Men's Cross Country | 10/14/2026 10:00:00 AM

(St. George, Utah - Oct. 14, 2026) - The Trailblazer cross country teams close out the regular season on Friday morning in Terre Haute, Ind. at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational.

Who | Under Armour Pre-National Invitational
When | Friday, Oct. 16 – Men's Blue 8K - 8:40 a.m. MT | Women's White 6K - 9:20 a.m. MT
Where | LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course - Terre Haute, Ind.
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

• Men's Blue 8K Teams (45 Teams)
  • Arizona, California Baptist, Clemson, Colorado State, Cornell, DePaul, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Illinois, Indiana, Iona, Iowa State, IU Indianapolis, Kansas, Kentucky, Liberty, Loyola (Ill.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Montana State, NC State, North Carolina, North Dakota, Notre Dame, Ohio, Penn, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, South Dakota State, Southern Indiana, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Syracuse, Toledo, Tulane, UMass Lowell, Utah State, Utah Tech, Utah Valley, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Wichita State, Wyoming
• Women's White 6K (17 Teams)
  • Ball State, Bellarmine, Central Michigan, DePaul, Eastern Michigan, Evansville, IU Indianapolis, Murray State, Purdue, Purdue Fort Wayne, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, UMass Lowell, UT Martin, Utah Tech, Valparaiso, Wichita State

TEAMS IN THE USTFCCCA NATIONAL (Oct. 13) & REGIONAL (Oct. 12) RANKINGS

• Men - National Rankings
  • No. 8 Syracuse, No. 14 Villanova, No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 20 Iowa State
• Men - Regional Rankings
  • Great Lakes (10): No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Toledo, No. 7 Purdue, No. 9 Miami (Ohio), No. 10 IU Indy, No. 11 Indiana, No. 13 Ohio, No. 14 Southern Indiana, No. 15 Eastern Michigan
  • Mid-Atlantic (4): No. 1 Villanova, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Pittsburgh, No. 7 Penn
  • Midwest (7): No. 3 Iowa State, No. 6 Wichita State, No. 7 Loyola Chicago, No. 8 Illinois, No. 10 Kansas, No. 11 South Dakota State, No. 14 North Dakota
  • Mountain (6): No. 5 Utah Valley, No. 6 Utah State, No. 9 Montana State, No. 10 Colorado State, No. 11 Southern Utah, No. 12 Wyoming
  • Northeast (4): No. 1 Syracuse, No. 3 Cornell, No. 4 Iona, No. 9 UMass Lowell
  • South (2): No. 8 Florida State, No. 14 Vanderbilt
  • South Central (2): No. 2 Stephen F. Austin, No. 3 Tulane
  • Southeast (5): No. 4 North Carolina, No. 7 Duke, No. 8 NC State, No. 9 Kentucky, No. 13 Liberty
  • West (2): No. 4 Arizona, No. 7 California Baptist

LOOK BACK AT UC RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL
The Trailblazers posted a pair of top three team finishes on Oct. 3 in their last meet at the Southern Utah Color Country Invitational in Cedar City.

The men got the morning started with five Trailblazers notching top 20 performances in the 7K led by sophomore Brett Bailey clocking a time of 22:38.73 to finish 11th and was followed by junior Brady Eager in 12th (22:42.09), junior Carter Day in 14th (22:43.09), senior Aiden Hardy  in 16th (22:53.17) and sophomore Mordechai Yadegar in 19th (23:04.24).

On the women's side, senior Averie Perriton raced to a fourth-place finish in the 5K clocking the seventh-fastest time in program history with a time of 18:29.36.

Five more Trailblazers finished in the top 20 with junior Makayla Boulton finished 16th (19:18.85), freshman Maya Parker in 17th (19:23.93), senior Adri Bird in 18th (19:24.35), sophomore Natalie Robertsin 19th (19:25.38) & freshman Talia Anderson in 20th (19:26.22).

QUICK LOOK BACK AT UC RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL
The Trailblazers saw a pair of top 15 team finishes at the UC Riverside Invitational on Sept. 19 with the men placing fifth and the women 15th.

Utah Tech set three top 10 times in program history in the 8K led by senior Ryan Hatch registering a 14th-place showing becoming the second Trailblazer to break the 24-minute mark in the 8K clocking a time of 23:59.5 for the second-fastest time in program history, only bested by Kyle Neuenschwander (23:54.2) in 2024.

Eager, Bailey & freshman Benjamin Fernandez placed 26th (24:15.7), 43rd (24:31.2) & 46th (24:31.9), respectively as their times are the sixth & tied for the ninth-fastest times in program history. 

On the women's side, Perriton clocked the third-fastest 6K in program history as the Cheyenne, Wyo., native placed 22nd with a time of 20:46.7.

Junior Hailee Phillips and Parker finished 91st (21:31.6) & 100th (21:37.3), respectively with four more Trailblazers coming in right behind Parker in the next 13 spots.

Ashlynn Lainhart (101st), Kambrie Wilkinson (106th), Anderson (107th) & Roberts (113th) rounded out the top seven Trailblazers.

SEASON OPENER AT THE NAU GEORGE KYTE CLASSIC
The Trailblazer kicked off the season on Sept. 2 posting a pair of top three team finishes at the NAU George Kyte Classic in Flagstaff.

Led by a pair of top 15 performances, the men finished second while the women placed third as the Trailblazers competed against Big Sky foe Northern Arizona, Grand Canyon, Embry-Riddle & Coconino CC.

Getting the afternoon started with the men's 4.5 mile run, the Trailblazers were led by Hatch, a Flagstaff native, with a 10th-place finish tallying a time of 23:02.2.

