Utah Valley's track and field squads open their WAC outdoor title defense this weekend as the Wolverines head to St. George, Utah for the Utah Tech Invitational at Greater Zion Stadium.

The meet is slated to begin at 8:30 a.m. MT with the 5000-meter, with field events kicking off at 9. A full rundown of the meet schedule can be found at the link above. 

SEASON PREVIEW
The Wolverines will look to build off the success of the indoor season that saw Utah Valley win its first men's championship in 11 years. The women's team took second, falling just short of back-to-back indoor titles.

Utah Valley won nine golds at the WAC Indoors, led by three from Morgan Nokes in the mile, 3k, and 5k, and two from Porter Whitworth in the 3k and 5k. Both were named the Outstanding Track Athletes for the meet. Aubrey Tasker (high jump), Grace Williams (pole vault), Sila Kiplagat (mile), and the men's DMR squad also won individual titles.

The Wolverines return six NCAA qualifiers from last outdoor season, led by a pair of second team All-Americans in Gavin Stafford and Kade Thompson, who made up two legs of the 4x100 squad from a year ago. Thompson also qualified in the 100m.

Alex Hartshorn looks to build on a strong indoor season and return to regionals in outdoor after qualifying in the 1500m last year. Hartshorn ran the first two sub-four indoor miles in program history earlier this winter, and took silver at the WAC championships.

Noah Peterson and Porter Westerlind will look to replicate their successes from a season ago, as both Wolverine pole vaulters qualified for regionals. Peterson will look to make it four years in a row making it to regionals, while Westerlind will aim to make it for the second time.

Ella Hopper is the lone regional qualifier from 2025 returning on the women's side. Hopper set the school record in the 400mH at last season's prelims. 

Two Wolverine veterans will look to return to the NCAA prelims after missing out last year. Nick Forsyth will look to return to regionals in the javelin after qualifying as a freshman and sophomore, but falling just short last year. Nokes will also look to continue her storybook 2025-26 season and reach regionals after missing last season due to having a baby last March.

UP NEXT
Utah Valley will host its lone home meet of the season, the UVU Collegiate Invitational, on March 26. The meet will begin at 8 a.m. MT, and admission is free. Live results will be posted on SportTrax.