Men's Cross Country | 10/16/2024 12:00:00 PM

(St. George, Utah - Oct. 16, 2024) - The Utah Tech cross country teams close out the regular season on Saturday morning at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational.

Who | Santa Clara Bronco Invitational
When | Saturday, Oct. 19 – Men's 8K - 9:45 a.m. MT | Women's 6K - 10:30 a.m. MT
Where | Baylands Regional Park - Sunnyvale, Calif.
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

PARTICIPATING TEAMS
Santa Clara, Utah Tech, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Grand Canyon, Fresno State, Long Beach State, San Francisco, Saint Mary's, Seattle U, San Jose State, Sacramento State, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Vanguard, Fresno Pacific, Cerritos College, LMU (women only), UNLV (women only), Hawai'i (women only), CSU Bakersfield (women only)

• Men
  • Cal Poly - No. 7 - USTFCCCA West Region
  • Santa Clara - No. 10 - USTFCCCA West Region
  • Cal State Fullerton - No. 13 - USTFCCCA West Region
  • Saint Mary's - No. 14 - USTFCCCA West Region
• Women
  • Cal Poly - No. 9 - USTFCCCA West Region
  • Hawai'i - No. 14 - USTFCCCA West Region
  • Sacramento State - No. 15 - USTFCCCA West Region

TRAILBLAZERS IN ACTION

• Men (10) - Mason Eardley, Aiden Hardy, Ryan Hatch, Trent Holiday, Luke Howell, Dawson Leffler, Collin Manning, Kyle Neuenschwander, Noah Orton, Dennis Speaks
• Women (10) - Adri Bird, Isabela Coffman, Lexi Larsen, Maren Leffler, Erin McKinnon, Charly Murie, Addie Payne, Averie Perriton, Kinley Spaulding, Kambrie Wilkinson

NEUENSCHWANDER SETS 6K AT SOUTHERN UTAH COLOR COUNTRY INVITATIONAL
Sophomore Kyle Neuenschwander broke the 6K program record besting Kevin Kirk's program record set in 2021 finishing ninth overall with a time of 18:46.38.

Sophomore Ryan Hatch placed 15th overall clocking a time of 19:03.34 for the second-fastest 6K time followed by nine more Blazers in action.

On the women's side, junior Lexi Larsen placed ninth overall in the 4K clocking a time of 14:28.86 for the third-fastest time in program history.

Averie Perriton, Adri Bird and Kambrie Wilkinson also posted top 30 finishes while nine more Trailblazers competed in the race.

TRAILBLAZERS POST THREE TOP FIVE TIMES AT UC RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL
On the women's side, junior Lexi Larsen was the Blazers' top finisher clocking the fourth-fastest 6K time in program history to come in 55th and she knocked off more than 35 seconds off her previous best.

Not competing as a full men's team in the invite race, sophomores Kyle Neuenschwander and Ryan Hatch both posted top 75 finishes and clocked the second and third-fastest 8K times in program history, respectively.

Neuenschwander placed 49th posting a time of 24:16.5 while Hatch finished 73rd in a time of 24:31.8.

Seven Trailblazer men competed in the men's 8K open division race with Trent Holiday being the top finisher placing 32nd with a time of 25:29.1.

Three more Trailblazer women raced in the women's 5K open division led by junior Kinley Spaulding.

LOOK BACK AT UVU INVITATIONAL
The Trailblazers opened up the season at the Utah Valley Invitational on Aug. 30 finishing fifth as a team on the men's side and seventh on the women's side.

The men were highlighted by a program record time of 14:34.8 in the 5K by sophomore Neuenschwander, who finished ninth overall.

The women were led by Larsen, who was the the Blazers' top runner finishing 42nd overall at 18:11.4. Larsen was followed by Averie Perriton in 44th, Adri Bird in 45th and freshman Kambrie Wilkinson in 60th.

On the men's side, sophomore newcomer Ryan Hatch was the Trailblazers' second finisher coming in 29th with the second-fastest 5K time in program history (14:59.2).

In total, 12 Trailblazer women and 11 Trailblazer men saw action in the meet with four newcomers on both sides making their Utah Tech debuts.

POSTSEASON ACTION
The WAC Cross Country Championships are set for Friday, Nov. 1 in Orem at Lakeside Park hosted by Utah Valley.

Two weeks later, the NCAA West Regional Championships take place in Colfax, Wash. on Nov. 15 with the NCAA Championships set to be hosted by the University of Wisconsin in Madison on Nov. 23.

HEAD COACH JUSTIN DECKER
Justin Decker (Utah Tech, 2008) is in his 14th 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.

2024 ROSTER
The Trailblazer men's squad brings back eight returners while welcoming four newcomers.

With Trent Holiday being the lone senior on the roster, the Trailblazers return seven sophomores. On the newcomers side, they are split between junior college transfers Dennis Speaks (College of Southern Nevada) and Ryan Hatch (Coconino CC) along with freshmen Tyler Mullins (St. George) and Noah Orton(Meridian, Idaho).

On the women's side, Utah Tech brings back 10 returners with four freshmen, Makayla Boulton (Provo, Utah), Isabela Coffman (Klamath Falls, Ore.), Maren Leffler (Preston, Idaho) and Kambrie Wilkinson(Salem, Utah) joining the team this season.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers are set to compete at the WAC Cross Country Championships on Nov. 1 hosted by Utah Valley at Lakeside Park in Orem with the women's 6K at 10 a.m. and men's 8K at 10:45 a.m.