PROVO and CEDAR CITY, Utah — Gavin Stafford and James Duncan set new school records in the 100-meter dash and the 110-meter hurdles respectively as Utah Valley competed at the Robison Invitational and SUU Coliseum Championships on Thursday.
Stafford's wind-aided time of 10.00 in Provo is the best in the WAC this season and ranks among the top 10 nationally in all conditions. It is also the top time by an athlete from a non-Power 4 school.
Down in Cedar City, Duncan claimed his second school record in his first season as a Wolverine, running 14.04 to move into third in the WAC this season. Fellow Wolverine Matthew Maclennan ran a 14.06, matching the previous school record set by Cole Eisenhour in 2016.
Also at SUU, Artana Nice ran a blistering race in the mile, posting a converted time of 4:53.24 to win the event and move into second all-time in UVU history. Natalia Boltz debuted in the top 10 of the 3000-meter, posting a converted time of 9:55.84 that ranks ninth all-time.
Utah Valley's throwers saw two new PR's in the women's shot put and two in the men's hammer, with Grace Degarimore improving her top mark to 15.83m, the second straight meet she's PR'ed. Cale Stinebaugh saw a big jump in her personal best, improving by nearly a meter from 13.27 to 14.06, moving from ninth to fourth all-time. On the men's side, Eddie Garcia posted a new PR of 57.56m on Wednesday, then was leapfrogged by Andrew Turner whose top mark was 57.76m. Turner and Garcia now rank fourth and fifth all-time.
Aubrey Tasker improved her outdoor personal best in the high jump to 1.70m to go from seventh to fourth and match the top mark in the WAC this season.
Makaylie Roberds made her debut in the top 10 in the 100-meter hurdles, posting a time of 14.11 that ranks tied for sixth all-time. Garrett Nelson improved from ninth to eighth all-time in the 100-meter dash, posting a new top mark of 10.37.
Cooper Schaad made his official season debut in the pole vault after competing in a handful of meets unattached. Schaad posted a new personal best of 4.88m, moving into a tie for seventh all-time.
Kylie Hadfield had the last top 10 of the day, posting a new top time of 56.24 in the 400-meter that ranks 10th in program history.
Utah Valley will have a handful of athletes competing over the next two days at the Robison Invitational, as the mile and 800-meter will be run on Friday and the 200-meter dash on Saturday. After that, the Wolverines will turn their focus to the WAC Championships, set to be held in two weeks' time in Arlington, Texas from May 14-16.
