LOGAN, Utah — Utah State's men's and women's track & field teams played host to the Aggies Speed and Power Meet on Saturday, the program's second time hosting an indoor meet since 2009. 
 
"We had two long weeks of travel leading up to this and I think it was really nice for the athletes to be able to get excited about competing at home," head coach Matt Ingebritsen said. "The fact that they can come in here and put down performances like this, I think it gives them a lot of confidence going into the next two meets. The next meet, we go down and get on the conference track and then two weeks later, we're down there for the conference championships. Having a week like this where it's just a little bit of a rest but we also get that competitive edge of being at home, I think that makes a big difference."
 
Utah State athletes won 19 different events on a day where the Aggies were joined by competitors from Utah Valley, Utah, BYU, Westminster and Salt Lake CC.
 
"I'm very pleased with the turnout," Ingebritsen said. "It's a much bigger meet than it was last year with us having BYU, Utah, UVU and SLCC and some Westminster people as well. It was a lot better atmosphere in here than it was last year. It was a great meet for us last year but this year, I think the entire team really brought it.
 
USU's day started early as sophomore Nate Franz won the men's weight throw with a mark of 16.87 meters. Franz later followed up the title with a win in the shot put, putting up a mark of 16.15 meters. The Aggies swept the top four spots of the shot put, as junior Gavin Beierle and seniors Brandon Ovington and Calvin Knapp placed second, third and fourth, respectively.
 
"It's nice to have family close and be able to come," Franz said. "Just being able to throw with all your teammates and everybody around is nice, relaxing, and you get a lot of energy from having support there. That's always nice."
 
The Aggies' dominance in throwing events continued as senior Tori Bailey won the women's weight throw with a personal-record mark of 18.27 meters. Bailey's mark ranks fifth all-time in the event in Utah State history. Freshman Milly Garren then won the women's shot put with a mark of 13.83 meters. 
 
"I'm a lot more relaxed throwing here at home instead of going somewhere else," Bailey said. "All of our people are going to be here, our whole team is going to come, so the energy is a lot more intense and the support is really great."
 
Utah State swept the long jump, high jump and triple jump on the men's side as junior Kelton Chenworthwon the long and high jumps with marks of 6.92 meters and 2.04 meters, respectively. Sophomore Marshall Rasmussen won the triple jump with a mark of 12.99 meters. Junior Sidnee Naerebout won the women's triple jump with a mark of 11.43 meters. Freshman Logan Hammer won the men's pole vault for the third straight week, winning in a jump-off with a cleared height of 5.10 meters. Hammer's mark is a new personal-best and ties for the sixth-best all-time at USU.
 
"I love it, I honestly love it," Hammer said. "Just being up that high makes me feel like I'm flying and then falling down and seeing the bar stay up at 5.10 meters, it's great. It was amazing. I was able to have my family, I was able to have friends and just having all that support team was just a huge confidence boost for me. Just to have them there and compete on my own turf."
 
In another all-time performance, junior Abbey Bryant improved on her career-best time in the 60-meter hurdles, winning the event with a time of 8.60 which also ranks fifth all-time in Aggie history. Freshman Krysthina Vlahovic placed second in the event, moving to ninth all-time at USU with a time of 8.72.
 
"This morning, I woke up and was like 'today, I want to run faster than I ever have in my entire life,'" Bryant said. "I got to feel what that felt like today and it feels amazing."
 
Elsewhere on the day, the Utah State women recorded wins in the 600 meters (junior Olivia Smith, 1:35.29), 800 meters (junior Mattie Geddes, 2:14.72), mile (Hannah Davidson, 5:02.21), 3,000 meters (Arianna Steiner, 10:25.80) and 5,000 meters (Madison Strasner, 18:26.63).
 
The Aggie men, meanwhile, took home further victories in the 60-meter hurdles (senior Zach Meyer, 8.17), 600 meters (senior Zack Bell, 1:24.31), 800 meters (sophomore Wyatt Evans, 1:52.58), mile (freshman Stewart Brown, 4:16.88) and 3,000 meters (freshman Logan Garnica, 8:39.29).
 
"It's just the confidence you get playing at home," Bryant said. "I think any college athlete can say the same thing, that you just feel more confident competing on your own turf, your own track, your own field, your own court. It's just that boost of confidence that you get from familiarity and competing with the people that you know."
 
The Aggies continue the indoor season next weekend at a pair of meets. USU will compete at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Husky Classic in Seattle, Washington. The two meets will be USU's final tune-up before the Mountain West Indoor Championships.
 
"I think after today, we're going to look really good," Ingebritsen said. "When I looked at it last, we were looking good. After today, after the things we've had, there's going to be a lot of people that moved up on the list which is going to put us in a much better position as a team. I think we can come out of (the conference championships) with more podiums and more top-fives which would move us up overall in the team rankings from where we were last year."
 
Both the Don Kirby Elite Invitational and the Husky Classic will take place on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11.
 
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.
 
