency Program. From 2012-15 He competed professionally for ASICS and was a finalist in the 1,500m at the 2012 USA Olympic Trials.

Miles and his wife Danika are parents to four children: Max (5), Ben (2) and twins Owen and Annie.

Lindsi Lisonbee Cutshall
A rising soccer star before her BYU career, Lindsi Lisonbee Cutshall, hailed from Park City, Utah, where she was a three-time All-American and was named First Team All-State three times prior to her collegiate years. 

During her four seasons at BYU (2009-12), Lisonbee Cutshall tallied 13 goals and six assists as a defender. Following her freshman year, she was named to the MWC All-Tournament Team, the All-Conference Second Team and the TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Second Team. 

As a sophomore in 2010, she anchored the backline for a BYU team that allowed just 12 goals all season and totaled 11 shutouts. For her efforts, she was named All-MWC First Team and NSCAA All-Region Pacific Second Team.
                
Lisonbee Cutshall started in all 19 games for the Cougars as a junior, tallying four goals against Arizona, Utah State, Portland and San Francisco. In 2011, she was named to the NSCAA All-America Third Team, All-WCC First Team and the WCC Commissioner’s Honor Roll. She also received NCAA Women's Division I All-West Region honors.
                
As a senior in 2012, Lisonbee Cutshall earned several prestigious honors, including being named a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist. She was named All-WCC First Team and honored as the WCC Player of the Year. She was also named to the Soccer America MVPs First Team and CollegeSportsMadness.com All-America Third Team.
                
Lisonbee Cutshall anchored a defense that allowed just 13 goals in 2012 and only four in WCC play to help lead the Cougars to the Elite 8 at the NCAA tournament. Following her senior season, She was  also named BYU Female Athlete of the Year at the Y Awards and was a finalist for the 2012 Female Athlete of the Year at the Governor’s State of Sport Awards. 
                
Lisonbee Cutshall graduated from BYU in 2013 with a degree in Recreation Management and Youth Leadership. She was the fourth overall pick in the 2013 NWSL Draft by Sky Blue FC and was invited to play on the U-23 USA Women’s National Team.
                
Lindsi is married to Rich Cutshall and have three children Khai (5) Charle (2) and Mac (4 months).

Rachel Newren Harmon
As a three-time All-American, Rachel Newren Harmon led the BYU women’s golf team to four-straight NCAA West Regionals (2003-07) and two appearances at the NCAA Championships, including a 17th place finish in 2007, the second highest finish in program history.                               

The Salt Lake City native made an immediate impact as a freshman in 2003, recording five top-25 finishes while finishing ninth at the BYU Dixie Classic and 15th at the Mountain West Conference Championship.

Newren doubled her freshman totals during the 2004-05 season as she secured 10 top-25 finishes and earned her first collegiate victory at the BYU Dixie Classic, before finishing runner-up at the MWC Championship and third at the NCAA West Regional.  At the NCAA Championship, Newren finished 68th and was named to the NGCA All-American Honorable Mention team.

In 2005-06, Newren finished in the top-25 11 times in 12 events, while notching five top-3 finishes. She recorded her second collegiate victory at the Anteater Invitational, was runner-up at the NCAA West Regional earning her an individual invitation to the NCAA Championship where she finished 16th.  At the conclusion of her junior year, Newren was named an NGCA All-American Honorable Mention for the second-straight season.

During her senior campaign, Newren finished all 12 events in the top-25 with nine top-10s and a win at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate. She was named 2007 MWC Golfer of the Year and NGCA Second Team All-America. In her last event as a Cougar, Newren finished 11th at the NCAA Championship.

Newren finished in the top-10 in 24 of the 48 tournaments during her BYU career and set the school record for lowest individual 54-hole tournament score (206); lowest 72-hole score (297) and season stroke average (72.97). She was also a three-time All-MWC First Team selection and was named to the MWC Women’s Golf All-Decade Team (2000-2010) in 2010.

