The Trailblazers are headed down to Nacogdoches Texas for their final meet of the season, the 2023 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The championships will be a full three-day meet starting Thursday the 11th and concluding on Saturday the 13th. This will be Utah Techs' third year participating in the WAC championships. The competition will feature preliminary rounds for each event from the 1500-meter and down. The top eight athletes will advance to the finals of each event except for the 1500 where 12 athletes will run in the final. The top eight finishers in each final  will score points for the team and earn all-conference honors.

Head Coach Derrick Atkins is looking to see continued improvement from the athletes at the final meet of the year: "We are taking 16 athletes to the conference championships. The goal is to see 16 [personal records] and aim for the team record in every event."

The Blazers distance team will be familiar with the city as the host team Stephen F. Austin also hosted this past fall's WAC cross-country championships. The last time the track and field team traveled to Texas was for the 2021 WAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Rio Grande. The only other Trailblazer track and field trip to Texas was in 2019 where Blazers distance running standout Billie Hatch took 13th in the NCAA DII National Championship 10 '000-meter. 

Thursday on the track: The first Trailblazer event of the meet will be the 1500-meter run. The Blazers top entry is sophomore Lexi Larsen. She comes in with a team record mark of 4:42.37. Utah Tech's other entry is freshman Mariah Skinner. She has seen steady improvement all season and comes in with a seed time of 4:57.02 based on her mile performance at the BYU Robison Invitational.

Preliminary running will continue with a pair of sprint events. The 200-meter dash is the Trailblazers largest group with five athletes. The two highest-seeded runners come in with nearly identical PRs that sit as the top two times in Trailblazers history. Sophomore Ashlynn Gilhula at 25.32 and sophomore Rashawnna Gibson at 25.34. The Blazers other entries include Abigail Yadon at 26.44, Kelly Denninghoff at 27.07, and Sadie Edwards with no mark. 

The second sprint event of the day is the 400-meter hurdles. Freshman Megan Jenkins has cut nearly two seconds off the team record in the event this year. She comes in with a season and personal best of 1:02.67.

The lone final of the day is the 10'000-meter run. It will be the first time any Trailblazer woman has run the event this season. The team's only entry is junior Shakayla Morgan. While she has not run the event this season she ran a time of 39:31.64 last season at altitude in Provo. She is also the team's season leader in the 5'000-meter.

The running on Friday: Friday will be another day full of preliminary rounds. The two runners in the event are freshman Ashlyn Parish at 14.43 and freshman Megan Jenkins at 14.83. They will be followed by the 800 with three strong entries. Sophomore Addi Wyatt took fifth in the conference at the indoor championships and has only improved her time since. She has cut down the team record race after race now sitting at 2:12.60 coming in ranked eighth in the WAC. Sophomore Lexi Larsen is the team's second runner in the 800 at 2:16.00 with the final entry being junior Camilla Hamilton having run 2:18.19 this season.

The 100-meter prelims has four Utah Tech entries. Fresh off becoming the first Trailblazer to go under 12 seconds two weeks ago sophomore Rashawnna Gibson has a seed time of 11.92. The team's 200-meter record holder Ashlynn Gilhula has a season-top mark of 12.58. Freshman Alaynah Reed has run 12.55 and sophomore Abigail Yadon comes in at 12.64.

The final prelim of the meet will be the 400-meter. Sophomore Sadie Edwards comes in with a season-best of 58.31, the team's number two performer in the event this year. Megan Jenkins is running the event with no mark, but is the team leader in the 400m hurdle and has been a mainstay on the 4x400 team. Kelly Denninghoff is the third runner in the event with a season-best of 59.43.

The evening of running is set to conclude with sophomore Kinley Spaulding in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Her huge lifetime best performance at the Steve Scott invitational two weeks ago at 12:04.29 vaulted her all the way up to the team's all-time third steepler. 

Saturday action: Saturday will be largely finals fields made up of qualifiers from the two previous days' prelims. But there are still a handful of straight-to-final events. That list starts with the Trailblazers high jumpers. Senior Morgan Callens, who was an all-WAC performer at the 2021 championships, comes in with an official season best of 1.51m (4' 11.5"), the same mark cleared by the teams' other entry Freshman Lainee Leavitt.

The first running event of the day is the 4x100 meter relay. The line-up is set as freshman Ashlyn Parish, sophomore Rashawnna Gibson, freshman Alaynah Reed, and sophomore Ashlynn Gilhula. They will look to improve on the team's season best 47.83.

The meet's penultimate event is the 5000-meter run. The squad is led by junior Shakayla Morgan, the team's all-time number-three runner in the event at 17:51.46. Close behind is sophomore Lexi Larsen at 17:53.17. And the final entry is freshman Mariah Skinner who has run 18:34.93.

And as is traditionally the case the final race is the 4x400-meter relay. The team comes in with a season-best 3:54.16 with the line-up set as sophomore Sadie Edwards, sophomore Addi Wyatt, sophomore Kelly Denninghoff, and freshman Megan Jenkins.

Seasons end: The Trailblazers will say goodbye to three graduating seniors. Distance runners Nicolette Coffman and Amy White along with high jumper Morgan Callens. The rest of the team will move on to offseason preparation with the distance runners looking forward to cross country in the fall and the whole team preparing for the 2024 track season.