CLOVIS, Calif. — Utah State track & field claimed two titles and eight medals, earned 93 team points and posted two performances that rank in the top 10 in school history on the third and final day of the 2025 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Clovis, California, on Saturday.
 
“We’re really proud of how our kids competed,” said Artie Gulden, USU’s director of track & field and cross country. “Having two conference champions and lots of all-conference kids is great. Our athletes broke two school records on the women’s side and set multiple all-time top-10 marks. Logan broke his own meet record in the vault in less than favorable conditions for vaulting.”
 
On a windy evening at Veterans Memorial Stadium, junior Logan Hammer won the men’s pole vault competition with his clearance of 5.65 meters (18-6.5), earning the fifth Mountain West title of his career. He broke his own meet record of 5.62 meters (18-5.25), set at last year’s championships. Of the seven clearances of 5.65 meters (18-6.5) by collegiate pole vaulters during the 2025 outdoor season, Hammer now owns four of them, all of which have come in his last four competitions. Junior Marshall Rasmussen cleared 5.11 meters (16-9.25) to win the silver medal, his second of the 2025 campaign. Junior Javin Richards jumped a height of 4.96 meters (16-9.25) to win bronze and complete the Utah State podium sweep.
 
Utah State continued its recent dominance of the men’s 800 meters on Saturday. Sophomore Landon Bott, the gold medalist at the 2025 indoor championships, claimed another title with his winning time of 1:49.68. Bott held the lead despite a late charge from the runner-up, New Mexico’s Matthew Endrody. Graduate Brennan Benson, who won the 2023 title in the event, won bronze with his time of 1:51.27, securing his seventh career medal at the Mountain West Championships. Junior Ernest Green rounded out the Aggie scorers, finishing fourth with a time of 1:51.59.
 
Aggie throwers claimed the silver and bronze medals in the men’s discus. Senior Nate Franz had three personal-best throws in his first three attempts, with his third mark of 57.13 meters (187-5) earning him second place in the competition. Sophomore teammate Joseph Turner earned his second career MW medal in the discus, throwing a personal record of 56.37 meters (184-11) to claim third place. Franz moved into fourth in Utah State history with his performance, while Turner’s personal-best mark ranks sixth all-time. Air Force’s Texas Tanner won the competition with a mark of 63.59 meters (208-7), breaking an 18-year-old meet record.
 
Freshman Ayodele Ojo claimed his first career Mountain West medal in the 100 meters, running in 10.32 seconds to finish second in the race. With a lean forward at the finish line, Ojo beat out the third-place runner, Air Force’s Javin Bostic, by 0.002 seconds. Freshman Daniel Chase added to the Aggie scoring in the event, clocking in at 10.47 to finish seventh. New Mexico’s Cam Watts, who played cornerback for the Lobos under current Utah State head football coach Bronco Mendenhall, won the title with a winning time of 10.23.
 
Freshman Diego Aguirre-Stewart and Ojo claimed sixth and seventh place in the men’s 200 meters, finishing in 20.99 and 21.08, respectively. Collectively, Utah State’s freshman sprinters Aguirre-Stewart, Chase and Ojo earned 25 team points for the Aggies. San José State’s Cameron Tarver won the 200-meter title, clocking in at 20.54.
 
Sophomore Joshua Armstrong scored the Aggies’ first track points of Championship Saturday, running the 1,500-meter final in 3:47.01 to finish seventh in the field. New Mexico’s Collins Kiprotich won the title in the event with a time of 3:41.05, beating teammate Habtom Samuel by 0.02 seconds.
 
Junior Krysthina Vlahovic continued her run of solid performances in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 13.96 to take sixth place in the field. Vlahovic has placed sixth in the event at three consecutive Mountain West Championships. San Diego State’s Jada Pierre won the race with a time of 13.12.
 
Senior Adi Nielson secured her best individual finish of her Utah State career, running the 400-meter hurdles in 1:00.96 to earn a sixth-place finish in the final. Fresno State’s Jewel Ash won the event title with her time of 57.63.
 
Senior Emma Thornley capped off her tremendous Mountain West career by finishing sixth in the women’s 5,000 meters, running her race in 16:18.50. The Utah State record holder in the event scored at the conference championships for the sixth time in her Aggie career. New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei won the title with a time of 15:50.96, leading a group of six Lobos in the top eight.
 
In the women’s 200 meters, senior Emma Reeves earned the first individual point of her Aggie career, taking eighth place in the race with a time of 23.92. UNLV’s Kennedi Porter, who was named the Women’s Outstanding Track Performer of the Year, won the race with a time of 22.95, her third gold medal of the day.
 
