LOGAN, Utah – The Utah State men's and women's track & field teams both appeared in the first release of the USTFCCCA Mountain Region rankings. The Aggie men are ranked 12th while the women debuted at 15th.
 
Leading the men's Mountain Region is Texas Tech, followed by Northern Arizona, Air Force, Colorado State and BYU. Texas Tech also claimed the top spot on the women's side with BYU, Colorado State, Colorado and New Mexico rounding out the top five.
 
Utah State track & field began its outdoor season at the Arizona-hosted Willie Williams Classic two weekends ago and won four titles to go along with 15 top-three finishes. 
 
For the women, sophomore Gia Malone won the high jump with a mark of 1.60 meters (5-3.00) and junior Bailey Brinkerhoff won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:10.07. On the men's side, sophomore Kelton Chenworth won the high jump with a height of 2.05 meters (6-8.75) and senior Zach Meyer won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.51. Sophomore Ben Hoffman finished right behind Chenworth in the high jump to place second with a mark of 2.00 meters (6-6.75). 
 
Three Aggie women also broke into the top 10 all-time in school history in their respective events. In the pole vault, sophomore Maren Garnett set the fifth-best mark at 3.83 meters (12-6.75), finishing second overall. And in the javelin, freshman Valerie Clark, competing in her first collegiate meet, set the sixth-best mark in school history with a throw of 45.14 meters (148-1), while sophomore Djamilliah Paepke-Chile posted the eighth-best mark in program history at 43.30 meters (142-0).
 
Utah State track & field teams will continue their outdoor season on Friday and Saturday, April 1-2, at the Stanford Invitational and the West Coast Relays hosted by Fresno State.
Fans can follow the Utah State track & field programs at twitter.com/USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at instagram.com/USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
 
Men's Week 1 Mountain Region Rankings:

1. Texas Tech
2. Northern Arizona
3. Air Force
4. Colorado State
5. BYU
6. New Mexico
7. Colorado
8. Montana State
9. Utah Valley
10. UTEP
11. Weber State
12. UTAH STATE
13. Wyoming
14. Southern Utah
15. Northern Colorado
16. Idaho State
17. Montana

Women's Week 1 Mountain Region Rankings:

1. Texas Tech
2. BYU
3. Colorado State
4. Colorado
5. New Mexico
6. Northern Arizona
7. Utah
8. Nevada
9. Idaho State
10. UTEP
11. Southern Utah
12. Wyoming
13. New Mexico State
14. Montana State
15. UTAH STATE
16. Air Force
17. Weber State
18. Montana
19. Utah Valley
20. Northern Colorado

-USU-