Men's Cross Country | 9/17/2026 10:30:00 AM

(St. George, Utah - Sept. 17, 2026) - The Trailblazer men's and women's cross country teams are back in action on Saturday morning at the UC Riverside Invitational.

Who | UC Riverside Invitaitonal
When | Saturday, Sept. 19 – Women's 6K Invite - 8:15 a.m. MT | Men's 8K Invite - 8:50 a.m. MT | Women's 5K Open - 9:25 a.m. MT | Men's 8K Open - 9:55 a.m. MT
Where | UCR AG OPS Course - Riverside, Calif.
Social Media | Instagram + Twitter (X) + #UtahTechBlazers

PARTICIPATING TEAMS
UC Riverside, Utah Tech, Southern Utah, California Baptist, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Sacramento State, Pepperdine, Fresno State, USC (women only) UC Santa Cruz, Pomona-Pitzer, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Mount San Antonio College, Fresno Pacific, Cal State San Marcos, Concordia Irvine, La Verne, Chapman, Biola, Redlands (Calif.), Riverside City CC, Cal State Monterey Bay, Point Loma (women only)

TEAMS IN THE USTFCCCA REGIONAL & NATIONAL RANKINGS

• Men
  • California Baptist is ranked No. 3 in the West Region & No. 24 in the nation.
  • Southern Utah is ranked No. 12 in the Mountain Region.
• Women
  • California Baptist is ranked No. 6 in the West Region.
  • Southern Utah is ranked No. 14 in the Mountain Region.
  • UC Irvine is ranked No. 15 in the West Region.

LOOK BACK AT THE NAU GEORGE KYTE CLASSIC
The Trailblazer opened the season on Sept. 2 posting a pair of top three team finishes at the NAU George Kyte Classic hosted at Buffalo Park.

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 Flagstaff native Ryan Hatch with a 10th-place finish tallying a time of 23:02.2.

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

On the women's side, senior Averie 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 freshman Ashlynn Lainhart in 21st (15:57.5), senior Adri Bird in 22nd (15:58.2), junior Makayla Boulton in 23rd (16:09.2) and freshmen Maya Parker (16:10.8) & Talia Anderson (16:11.9) in 24th & 25th, respectively.

2025 UC RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL RECAP
The Trailblazers make their fifth straight trip to the UC Riverside Invitational and return all nine women & five of the nine men who competed in the Invite Division at last year's meet.

On the women's side, both Perriton and Pitcher notched top 10 times in the 6K in program history finishing 15th (20:52.7) & 64th (21:28.5), respectively.

Bird and Charly Murie also finished in the top 100 placing 74th (21:33.8) & 96th (21:45.3), respectively.

On the men's side, Hatch is the top returner for the Trailblazers after finishing 64th in the 8K clocking a time of 24:54.8.

Other top returning finishers for the men are Mordechai Yadegar (25:12.0), Aiden Hardy (25:42.7), Collin Manning (26:16.9) and Payton Wilkins (28:01.9).

GLANCE AT 2026 SLATE
For the sixth straight season as members of Division I, the Trailblazers will compete in four regular season meets.

Two more regular season meets are on deck in the month of October getting underway with the Southern Utah Color Country Invitational in Cedar City on Oct. 3 before closing out the regular season at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational hosted by Indiana State in Terre Haute on Oct. 16.

The Big Sky Championships are set for 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 make the quick trip to Cedar City for the Southern Utah Color Country Invitational at the Cedar Ridge Golf Course on Oct. 3.