The championships concluded with the women’s and men’s 4×400-meter relays. On the women’s side, the crew of Reeves, Nielson, junior Alison Richter and freshman Mashaylee Jones, who set the Utah State record last week, finished in fourth place with a time of 3:42.20. The Aggie men’s team of Aguirre-Stewart, Ernest Green, Benson and Bott, who had not competed in the event all season, finished seventh with a time of 3:17.91. New Mexico swept both relays, winning the women’s race in 3:35.54 and the men’s in 3:13.68.
 
The Utah State men finished in third place with 114.5 points, their highest team finish since 2021. The women’s team placed ninth in the team competition with 38 points. Colorado State and New Mexico completed their sweeps of the Mountain West men’s and women’s team titles, with the Rams’ men earning 192.5 points and the Lobo women accumulating 153 points.
 
“From a team perspective, it’s great that the men finished third,” said Gulden. “We had a number of guys step up to help us do that. The women collectively had a rough day today, and our team performance isn’t indicative of how good our team is. But at the end of the day, we did not get it done and we have to improve moving forward.”
 
Utah State’s individual athletes will await their postseason fate, with invited athletes set to compete at the NCAA West First Rounds in College Station, Texas, from Wednesday to Saturday, May 28-31.
 
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2025 Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships – Day 3
Veterans Memorial Stadium | Clovis, California | May 17, 2025
 
USU Men’s Results:
 

Event	USU Finishers (scorers in bold)
100 Meters	2. Ayodele Ojo, 10.32; 7. Daniel Chase, 10.47.
200 Meters	6. Diego Aguirre-Stewart, 20.99; 7. Ayodele Ojo, 21.08.
800 Meters	1. Landon Bott, 1:49.68; 3. Brennan Benson, 1:51.37; 4. Ernest Green, 1:51.59; 9. Sam Green, 1:52.09.
1,500 Meters	7. Joshua Armstrong, 3:47.01; 10. Wyatt Evans, 3:48.44.
5,000 Meters	10. Camren Todd, 13:56.87; 15. LJ Floyd, 14:12.93; 19. Joshua McKee, 14:29.27; 21. John Simmons, 14:33.28; 25. Drew Hogan, 14:43.97; 26. Eric Nelson, 14:48.42; 28. Wyatt Evans, 15:14.39; Bryce Hill, DNS; Joshua Armstrong, DNS; Garrett Woodhouse, DNS; Logan Garnica, DNS.
Pole Vault	1. Logan Hammer, 5.65 meters (18-6.5); 2. Marshall Rasmussen, 5.11 meters (16-9.25); 3. Javin Richards, 4.96 meters (16-3.25); 11. Caden Dupee, 4.41 meters (14-5.5).
Triple Jump	9. Samuel Beckwith, 13.93 meters (45-8.5); Joshua Hartvigsen, DNS.
Discus	2. Nate Franz, 57.13 meters (187-5.25); 3. Joseph Turner, 56.37 meters (184-11.25).
4×400 Relay	7. Utah State (Diego Aguirre-Stewart, Ernest Green, Brennan Benson, Landon Bott), 3:17.91.
4×100 Relay	Utah State (Daniel Chase, Ayodele Ojo, Mathew Hall, Diego Aguirre-Stewart), DNF.

 
USU Women’s Results:
 

Event	USU Finishers (scorers in bold)
200 Meters	8. Emma Reeves, 23.92.
400 Meters	9. Mashaylee Jones, 55.69.
1,500 Meters	10. Hannah Davidson, 4:30.30; 11. Caroline Moon, 4:31.70.
5,000 Meters	6. Emma Thornley, 16:18.50; 21. Cailey Bracken, 16:54.94; 24. Liz Phillips, 16:56.68; Hannah Davidson, DNS; Ana Weaver, DNS; Shelby Jensen, DNS; Caroline Moon, DNS; Brianne Smith, DNS; Sarah Ellis, DNS.
100-Meter Hurdles	6. Krysthina Vlahovic, 13.96; 9. Claire Petersen, 14.36.
400-Meter Hurdles	6. Adi Nielson, 1:00.96.
High Jump	11. Presley Gray, 1.60 meters (5-3).
Discus	9. Milly Garren, 47.05 meters (154-4.25); 10. Ruby Jordan, 40.89 meters (134-1.75).
4×400 Relay	4. Utah State (Emma Reeves, Adi Nielson, Alison Richter, Mashaylee Jones), 3:42.20.
4×100 Relay	Utah State (Mashaylee Jones, Emma Reeves, Breanna Raven, Camryn Ere), DNF.

 
-USU-