Utah Tech women’s track and field will travel to southern California for a split meet weekend at Azusa Pacific University and the University of La Verne, beginning Thursday, April 16.
The team is set to participate in the Bryan Clay Invitational at Cougar Stadium in Azusa, which will run for three days starting April 16. Simultaneously, athletes will also compete at the ULV Leopard Invitational at Ortmayer Stadium in La Verne over two days starting April 17.
In their previous outing at the UNLV Rebel ELITE on April 3-4, Utah Tech achieved 32 top-8 finishes and secured first place in team points. Charly Murie finished second in the 5000 meter run with a time of 18:39.20. Averie Perriton led a strong performance by placing second in the women’s 1500 meter run with a time of 4:41.93, while also earning third best all-time school marks in the women’s 3000 meter run with a time of 10:26.59.
Reflecting on last year’s events, Lainee Leavitt placed seventh in high jump at the Bryan Clay Invitational with a mark of 1.58 meters (5-2.25). At last year’s ULV Leopard Invitational, Averie Perriton set what was then a program record by finishing fifth in the steeplechase (11:03.82), Charly Murie took eighth place in the 10,000 meters (37:49.71), and Savannah Rydalch finished third in the 800 meters (2:17.37).
Justin Decker is entering his first season as Director of Track & Field and his tenth year on staff for women’s track & field; he has also led women’s cross country for fifteen seasons and mentored numerous all-conference athletes during his tenure.
Looking ahead, Utah Tech will join the Big Sky Conference on July 1, marking its final year competing within Western Athletic Conference events before expanding both its men’s and women’s programs into new conference competition.
