(St. George, Utah – Oct. 4, 2023) - The Utah Tech men's and women's cross country teams are back in action on Saturday traveling to the Southern Utah Color Country Invitational hosted by Southern Utah in Cedar City. The women's 4K is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. MT and the men's 6K will start at 11 a.m. MT.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS: Southern Utah, Utah Tech, Utah Valley
- The Utah Valley men's team is ranked 12th in the latest USTFCCCA Mountain Region poll while Southern Utah is 15th.
- The Utah Valley women's team is ranked 24th nationally in the latest USTFCCCA National poll. The Wolverines check in fifth in the Mountain Regional poll & Southern Utah is 15th.

COURSE: The pair of races will take place at the Cedar Ridge Golf Course.

UC RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL: In their last competition, the Trailblazers competed at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 16 with senior Shakayla Morgan leading the women in the 6K (21:39.5) and freshman Kyle 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: Through the first two races of the season, the Trailblazers have seen 11 top ten times in program history between the men and the women. In the season opener at Utah Valley, seven 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.

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.

2023 SLATE: Utah Tech will run in one final meet next weekend returning to California for the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational on Oct. 14 ahead of the 2023 WAC Championships set for Oct. 27 hosted by Abilene Christian at Zoe Park in Abilene, Texas.

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.

2022 SEASON IN REVIEW: After competing in four regular season meets during the 2022 season, the Utah Tech women's team placed ninth at the 2022 WAC Cross Country Championships while the men took 10th as a team.

2023 ROSTER: The Trailblazer men will see nine of its 14 student-athletes be freshmen followed by a pair of juniors and three seniors.

The top returner from the 2022 WAC Championships for the men is senior Quinton Read who was the Trailblazers' third-fastest finisher clocking a time of 25:13.5. Other top returners include junior Julien Canales and senior Nick Roach.

On the women's side, Utah Tech will feature seven freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and one senior. Junior Rylee Jacobsen is Utah Tech's top returner from the WAC Championships who placed 46th and senior Shakayla Morgan took 54th. Other top returners include sophomores Lexi Larsen & Alexia Corona and junior Mariah Skinner.

UP NEXT: The Trailblazers close out the regular season next weekend at the UC Riverside Highlander Invitational on Oct. 14.