Orton, Linkletter win 2018 Curtis Pugsley Athlete of the Year Awards

PROVO, Utah – Whittni Orton and Rory Linkletter were both recognized as BYU track and field’s 2018 Curtis Pugsley Athlete of the Year Award recipients on Tuesday.

The Curtis Pugsley Award is the team’s highest recognition and honors one athlete from each of BYU’s men’s and women’s teams based on personal performance during the previous season. The award honors former BYU All-American Curtis Pugsley, a conference champion decathlete who passed away in 2013 after battling cancer. Pugsley’s father-in-law, Gary Williams, plays a significant role in donating and making the event possible each year.

The four finalists for this year’s award featured All-Americans Abraham Alvarado, Linkletter, Orton and Brenna Porter. Linkletter, a finalist last year as well, has now received the Curtis Pugsley Award two years in a row.

Orton was named a first-team All-American during the 2018 indoor season after her seventh-place finish in the mile (4:35.44) at the NCAA Indoor Championships. The All-American took seventh in the 800m (2:08.71) at the MPSF Indoor Championships and took first in the mile with a career-best time of 4:34.88 at the Iowa State Classic. Orton received All-America honorable mention for her performance in the outdoor season after taking 19th in the 1500 prelims (4:17.84) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She finished eighth in the 1500m at the NCAA West Prelims with a career-best time of 4:14.41.

"It means a lot to win the award because I know a lot of great runners and athletes that have won the award previously," Orton said. "I'm really grateful for my coach, my team and those that helped me with my running career so far."

Linkletter received first-team All-America honors in the 2018 indoor season after taking sixth place overall in the 5000m (14:16.88) at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He broke BYU’s indoor record in the 5000m after clocking a time of 13:41.01 at the Iowa State Classic. The junior won the 3000m at the MPSF Indoor Championships with a career-best time of 7:54.29. Linkletter was named a first-team All-American in the outdoor season after his eighth-place finish overall in the 5000m (13:58.20) at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He also received All-America honorable mention for finishing 24th in the 10,000m (31:37.69). The All-American qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships after winning the 10,000m (29:14.20) and the placing 10th in the 5000m(13:51.28) at the NCAA West Preliminary Round.

"I care a lot about the legacy that I leave here," Linkletter said. "The Curtis Pugsley Award is like the Heisman of BYU track and field so I consider it a great honor. This award meant a lot to me the first time I received it and it's going to mean a lot going forward."

The winner was determined by a scoring system based on accomplishments in the 2018 indoor and outdoor seasons. Points are awarded for performance at indoor and outdoor championships, All-America recognition, school records set or broken and BYU top-10 placement.