Utah State University Athletics

Erik Rasmussen is in his 10th year as the jumps and combined-events coach at Utah State. He has a Level III USATF and a Level V IAAF coaching certification in the jumps.
 
During Rasmussen’s tenure, USU’s jumpers and multi-event athletes have combined for five All-America honors, 15 conference titles and 45 all-conference accolades.
 
With Rasmussen’s guidance in 2024-25, pole vaulter Logan Hammer earned two All-American honors and Mountain West titles, broke both pole vault school records, set the Nelson Fieldhouse indoor facility record and surpassed his own MW conference and Outdoor Championships records. His top outdoor mark of 5.70 meters (18-8.25) ranked third in the country and qualified him for a second-straight berth to the USATF Outdoor Championships.
 
Overall, Rasmussen’s athletes collected eight All-MW honors — including a podium sweep in the men’s outdoor pole vault — and 19 marks that rank in the top 10 in USU history. Four Aggie jumpers qualified for the NCAA West First Rounds.
 
In 2023-24, Rasmussen coached Utah State’s first All-American since 2019 in Hammer, who earned second-team honors at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. In jumps and multi-events, USU earned eight All-MW selections and totaled 12 marks in the top 10 of USU’s record book during the indoor and outdoor seasons. Hammer set the school record in the pole vault with a mark of 5.62 meters (18-5.25), which also broke the MW record and the MW Outdoor Championships meet record. Godwin Charles set both school records in the triple jump with a mark of 15.74 meters (51-7.75) in the indoor season and 15.88 meters (52-1.25) in the outdoor season.
 
The 2022-23 season was highlighted by Hammer's first Mountain West title in the outdoor pole vault and Kelton Chenworth's pair of all-conference honors in the indoor and outdoor high jump. Aggie jumpers set eight top-10 all-time marks, including indoor and outdoor performances from Chenworth in the men's high jump, Hammer in the men's pole vault, and Emma Shippen in the women's pole vault.
 
During the 2021-22 campaign, Caden Dupee led the way at the MW Indoor Championships, earning all-conference honors as he placed third in the heptathlon with 5,192 points. At the MW Outdoor Championships, Chenworth earned all-conference honors by placing second in the high jump with a mark of 2.06 meters (6-9). Additionally, the Aggies recorded nine marks in the top 10 all-time at USU in events coached by Rasmussen, including Maren Garnett moving to fourth all-time in both the indoor and outdoor pole vaults.
 
While the 2020-21 campaign saw the cancelation of the indoor track & field season due to COVID-19, the Aggies still enjoyed a wealth of success, both academically and athletically. Under Rasmussen’s tutelage, Audrey Garrett highlighted Utah State’s performance on the women’s side at the MW Outdoor Championships as she earned first-team all-league honors after placing second in the high jump with a career-best mark of 1.80 meters (5-10.75), which ranks second all-time in school history. Garrett also qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Championships.
 
Joining Garrett at the NCAA West Prelims was Kyle Brost in the triple jump. At the MW Outdoor Championships, he garnered his fifth All-MW citation – all in the triple jump – after placing third in the event with a mark of 14.69 meters (48-2.50).
 
Brost broke his own school record in the outdoor triple jump when he placed third with a mark of 15.63 meters (51-3.50) at the season-opening UNLV Spring Invitational & Sheila Tarr-Smith Multis.
 
Academically, Garrett garnered academic All-MW and MW Scholar-Athlete accolades and earned the USU Joe E. Whitesides Scholar-Athlete Award.
 
During the 2020 campaign, which was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rasmussen coached a trio of athletes who garnered first-team All-MW honors, including two that qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary Championships.
 
Chandler Obray earned all-conference high jump honors for the second-straight season as he won the event with a leap of 2.06 meters (6-9.00) at the Indoor Championships. Hunter Simonsen also garnered All-MW honors as he placed third in the high jump with a mark of J2.06 meters (6-9.00). In the men’s triple jump, Brost finished third to earn All-MW honors after breaking his own school record with a jump of 15.22 meters (49-11.25). On the women’s side, Rasmussen coached Garrett to a fourth-place finish in the high jump with a mark of 1.75 meters (5-8.75) at the MW Indoor Championships.
 
