General | 8/1/2024 10:00:00 AM

The state of Utah now has seven official NCAA Division I institutions as Utah Tech University announced the completion of its reclassification process. 

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors officially approved Utah Tech's move to active Division I status on June 28. With that confirmation, Trailblazer Athletics is now officially eligible to participate in all NCAA postseason championships in its 15 intercollegiate programs.

"I am thrilled that the NCAA and the Board of Directors recently voted to approve full NCAA status for Utah Tech University," said Utah Tech Interim President Courtney White. "This has been a complete team effort led by Executive Director of Athletics Ken Beazer, Senior Associate AD Mo Eckroth, Associate AD Mike Olson, along with dozens of athletics department coaches and staff and committed student-athletes, as well as a campus steering committee composed of individuals from across the institution. 

"Utah Tech is committed to academic and athletic excellence," White added. "Moving to Division I will allow Utah Tech student athletes to compete at the highest level, something we have been working towards for a number of years and our campus and community could not be more excited. Go Trailblazers!" 

Utah Tech formally announced its move to NCAA Division I status and membership into the Western Athletic Conference on January 11, 2019. The university then began to blaze its new trail to D-I status on July 1, 2020.

During its four-year reclassification period, Trailblazer Athletics claimed one WAC regular season championship (softball in 2023), and earned a number of victories against several established Division I programs, including wins over Power-5 conference schools in baseball, women's basketball, and softball. 

Ahead of the 2022-23 season, the WAC announced that teams from both Utah Tech, and fellow D-I newcomer Tarleton State, would be eligible for conference postseason play. Utah Tech's women's basketball team recorded the university's first D-I postseason victory with a 72-68 win over Utah Valley (3/6/23) in the first round of the 2023 WAC Tournament, while men's basketball team followed suit one night later with an 80-76 overtime win (3/7/23) vs. Stephen F. Austin in the men's tourney first round.

Trailblazer men's soccer also claimed victory in conference postseason play thanks to a 1-0 result over San Jose State in the 2023 WAC tournament.

In the classroom, Utah Tech Athletics continued to excel as 671 student-athletes earned Academic all-WAC honors over the past four seasons. In addition, Trailblazer Athletics maintained at least a 3.25 cumulative GPA during its four-year reclassification, highlighted by a 3.32 overall GPA this past academic year, which is the second-highest yearly GPA in the university's four-year era. 

"Utah Tech having now reached full NCAA Division I status is the culmination of four years of hard work and dedication from hundreds of people on behalf of our university," said Ken Beazer, Utah Tech Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. "Our move up to Division I athletics is a major milestone in the overall evolution of our institution. And given the fact that we showed that our student-athletes and athletic programs can be competitive at this level, all while maintaining our standard of excellence in the classroom, this announcement validates our decision to elevate our NCAA status. Now that we are fully Division I, we are ready to make more history.
 
"We would not be here in this position had it not been for our former President, Dr. Richard "Biff" Williams, who along with my predecessor, [former Utah Tech AD] Dr. Jason Boothe, spearheaded the feasibility study that began this process," Beazer noted. "I want to thank them, our current university administration, our athletic administrators, in particular [retired Senior Assc. AD] Mo Eckroth and [Associate AD] Mike Olson, our student-athletes and coaches, our faculty and staff, our student-body, everyone who served on our NCAA transition committees, our elected officials, and everyone in Trailblazer Nation. We could not have reached this pinnacle without every one of those people."

Utah Tech Athletics will officially kick off its 2024-25 athletic campaign when the Trailblazer women's soccer team travels to Ogden for an in-state clash at Weber State on Thursday, August 15. Utah Tech men's soccer follows suit with its season opener at CSU Bakersfield on Thursday, Aug. 22, while men's and women's cross country will make their season debut at the Utah Valley Invitational on Friday, Aug. 30.

Trailblazer women's volleyball will also begin its season on Aug. 30 with a pair of matches in Ogden against both Denver and Weber State, and the Utah Tech football team will host Big Sky Conference power Montana State in the 2024 season opener at Greater Zion Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 31.