(St. George - Mar. 20, 2026) – Utah Tech women's track & field hosts the 2026 Utah Tech Invitational to begin the outdoor track & field season at Greater Zion Stadium.

UT will get started with the 5000 meter race at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, and wrap up with the 4 x 400 meter relay at approximately 1:15 p.m..

The Trailblazers will also honor their five seniors with a ceremony at the conclusion of the meet.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah Tech racked up ten top-8 finishes and set six school records after the dust settled at the 2026 WAC Indoor Track & Field Championships at The Podium in Spokane, WA. The Trailblazers finished in 6th over the two day championship with 35 total points. Junior Averie Perriton shined at the WAC Championships, breaking two program records and recording two top-8 finishes. Senior Megan Jenkins also broke a program record and was a part of the 4x400 relay school record as well. 

LAST YEAR'S UTAH TECH INVITATIONAL
Utah Tech track & field opened its 2025 outdoor season by setting two program records and tallying twelve top-8 finishes on the first day, and three program records and 20 top-8 finishes on the final day. Junior Whitney Christiansen set a then program record in the 400 meter race with a time of 54.79. The Trailblazers recorded four 1st place finishes and twelve top-3 finishes during the then two day meet. UT also recorded a meet record in the 100 meter dash. 

AT THE HELM
Justin Decker is beginning his first season as the Director of Track & Field and his 10th year on the women's track & field staff. Decker is also the head coach of the women's cross country team, whom he has guided for the past 15 seasons.

During his tenure at UT, Decker has mentored 25 all-conference, seven all-region, and two All-American student-athletes (Rachel Young in 2012 and Billie Hatch in 2019).

RUN IT BACK
Utah Tech returns 19 Trailblazers from last year's roster, including seven distance runners, three mid-distance runners, eight sprinters, four hurdlers and two jumps specialists. 

In 2025, Utah Tech totaled 13 Second Team All-WAC selections during the indoor season. Junior Whitney Christiansen (400 meters, DMR, 4x400-meter relay), senior Megan Jenkins (400 meters, 4x400-meter relay), junior Averie Perriton (DMR), junior Makayla Pitcher (DMR) and sophomore Lily Sampson (DMR, 4x400-meter relay) all return. 

During the 2025 outdoor season, the Trailblazers earned eight all-conference honors. Among UT's returners, Christiansen (400 meters), Jenkins (400-meter hurdles) and Perriton (3,000-meter steeplechase) garnered Second Team All-WAC honors. Sophomore Ilenia DeHart (400-meter hurdles) was also named Second Team All-WAC.

NEW FACES
Utah Tech welcomes eight newcomers, including six freshmen and transfers Mille Roesaeg and Trey Torgerson.

Roesaeg competes in multis and hails from Fredrikstad, Norway. Torgerson is a sprinter from Salina, Utah, and comes to St. George after playing volleyball at Eastern Arizona in the fall.

The Trailblazer freshmen include three sprinters and three distance runners.

Utah Tech also added three assistant coaches to the track & field program for this season. Holly Haguewood is the sprints/hurdles coach, Shanae Leavitt is the multis coach and Josiah Williams is the jumps coach. 

BIG SKY ON THE HORIZON
Utah Tech is in its last year of competition as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Trailblazers will join the Big Sky Conference on July 1, 2026. Along with the women's program, UT is in the process of adding men's track & field, which will also compete in the Big Sky, ahead of the 2026-27 academic year.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Utah Tech will return to action in Las Vegas, Nevada at the UNLV REBEL Elite on April 3-4 at Myron Partridge Stadium.