Men's Cross Country | 11/13/2024 1:00:00 PM

(St. George, Utah – Nov. 13, 2024) - The Utah Tech men's and women's cross country teams continue postseason action on Friday traveling to the NCAA West Regional Championships in Colfax, Wash.

Who | NCAA West Regional Championships
When | Friday, Nov. 15 – Women's 6K - 12 p.m. MT | Men's 10K - 1 p.m. MT
Where | Colfax Golf Club - Colfax, Wash.
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

PARTICIPATING TEAMS: 

• Women (39 Teams)
  • Arizona (Big 12), Boise State (Mountain West), Cal Poly (Big West), Cal State Fullerton (Big West), Cal (ACC), California Baptist (WAC), CSUN (Big West), Eastern Washington (Big Sky), Fresno State (MW), Gonzaga (WCC), Hawai'i (Big West), Idaho (Big Sky), Long Beach State (Big West), Loyola Marymount (WCC), Oregon (Big Ten), Oregon State (WCC), Pacific (WCC), Pepperdine (WCC), Portland (WCC), Portland State (Big Sky), Sacramento State (Big Sky), San Diego (WCC), San Diego State (MW), San Francisco (WCC), Santa Clara (WCC), Seattle U (WAC), Saint Mary's (WCC), Stanford (ACC), UC Davis (Big West), UC Irvine (Big West), UC Riverside (Big West), UC San Diego (Big West), UCSB (Big West), UCLA (Big Ten), UNLV (MW), USC (Big Ten), Utah Tech (WAC), Washington (Big Ten), Washington State (WCC)
• Men (32 Teams)
  • Arizona, Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Cal, California Baptist, CSUN, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, Idaho, Long Beach State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Portland, Portland State, Sacramento State, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Seattle U, Saint Mary's, Stanford, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UCSB, UCLA, Utah Tech, Washington, Washington State

TOP 5 IN USTFCCA WEST REGION RANKINGS

• Women
  • 1. Oregon - No. 2 nationally
  • 2. Washington - No. 3 nationally
  • 3. Stanford - No. 12 nationally
  • 4. Gonzaga - No. 21 nationally
  • 5. Portland
• Men
  • 1. Stanford - No. 7 nationally
  • 2. Washington - No. 12 nationally
  • 3. Oregon - No. 15 nationally
  • 4. California Baptist - No. 16 nationally
  • 5. Portland - No. 25 nationally

LOOK BACK AT 2024 WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Trailblazer women finished fifth and the men placed seventh at the WAC Championships on Nov. 1 at Lakeside Park in Orem.

Led by Lexi Larsen with a 27th place finish in the 6K, the junior clocked a time of 21:53.32. Sophomore Averie Perriton finished 33rd clocking a time of 22:13.55 while the scorers were rounded out by Adri Bird (39th), Isabela Coffman (46th) and Charly Murie (47th).

Three other Trailblazers competed in Kinley Spaulding (53rd), Erin McKinnon (60th) and Addie Payne (70th).

On the men's side, sophomore Ryan Hatch was the Trailblazers' top finisher coming in 17th to earn Second-Team All-WAC honors posting the third-fastest 8K in program history with a time of 24:08.30.

Sophomore Kyle Neuenschwander checked in 30th clocking the eighth-fastest 8K in program history with a time of 24:49.58.

Aiden Hardy (43rd), Dawson Leffler (47th) and Noah Orton (48th) rounded out the scorers followed by Collin Manning (61st), Trent Holiday (62nd) and Dennis Speaks (68th).

TOP 10 TIMES IN PROGRAM HISTORY
The Trailblazer women have set 10 top 10 marks this season across the 4K (3), 5K (5) and 6K (2) led by Larsen notching a top five time across all three distances.

On the men's side, the men tallied 13 top 10 marks with five in the 5K, two in the 6K and six in the 8K with Neuenschwander setting the program record in all distances.

TRAILBLAZERS AT REGIONALS
After a four-year absence from competing at the NCAA Regional level while transitioning to Division I, the last time the Trailblazers raced in a regional came in 2019 at the Division II South Central Region Championship with the women taking eighth and the men 14th.

The men's 10K record was set at the 2017 West Regional by Hunter Chamberlain in a time of 31:40.

NEUENSCHWANDER SETS 8K AT SANTA CLARA BRONCO INVITATIONAL
Sophomore Kyle Neuenschwander set the men's 8K program record at Baylands Regional Park led by a third-place finish in a program-best time of 23:54.2, besting Kevin Kirk's mark of 24:05 set in 2021.

Sophomore Ryan Hatch and senior Trent Holiday also posted top 50 finishes with Hatch coming in 26th (24:49.8) and Holliday checking in 45th (25:17.8).

On the women's side, junior Lexi Larsen led the way with a 31st-place finish in the 6K posting the seventh-fastest time in program history in 21:22.7.

Four other Blazers posted top 100 finishes in Adri Bird, Kambrie Wilkinson, Isabela Coffman and Averie Perriton along with five other Trailblazers competing.

NEUENSCHWANDER SETS 6K AT SOUTHERN UTAH COLOR COUNTRY INVITATIONAL
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.

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.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers will look to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships set for Madison, Wis., on Nov. 23.