ST. GEORGE — Utah Tech’s cross country teams wrapped up their seasons Saturday at the Western Athletic Conference championships, with the Trailblazer women finishing ninth and the men 10th.
The event was staged on the campus of Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas.
According to the Utah Tech Athletics website, headlining the women’s race was Rylee Jacobsen who placed 42nd in 22 minutes, 17.1 seconds for 6 kilometers (3.73 miles). Additionally, Shakayla Morgan finished at 22:32.9 for the Trailblazers’ second-fastest time on the day.
Kirstin Williams followed at 22:53. Also competing for the Trailblazers were Emma Humes, 23:06.2; Lexi Larsen, 23:22.3; Alexia Corona, at 23:59.1; and Mariah Skinner, 24:32.1.
The Trailblazer men had two personal bests at the 2022 WAC Championship.
Brian Schulz, who led the way for the Trailblazers with the team’s fastest time of the day, placed 30th and set his personal best with a 24:33.2. This improved his third-best time in school history for the 8-kilometer (5-mile) distance.
Kallen Webster was Utah Tech’s No. 2 man at 24:58.8, followed by Quinton Read, who set a new personal best at 25:13.5. He now sits at No. 7 in the team’s all-time record book.
Rounding out the race for the Trailblazer men were Julien Canales, 25:26.6; Nick Roach, 25:39.0; Andrew Allen, 25:39.9; and Connor Baty, 28:25.8.
Utah Tech volleyball battled to the end in a five-set loss to Southern Utah in Western Athletic Conference action last Saturday.
“It was a hard-fought match today, one play here or there and the results could’ve been different,” Head Coach Camilla Hafoka said, according to the Utah Tech Athletics website.
The match came down to the final set. Southern Utah (6-13, 5-5 WAC) started with three consecutive points. Utah Tech (10-9,4-6) answered with four points including a block by Sunny Brown, a kill from Hannah Howard and a kill by Taela Laufiso.
The T-Birds were the first to hit the eight-point milestone to force the court switch. Utah Tech had another three-point reach that tied the fifth set up 12-12. SUU finished the match with three straight points to end the set 15-12 and five-set win.
Utah Tech was led by Howard who had 14 kills from 34 attacks with five errors for a .265 percentage. Kate Hardy recorded 12 kills from 27 total attacks with just one error for an impressive .407 percentage. Whitnee Nihipali was the last Trailblazer to hit double-digit kills with 11 from 38 attacks for a .237 percentage.
The Trailblazers will host two final home games this season in California Baptist on Thursday, Nov. 3, and Grand Canyon on Saturday, Nov. 5, for senior weekend. The final regular season games of the year will be Nov. 10 and 12 at UT-Arlington and Stephen F. Austin.
Utah Tech women’s soccer (10-6-2, 6-3-2) came away with a 1-1 draw against Seattle U Thursday evening and then fell 2-0 to Utah Valley in the regular season finale on Saturday night.
Trailing 1-0 in the 56th minute against SeattleU, the Trailblazers came up with the equalizer. Utah Tech had possession in the attacking midfield Shaylynn Uyeshiro had the ball in the midfield and was working on a switch field. She passed to Gracie Knutzen who pushed it forward to a breaking Karli Nyland. She worked the ball outside the 18 and sent it soaring towards the goal where Brynlee Roverts was waiting to finish it off, ensuring it sank in the bank of the net to tie the game 1-1.
The Utah Tech women enter the WAC tournament in Seattle, Washington, as the No. 4 seed and take on No. 5 Grand Canyon Wednesday at 8 p.m. MT. Click here for the complete bracket.
Utah Tech men’s soccer went on the road and suffered a close 1-0 loss against Utah Valley on Friday night and fell to the California Baptist Lancers 4-0 on Sunday night.
The Trailblazers (3-12-2 overall, 1-5-2 in the WAC) will close out the 2022 season with a home match against UNLV on Friday at 7 p.m.