LOGAN, Utah – Utah State track & field will be represented by 15 student-athletes at the NCAA West Preliminaries in Sacramento, California, on Wednesday through Saturday, May 24-27.
Athletes who ranked among the top 48 in the East or West Regions in their respective event earned berths to the NCAA Preliminary Championships.
Athletes with the top-12 times/marks and the 12 best relay teams at both the East and West Preliminary Championships will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Finals, which are being held June 7-10, in Austin, Texas.
The Aggies will be sending eight women and seven men to the prelims. On the women's side, graduate senior
Mica Rivera qualified in two events, the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, with career-best times of 16:10.90 and 32:57.50, respectively. Both times also stand as school records at USU. Rivera also competed in the 10,000 meters at the 2022 NCAA West Prelims, placing 14th. Sophomore
Ana Weaver joins Rivera in the 10,000 meters, qualifying with a career-best time of 32:59.04, ranking second all-time in the event at Utah State.
Another school record holder, junior
Mattie Geddes, will compete at the prelims in the 800 meters. Geddes broke the school record in the event three times this season, including both the prelims and the finals at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, where she recorded a career-best time of 2:07.40.
Senior
Abby Jensen is set to compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, having recorded a career-best time of 10:14.07 earlier this season at the Stanford Invitational. It will be Jensen's second time competing in the steeplechase at the NCAA West Prelims after finishing 17th in the event last season.
The Aggie women will send three athletes in throwing events to the prelims. Senior
Tori Bailey will compete in the discus for the second-straight year, qualifying with a season-best mark of 53.32 meters (174-11), set at the MW Outdoor Championships.
Junior
Djamilliah Paepke-Chile and
Valerie Clark are set to compete in the javelin after both made the podium at the MW Outdoor Championships. Paepke-Chile qualified with a career-best throw of 48.94 meters (160-6), ranking third all-time at USU, while Clark qualified with a mark of 49.07 meters (161-0), ranking second in the event at Utah State.
On the men's side, senior
Devin Pancake and junior
Brennan Benson each qualified for the 1,500 meters, with times of 3:42.92 and 3:43.60, respectively, also standing as the third- and fourth-best times in USU history. This will be Pancake's second time competing at the NCAA West Prelims after placing 36th in the 1,500 meters last year, while Benson will be making his first appearance.
Senior
Spencer Nelson will also make his career debut at the prelims after qualifying in the 5,000 meters with a season-best time of 13:49.43. Nelson currently ranks third all-time at USU in the event with a time of 13:48.09, set last season.
Both graduate senior
Mark Crandall and junior
Max Wehrli will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the second-consecutive year. The duo finished 35th and 24th in the event in 2022. Crandall qualified this season with a career-best time of 8:44.86, while Wehrli set the school record in the steeplechase with a time of 8:38.94.
Junior
Kelton Chenworth qualified for the prelims in the high jump, recording a career-best height of 2.16 meters (7-1.00) this season at the Fresno State Invitational. Chenworth also finished third in the high jump at the MW Outdoor Championships.
Utah State's last competitor in the NCAA West Prelims is freshman
Logan Hammer, who won the pole vault title at the MW Outdoor Championships with a career-best height of 5.25 meters (17-2.75), ranking fourth all-time at USU.
The NCAA West Preliminary Championships will be available for streaming through ESPN+.
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.
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