(St. George, Utah – Jan. 17, 2024) - The Utah Tech indoor track and field team is back on the track on Friday traveling to the Northern Arizona Lumberjack Team Challenge hosted at Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff.

COMPETING TEAMS
Grand Canyon, Northern Arizona, Southern Utah, Utah Tech, UC Riverside, UNLV, UTSA

TRAILBLAZERS SET PAIR OF PROGRAM RECORDS AT BYU COUGAR INVITATIONAL
Utah Tech notched a pair of program records, eight top-eight finishes and 19 personal bests at the BYU Cougar Invitational last weekend.

Junior Lexi Larsen raced to a first-place showing in the 1000 meters in a time of 3:09.74 and freshman Whitney Christiansen placed 10th in the 400 meters with a time of 59.16.

Other top eight finishes came from Mariah Skinner (2nd in 1000m - 3:15.29), Ashlyn Parish (3rd in 60m hurdles - 8.89) Charly Murie (3rd in 1000m - 3:18.76), Addie Payne (4th in 1000m - 3:22.17), the 4x400 meter relay team of Megan Jenkins, Christiansen, Ella Spear and Ryan Mendez (3:57.19) finished fourth in 3:57.19, Jenkins (8th in 60m hurdles - 8.94) and Rashawnna Gibson (8th in 60 meters - 7.78)

LOOK BACK AT BYU DECEMBER INVITATIONAL
The Trailblazers got the indoor season underway at the BYU December Invitational on Dec. 8-9 posting 26 personal bests.

Utah Tech set three new program records in the meet with Rashawnna Gibson in the 60 meters (7.77), Kaydance Sherwood in the 300 meters (41.63) and Ryan Mendez (1:18.34) in the 500 meters.

Junior Sadie Edwards placed eighth in the 800 meters clocking a time of 2:21.82 while in the sprints, sophomore Ashlyn Parish checked in 10th in the 60 meter hurdles breaking the nine-second mark at 8.99.

RETURNERS
Utah Tech brings back 22 returners this season with 10 sophomores and 12 juniors. Junior Addi Wyatt is back as a mid-distance runner after earning All-WAC honors in the 800 meters in the outdoor season last season.

NEWCOMERS
The Trailblazers welcome 18 newcomers to the team this season with six distance runners, eight sprinters, two sprinters/hurdlers, one hurdler and one jumper/sprinter.

INDOOR SEASON
The Blazers will compete in three more indoor meets this season with a return trip to Northern Arizona for the Ron Mann Classic (Feb. 2) followed by a trip to Idaho State for the Mountain State Games on Feb. 9-10 and the WAC Indoor Championships are set for the Albuquerque Convention Center on Feb. 19-20.

HEAD COACH DERRICK ATKINS
Head coach Derrick Atkins is in his fourth season as the head coach of the track and field team in 2024.

With his guidance, the Trailblazers have achieved significant success setting 16 school records in outdoor events and 12 in indoor events, with 10 of those records being set in the 2023 season alone.

Not only has the team excelled athletically, but they have also excelled academically. They earned 20 Indoor Academic All-Conference honors and 45 Academic All-Conference honors outdoor.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

• FRIDAY
  • Field Events
    • 2:00 PM - Long Jump - 1 entry, Triple Jump, Pole Vault
    • 3:00 PM - Weight Throw, Shot Put
    • 4:00 PM - High Jump - 2 entries
  • Running Events
    • 4:00 PM
      • 60m Hurdles - Prelims - 6 entries
      • 60m dash - Prelims - 11 entries
      • 1 Mile - 4 entries
      • 600 meters - 2 entries
      • 60m Hurdles - Finals 
      • 60m dash - Finals
      • 400 meters - 6 entries
      • 800 meters - 8 entries
      • 200 meters - 16 entries
      • 3000 meters - 2 entries
      • 4x400m Relay - 4 entries