Four newcomers came in next for the Trailblazers with Eager finishing 16th (23:26.0) followed by Bailey in 18th (23:27.4), Fernandez in 20th (23:35.1) and Day right behind Fernandez in 21st with a time of 23:35.7.

On the women's side, Perriton was the top finisher coming in 13th finish covering the 2.5 mile course in 15:26.5.

Six more Trailblazers finished in the top 25 led by fifth year Makayla Pitcher placing 19th (15:55.4) followed by Lainhart in 21st (15:57.5) Bird in 22nd (15:58.2), Boulton in 23rd (16:09.2), Parker (16:10.8) & Anderson (16:11.9) in 24th & 25th, respectively.

2026 POSTSEASON ON DECK
The Trailblazers head to the Big Sky Championships on Oct. 30 back in Flagstaff at Buffalo Park with the postseason continuing at the NCAA West Regional Championships in Sacramento on Nov. 13.

The NCAA Championships are set for Nov. 21 returning to Terre Haute to run on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

LOOK AT THE 2026 ROSTER
The Trailblazer men's squad brings back eight returners while welcoming eight newcomers this season.

Five seniors lead the way with fifth-year Dennis Speaks joined by Ryan Hatch, Aiden Hardy, Collin Manning and newcomer Joey Hartnett from Iowa Western CC. Hatch was the Trailblazers' top finisher in all six meets, including a 24th-place finish at the WAC Championships.

Four juniors are highlighted by four newcomers in Carter Day (Snow College), Brady Eager (Paradise Valley CC), Corbin Pyle (Mesa CC) & Connor Singer (Salt Lake CC) and the newcomers are joined by returner Tyler Mullins.

Three sophomore returners include Carter Frost, Payton Wilkins and Mordechai Yadegar along with newcomer Brett Bailey from Snow College. Two freshmen round out the newcomers in Benjamin Fernandez from Madera, Calif. and Ben Bradshaw from American Fork, Utah.

On the women's side, the Trailblazers bring back nine returners and welcome seven newcomers.

Five seniors return led by fifth-year senior Makayla Pitcher, who was the top finisher for the Trailblazers at the WAC Championships & NCAA West Regional Championships, along with Adri Bird, Averie Perriton, Charly Murie & Erin McKinnon.

Four juniors are highlighted in three returners who all ran in all six races last season in Makayla Boulton, Hailee Phillips & Kambrie Wilkinson along with newcomer Lucy Melzer from Mesa CC in Arizona.

Three sophomores include a pair of newcomers in Maddie Embley (Utah State) & Reese Moss (Snow College) along with returner Natalie Roberts.

The four freshmen newcomers all hail from the high school ranks in Talia Anderson (Saratoga Springs, Utah), Camryn Delancey (Gilbert, Ariz.), Ashlynn Lainhartt (Mapleton, Utah) & Maya Parker (Saratoga Springs, Utah).

TRAILBLAZER MEN PICKED SEVENTH, WOMEN EIGHT IN PRESEASON BIG SKY COACHES' POLL
The Trailblazer women's team was selected seventh and the men were picked eighth in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll released on Aug. 20.

With the Trailblazers being one of three teams on each side to earn at least one first-place vote, the women's team garnered 60 points while the men's team registered 48 points.

Northern Arizona, who has won both the men's & women's Big Sky cross country championships in each of the last five seasons, was selected first on both sides followed by Montana State, Weber State & Southern Utah in the two through four spots on both the men's and women's sides.

2025 IN REVIEW
The Trailblazers are coming off a fifth-place finish for the women at the WAC Championships while the men's team took seventh.

On the women's side, all eight Trailblazers from the WAC Championships return led by top 30 finishes by Pitcher, Bird, Perriton & Phillips.

Boulton, Wilkinson, Roberts & Murie also competed at the WAC Championships with Pitcher led the way at the NCAA West Regional Championships.

On the men's side, Hatch was joined by Yadegar, Manning & Hardy at the WAC Championships while Hatch, Yadegar & Manning all competed at the NCAA West Regional Championships.

The women finished second as a team at both the NAU George Kyte Classic & SUU Color Country Invite and third at the UCR Highlander Invite while the men were third at the SUU Color Country Invite and fourth at the NAU George Kyte Classic.

JOSH THOMPSON NAMED DIRECTOR OF CROSS COUNTRY AND TRACK & FIELD
Entering his third season at Utah Tech, Josh Thompson will oversee both the men's & women's cross country teams as well the women's track & field and the new men's track & field program in 2026-27.

The men's track & field program will begin competition in distance events during the 2026-27 indoor and outdoor seasons.

A former collegiate distance runner at Oklahoma State, Thompson won five individual Big 12 titles, qualifying for the NCAA Championships five times. In February 2016, Thompson became the first native Nevadan to run a mile in under four minutes, posting a time of 3:58.33 at the Husky Classic before going on to take fourth at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

After his collegiate career, Thompson signed a professional contract with Nike and joined the Bowerman Track Club in Portland, Oregon. Over his seven-year professional career, Thompson has competed in two World Championships and was a World Finalist in both the 2022 Indoor World 1,500 meters in Serbia and the 2022 Outdoor World 1,500 meters in Eugene, Ore.  

In August 2025, Thompson competed at the USA Track and Field Championships in the 1500 meters, clocking a time of 3:52.04 in Eugene.

UP NEXT
The Trailblazers head to the WAC Championships on Oct. 30 hosted by Northern Arizona in Flagstaff at Buffalo Park.

All 11 schools in the Big Sky have both men's and women's cross country as the Northern Arizona men have won the past five Big Sky cross country championships while the NAU women have won the last seven Big Sky titles.