AGGIES SPEED AND POWER MEET
GEORGE NELSON FIELDHOUSE
LOGAN, UTAH
FEBRUARY 4, 2023
RESULTS
 
USU WOMEN RESULTS:
60 Meters (prelims) - 4. Autumn Kidd, 7.87q; 7. Delphine Dah, 7.98; 8. Erin McQuillen, 8.15; 10. Abigail Peterson, 8.19.
60 Meters (finals) - 5. Autumn Kidd, 7.95.
60-Meter Hurdles (prelims) - 1.  Krysthina Vlahovic, 8.72q, 1. Abbey Bryant, 8.72q; 4. Olivia Smith, 9.00q; 7. Annie Hill, 9.15; 8. Maddie Edwards, 9.15; 9. Peyton Teevens, 9.26.
60-Meter Hurdles (finals) - 1.  Abbey Bryant, 8.60; 2. Krysthina Vlahovic, 8.73; 4. Olivia Smith, 8.88.
600 Meters (finals) - 1. Olivia Smith, 1:35.29; 2. Peyton Teevens, 1:35.65; 3. Maddie Edwards, 1:39.24; 4. Delphine Dah, 1:40.79; 5. Autumn Kidd, 1:41.49; 6. Abigail Peterson, 1:43.24.
800 Meters (finals) - 1. Mattalyn Geddes, 2:14.72; 2. Adi Nielson, 2:18.53; 3. Kari Taylor, 2:22.49.
Mile (finals) - 1. Hannah Davidson, 5:02.21; 3. Megan Terry, 5:06.67; 5. Malia Lowe, 5:13.30; 6. Hazel Baird, 5:19.78; 8. Karlee Christensen, 5:30.09.
3,000 Meters (finals) - 1. Arianna Steiner, 10:25.80; 3. Abby Gray, 10:36.44; 4. Reagan Hoopes, 10:45.59; 5. Natalie Jensen, 10:47.83; 6. Clarissa Mantz-Chugg, 11:12.75; Megan Terry, DNF.
5,000 Meters (finals) - 1. Madison Strasner, 18:26.63; 2. Carissa Hofeling, 18:32.94; 3. Karlie Callahan, 18:44.10; 5. Cassidy Teuscher, DNF; 6. Natalie Jensen, DNS.
High Jump (finals) - 2. Inka Mehtola, 1.63 meters; 5. Peyton Teevens, 1.58 meters; 11. Annie Hill, 1.43 meters.
Pole Vault (finals) - 3. Emma Shippen, 3.67 meters; 4. Anna Parkinson, 3.52 meters; 5. Mikayla Dalton, 3.37 meters; Mariah Jenkins, NH.
Long Jump (finals) - 2. Erin McQuillen, 5.20 meters.
Triple Jump (finals) - 1. Sidnee Naerebout, 11.43 meters.
Shot Put (finals) - 2. Milly Garren, 13.83 meters; 3. Dolly Gabri, 13.76 meters; 12. Annie Hill, 8.71 meters; Peyton Teevens, NM.
Weight Throw (finals) - 1. Tori Bailey, 18.27 meters; 3. Alyssa McNutt, 15.44 meters; 4. Lydia Robison, 14.70 meters; 5. Milly Garren, 14.55 meters.
 
USU MEN RESULTS:
60 Meters (prelims) - 3. Joshua Hartvigsen, 7.12q; 6. Kelton Chenworth, 7.29q.
60 Meters (finals) - 5. Joshua Hartvigsen, 7.35; 6. Kelton Chenworth, 7.38.
60-Meter Hurdles (prelims) - 1. Zach Meyer, 8.18q.
60-Meter Hurdles (finals) - 1. Zach Meyer, 8.17.
600 Meters (finals) - 1. Zack Bell, 1:24.31; 2. Carter Guinness, 1:26.28; 3. Spencer Eldridge, 1:26.33; 4. Skyler Andam, 1:28.08.
800 Meters (finals) - 1. Wyatt Evans, 1:52.58.
Mile (finals) - 1. Stewart Brown, 4:16.88; 2. Spencer Stutz, 4:20.50.
3,000 Meters (finals) - 1. Logan Garnica, 8:39.29; 2. Justin Hodges, 8:41.21; Stewart Brown, DNF.
Long Jump (finals) - 1. Kelton Chenworth, 6.92 meters; 2. Skyler Andam, 6.89 meters; 3. Joshua Hartvigsen, 6.46 meters. 
Triple Jump (finals) - 1. Marshall Rasmussen, 12.99 meters.
High Jump (finals) - 1. Kelton Chenworth, 2.04 meters; 5. Robbie Walker, 1.89 meters. 
Pole Vault (finals) - 1. Logan Hammer, 5.10 meters; 4. Robbie Walker, 4.70 meters; Marshall Rasmussen, NH.
Shot Put (finals) - 1. Nate Franz, 16.15 meters; 2. Gavin Beierle, 15.73 meters; 3. Brandon Ovington, 15.22 meters; 4. Calvin Knapp, 15.03 meters.
Weight Throw (finals) - 1. Nate Franz, 16.87 meters.
 
 - USU -