Women's Swimming | 10/1/2025 10:40:00 AM

Utah Tech's 2025-26 season gets off the blocks this weekend as the Trailblazers travel to sunny Malibu to swim at the annual Pepperdine Rodionoff Invitational.

The two-day meet will be held on Friday and Saturday at the Waves' Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The meet will begin each day at 11 a.m. (MT). 
 
COACHING STAFF: Utah Tech alumnus Shawn King begins his third season as head coach of the Trailblazer program. 
        Last season, King led the Trailblazers to a seventh place finish at the final Western Athletic Conference championships. His team also combined to break four school records and post several more top-10 all-time program marks. 
        In his first season poolside at Utah Tech, he guided the team to its second fastest season in school history, breaking seven school records, while collecting three All-WAC honors. In addition, the Trailblazers combined to post 75% life best times in competed events during the season.
        Utah Tech also performed in the classroom, as the team earned 2024-25 CSCAA Division I Scholar All-America honors with a cumulative 3.62 GPA.
        Coach King is joined poolside by third-year assistant coach Colby Clark.

THE 2025-26 ROSTER: Utah Tech returns 11 swimmers from last year's squad that claimed one medal and finished seventh overall at the 2025 WAC championship meet.
        Four of the 11 returning Trailblazers recorded multiple team-best season times last year, highlighted by junior Cera Mallory, who closed the campaign as the Utah Tech record holder in the 500, 1,000 and 1,650-yard freestyle events.   
        Meanwhile, three-time WAC medalist junior Mary Sims Cross is back after she won silver in the 100 backstroke and posted team season-best times both the 100 and 200 back a year ago. Cross' sophomore season came on the heels of a stellar freshman campaign that saw her claim bronze medals in both the 100 and 200 back at the 2024 WAC championships.
        Utah Tech also welcomed back three more upperclassmen in senior Natalia Zmierczak (2023 WAC bronze medalist) and juniors Kaiya Lawson and Sorina Rom.
        In addition, six talented sophomores are back this season, headlined by Alyssa Gordon and Gabby Henry. Gordon shined in her debut season, during which she broke the school record in the 200 breast and posted the team's season-best time in the 400 IM. 
        Henry enjoyed a solid freshman season that saw her etch her name atop both the 100 and 200 butterfly 2024-25 season-best list. Utah Tech will also look toward fellow sophomores Dani Cannon, Zofia Gorska, Kam Swanson and Jenna Tracy to step up in a big way after all four enjoyed solid freshman debut seasons. 
         Utah Tech welcomed 12 newcomers to the program ahead of the 2025-26 season. Five of the 12 swimmers transferred from other four-year programs, including sophomore Emilie Coleman from Wyoming, juniors Rachel Maki and Naomi Nakaya from Concordia-Irvine, sophomore Makaela Perea from Fresno State, and Nia Turagavou from BYU.
        Three of the seven Blazer freshman come from the Utah prep ranks, including Reagan Patterson(South Ogden; Bonneville HS), Kate Reichner (Provo; Timpview HS), Coco Riding (Spanish Fork; Spanish Fork HS). 
        Additionally, Kiana Hugins (Yorba Linda, Calif.; Esperanza HS), Madeleine McGaughy (Kalispell, Mont.; Glacier HS), Addy Trinidad (Colorado Springs; Cheyenne Mountain HS) and Marta Valkovska(Riga, Latvia; Riga Secondary School No. 64) will all look to make an immediate splash in their first collegiate seasons. 
        In all, eight of the Trailblazers hail from Utah, while nine total states – Utah, California (3), Colorado (3), Hawai'i (1), Indiana (1), Missouri (1), Montana (1), New Mexico (1), and Tennessee (1), along with three foreign countries – Latvia (1) and Poland (2), are represented on this year's roster.   
 
NEW SEASON = NEW CONFERENCE: After competing in the WAC since transitioning to NCAA Division I status in the 2020-21 season, Utah Tech will compete under a new conference banner this season.
        The Trailblazer program is now an affiliate member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). Utah Tech joins six other former WAC programs in the new league this season, including California Baptist, Idaho, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado and UTRGV. 
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will return to action next weekend with a tri-dual meet at New Mexico State. The Blazers will swim against the host Aggies as well as New Mexico over the two-day dual.