Trailblazers set to run at WAC Cross Country Championships

Utah Tech will run in its fourth WAC Cross Country Championship in program history on Friday in Abilene, Texas.

(St. George, Utah – Oct. 25, 2023) - The Utah Tech men's and women's cross country teams head to the WAC Cross Country Championships on Friday hosted by Abilene Christian at Zoe Park. The men's 8K will start at 7 a.m. MT, followed by the women's 6K at 7:45 a.m MT.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS: Abilene Christian, California Baptist, Grand Canyon, Seattle, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, UT Arlington, UT Rio Grande Valley, Utah Tech, Utah Valley

On the men's side, California Baptist is No. 1 in the West Division & No. 5 nationally. Three other men's teams are in the regional rankings with Southern Utah (No. 9 - Mountain), Utah Valley (No. 13 - Mountain) & UT Arlington (No. 13 - South Central).
On the women's side, CBU is No. 4 in the West Division & No. 12 nationally. Three other women's teams are also in the regional rankings with Utah Valley sitting No. 6 in the Mountain Region, No. 27 nationally, while UT Arlington is No. 8 in the South Central and Southern Utah in No. 15 in the Mountain Region.

UC RIVERSIDE HIGHLANDER INVITATIONAL: Utah Tech's last time out came on Oct. 14 at the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational with each team finishing in ninth place as a team. On the men's side, freshman Kyle Neuenschwander clocked the second-fastest 8K time in program history in 24:26.2 to come in 30th while on the women's side while senior Shakayla Morgan finished 23rd in the 6K with the fourth-fastest time in program history (21:07.6).

SUU COLOR COUNTRY INVITATIONAL: The Blazers are coming off competing at the Southern Utah Color Country Invitational last Saturday with Morgan finishing eighth in the women's 4K and Neuenschwander checking in fifth in the men's 6K.

UC RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL: The Trailblazers competed at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 16 with Morgan leading the women in the 6K (21:39.5) and Neuenschwander clocking the fastest time on the men's side running the 8K in a time of 24:49.5.

UTAH VALLEY INVITATIONAL: The women's 5K race at the UVU Invite was headlined by Morgan who clocked a time of 18:12.8 for a 23rd-place finish on Sept. 1. The Trailblazer men posted solid times as well led by Neuenschwander with a time of 15:10.4 for a team-best 27th-place finish in the 5K.

TOP TEN TIMES IN PROGRAM HISTORY: The Trailblazers posted 20 top 10 times in program history between the men and the women in the regular season. In the season opener at Utah Valley, seven Blazers posted top ten times in the 5K while Neuenschwander raced to the fourth-fastest time in program history in the 8K at the UC Riverside Invitational. The men added three more top 10 times at Southern Utah with Neuenschwander, Kyle Newton and Quinton Read posting the fourth, fifth and 10th-fastest times in program history in the 6K. Finally, the men added three more top 10 times at the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational with Neuenschwander running the second-fastest time in the 8K while Julian Canales clocked the seventh-fastest and Quinton Read coming in ninth-fastest.

On the women's side, Morgan and freshman Averie Perriton posted the third and 10th-fastest times, respectively, in the 5K at the UVU Invitational and Morgan raced to the seventh-best mark in the 6K at the UCR Invitational. The women added the sixth and ninth-fastest times in the 4K at the SUU Color Country Invitational posted by Morgan and Perriton, respectively. Finally, Morgan added the fourth-fastest time in the 6K at the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational.

2022 WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: The women are coming off a ninth-place finish at the 2022 WAC Championships scoring 267 points while the men placed 10th with 259 points. California Baptist won both the women's and men's races a year ago in Nacogdoches, Texas hosted by Stephen F. Austin.

On the women's side, five student-athletes return with Rylee Jacobsen the top returner placing 46th followed by Morgan (51st), Lexi Larsen (72nd), Alexia Corona (86th) and Mariah Skinner (96th). On the men's side, Quinton Read is the top returner finishing 46th along with Julien Canales (63rd) and Nick Roach (73rd).

HEAD COACH JUSTIN DECKER: Justin Decker (Utah Tech, 2008) is in his 13th season at the helm of the Utah Tech cross country program. During his tenure at Utah Tech, Decker has mentored 24 all-conference, seven all-region, and two All-American athletes (Rachel Young in 2012 and Billie Hatch in 2019). In addition, he has earned certification as a USA Track & Field Level 1 Coach and USTFCCCA Endurance Event Specialist.

Coach Decker grew up in St. George and graduated from Pine View High School in 2004. After high school, he attended then-Dixie State and competed on the cross country team during the 2007 and 2008 seasons while serving as the team's captain and SAAC representative. He graduated from Utah Tech in 2008 with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and graduated from Southern Utah University with a Master's degree in Business Administration in 2013.

2023 WAC CROSS COUNTRY PRE-CHAMPIONSHIPS POLLS 2023 WAC Men's Cross Country Pre-Championship Coaches' Poll