After graduating with a degree in sociology in 2007, Newren competed on the LPGA Futures Tour (2007-2008), the Canadian Tour in 2009 and the Cactus Tour in (2010). In 2012, Newren was hired to launch the Dixie State women’s golf program where she was the head coach from 2012-16. Currently, she is the Head Coach at Imagine Golf- The #1 Golf App for the Mental Game.  

Rachel is married to her caddy Curtis Harmon and are the parents of Lily (11), Boston (9) and Preston (5).

Ivan Perez 
A three-time All-American, Ivan Perez played a key roll in BYU’s volleyball success from 2004-08. He was a member of the 2004 National Championship team and still holds two program records.

The native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, made an instant impact as a redshirt freshman in 2005 earning AVCA and Volleyball Magazine Second Team All-American honors. He finished the season with 382 kills while hitting .331, both freshman program records, as he was named to the All-MPSF Second Team. 

He was also named MPSF Player of the Week March 18-19 when he recorded 32 kills in back-to-back wins over No. 3 ranked Hawai’i.

As a sophomore, he earned Honorable Mention All-MPSF recognition after leading the Cougars in kills with 326, to go along with 140 digs and 63 blocks. He had double-digit kills 16 times and had 20 or more kills six times including a season-high 23 against UC Santa Barbara. 

Perez earned First Team All-American honors as a junior where he recorded a then career-best 328 kills and 81 blocks with a team-high 25 aces. He was also named All-MPSF.

He finished his career by earning AVCA Second Team All-American honors in 2008 after recording the third-most kills in a single season in BYU history during the rally scoring era. He set a career-high and school record 16 digs in a three-set victory over Stanford. 

Perez was named All-MPSF for a fourth time and was also selected to the All-MPSF Tournament Team as a senior.

Perez graduated in 2009 with a degree in electrical engineering. He was also a member of the Puerto Rican National Team.

Ivan is married to Melissa Flores and are the parents of Fernando Javier Perez Flores (7). 

Dennis Pitta 
Dennis Pitta began his BYU career in 2004 as a walk on wide receiver from Moorpark, California, and concluded his senior season in 2009 as a NCAA Consensus All-American tight end. In four seasons as a Cougar (2004, 2007-09), Pitta played in 50 games setting multiple school, conference and national records.

Pitta began his BYU career in 2004 by leading all BYU tight ends in receptions (17), yards (176) and touchdowns (2). His first career catch came in BYU’s 20-17 win over Notre Dame in Provo.

Following a two-year LDS Church mission to the Dominican Republic, Pitta returned to BYU in 2007 to earn first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors. He led all MWC tight ends with 59 receptions for 813 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 63 yards receiving per game and was the fifth ranked tight end in the country.

As a junior in 2008, Pitta had one of the best seasons of any tight end in BYU history. He set a BYU single-season tight end record for receptions (83) and had the third highest yardage total (1,083) by a tight end in school history. Pitta was named First Team All-MWC, Third Team All-American by Rivals.com and honorable mention All-American by both College Football News and Sports Illustrated. He was also a semifinalist for the prestigious John Mackey Award and a candidate for the Rotary Lombardi Award and the Biletnikoff Award. 

In 2009, Pitta became just the third tight end in BYU’s history to be named NCAA Consensus All-American. As a senior he had 62 catches for 829 yards and eight touchdowns. He was named First-Team All-American by Walter Camp, AFCA and Pro Football Weekly. He also garnered Second-Team All-American honors by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports, and The Sporting News.

He was also a finalist for the John Mackey Award and was named First Team All-MWC for the third-straight year. At the conclusion of his senior year, Pitta was honored by the College Football Performance Awards with the 2009 Elite Tight End Trophy. 

Pitta holds numerous BYU tight end records, including career receiving yards with 2,901 (also an NCAA tight end record), career receptions (221), and receptions in a season (83). His 221 career catches and 42 consecutive games with at least one reception are both overall BYU receiving records. 

Pitta was selected in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. He played seven seasons in the NFL, helping the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII in February 2013. He is married to Mataya Gissel Pitta. They have four children:  Decker (9), Skylar (7), Blakely (7) and Bentlee (4 months).