Landon Bott breaks Utah State 800-meter record
Utah State University Track and Field’s Landon Bott competed at the Roman Ruiz Speed and Power Invitational hosted by Utah State Athletics on Jan. 30. At this meet, Bott broke the Utah State University 800-meter race record. This record had previously been held by Olympian and NCAA champion Mark Enyeart, who set it in 1977. The previous record was 1:48.10, and Botts’ record-breaking time was 1:47.79.
For Bott and head coach Artie Gulden, this record break came as a welcome surprise. Bott and Gulden were both focused on getting Bott to nationals.
“The goal was to try and get an indoor nationals qualifying time,” Bott said. “When I came across the line, I wasn’t even thinking about the record at all, so I didn’t even — like, it took me probably a minute and a half to even realize that I broke it.”
Gulden and Bott were both excited about this record despite not anticipating it.
“We were just looking for him to get a good race that would put him in the mix to get to NCAAs, and he exceeded expectations,” Gulden said. “I think that one of the real joys of coaching is when kids not only accomplish their goals but go beyond what I even think that they can do in a race.”
On Feb. 14, Bott broke his own record at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas. At this meet, his time was 1:47.55, scraping 0.24 seconds off his last record.
Going into the race, Bott was excited about the possibility of getting another personal record, or PR, and breaking the record for a second time.
“Going into the second meet, I felt way more confident knowing that I’ve been able to run that fast,” Bott said. “I got put against some top-end collegiate athletes. So, I was going to the front, and I was racing as hard as I could. I know I can beat these guys. They don’t have anything on me after how well I ran here at the Fieldhouse.”
While his coach is excited about this achievement, Gulden’s and Bott’s goals have always been focused elsewhere.
“I figured that he would have a good shot at breaking his own school record again, but really, the objective for that meet was to get him on the NCAA track and get him in a race where he would have to deal with the physicality of an 800 and all of those things,” Gulden said.
Gulden said he wants Bott to deal with high-stress meets to further develop his grit and determination in races.
“That was really the objective of having him go to Arkansas to race this past weekend, just to experience that — getting pushed around and having to react to that,” Gulden said.
Bott said he is consistently working on his mental toughness to improve his performance moving forward.
“Mental capacity has a lot to do with racing during all my workouts. I imagine myself at a certain stadium, so I’ll imagine myself at nationals.” Bott said. “When the when the race actually does come, I’ve played through it hundreds of times in my head, and so it feels so natural just to have it happen.”
Bott’s athleticism has allowed him to become a two-time Mountain West champion, something he strives to do again.
“I mean, it’ll be competitive as always. Nothing comes easy,” Bott said. “After winning it twice last year, I feel pretty confident I can win it twice again this year.”