In 2019, Rasmussen coached a trio of athletes who captured conference titles. Simonsen won the indoor high jump title with a height of 2.18 meters (7-1.75), while Leaugen Fray was the outdoor champion in the event with a mark of 2.12 meters (6-11.5). Brost placed first in the outdoor triple jump with a school-record mark of 15.47 meters (50-9.25).
 
Garnering first-team All-MW honors during the 2019 indoor season included Talie Bonds (third, pentathlon, 3,762 points) on the women’s side. Simonsen, Obray (second, high jump, 2.14 meters/7-0.25), Fray (third, high jump, 2.10 meters/6-10.75; third, long jump, 7.19 meters/23-7.25), Nelson (third, pole vault, 5.10 meters/16-8.75), Brost (third, triple jump, 14.81 meters/48-7.25) and Roman Ruiz (third, heptathlon, 5,078 points) were honored on the men’s side.
 
Brost also set the then-school record in the indoor triple jump with a leap of 15.07 meters (49-5.50) at the New Mexico-hosted Don Kirby Invitational. Following that feat, he was named the MW Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week. Brost garnered MW Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week honors one time during the 2019 outdoor campaign, as well.
 
For the outdoor season, Garrett earned first-team All-MW honors on the women’s side as she placed third in the high jump with a mark of 1.71 meters (5-7.25). The men were represented by Fray, Brost and Simonsen (second, high jump, 2.06 meters/6-9).
 
Brost (triple jump), Fray (high jump), Obray (high jump), Simonsen (high jump) and Jennifer Christensen (high jump) all participated in the NCAA West Preliminary Championships. Christensen and Brost both placed 16th in their respective events, just four places away from advancing to the NCAA Finals held in Austin, Texas.
 
During the 2018 season, Rasmussen coached a pair of athletes who combined to win four Mountain West titles between the indoor and outdoor seasons.
 
Fray earned a pair of first-team All-MW honors by winning both the long jump (7.38 meters/24-2.50) and high jump (2.18 meters/7-1.50) titles at the Indoor Championships.
 
Not to be outdone, Sam Nelson swept the indoor and outdoor MW titles in the pole vault. He captured the indoor crown with a season-best mark of 5.15 meters (16-10.75). He then went on to win the outdoor title with a mark of 5.00 meters (16-4.75).
 
Fray and Nelson both participated in the NCAA West Preliminary Championships, where Nelson tied for 17th in the first round of the pole vault (5.00 meters/16-4.75) and Fray tied for 25th in the high jump with a career-best-tying 2.11 meters (6-11).
 
Utah State’s jumpers and combined-event athletes set 11 top-10 marks under Rasmussen’s tutelage in 2018.
 
In his first year at Utah State, Rasmussen coached Fray to an indoor MW title in the long jump (7.52 meters/24-8.25) and a second-place finish in the high jump (2.12 meters/6-11.50). Under his direction, the Aggie jumpers and combined-event athletes set eight top-10 marks in 2017.
 
Rasmussen arrived at Utah State after four successful years at Eastern Washington, where he coached the jumpers and combined-event athletes to seven school records, 42 top-10 performances, nine individual conference championships, 24 all-conference finishers, and eight qualifiers to the NCAA Preliminary Championships.
 
Rasmussen was the pole vault coach at BYU from 2008-2012. During his time there, he coached seven All-Americans to 15 appearances at the NCAA National Championship Finals, and 12 pole vaulters to the NCAA Preliminary Championships. At the NCAA Finals, Rasmussen coached two third-place finishers (Bobby Low and Chris Little), and Victor Weirich, who notched fourth-, fifth-and 10th-place finishes.
 
From 1998-2003, Rasmussen competed for BYU and finished with a personal best of 17-feet, 4.75 inches in the pole vault. His other personal bests include 6,319 points in the decathlon, 5,244 points in the indoor heptathlon, and 23-2.5 in the long jump.
 
Rasmussen grew up in Modesto, California, where he excelled in the pole vault, jumping 17-feet as a senior. He served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Rome, Italy. He graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Rasmussen’s wife, Nicole, also competed for the BYU track team. They have three children, Tate, Bo and Guy.