Utah State University’s track and field team saw standout performances on April 16 as graduate Logan Garnica broke his own school record in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase during competitions at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California, and the Pacific Coast Invitational in Long Beach.
The team’s achievements included four event titles and six podium finishes, along with five new top-10 marks in program history. Garnica finished eighth overall in a competitive heat at Bryan Clay with a time of 8:29.92, surpassing his previous Utah State record by four seconds. He now leads the Mountain West Conference and holds the fourth-fastest time ever recorded within it. His performance also places him second regionally and eighth nationally for the season.
Junior Garrett Woodhouse also set a personal best of 8:40.33 to finish third in his heat of the steeplechase invite section, moving up to third all-time at Utah State for that event. In Long Beach, the men’s 4×100-meter relay team—composed of Javin Richards, Mathew Hall, David Konan, and Ayodele Ojo Jr.—claimed first place with a time of 39.48 seconds. This result is just shy of the school’s all-time mark set by its 2014 conference championship squad.
Other highlights included senior Logan Hammer winning the pole vault with a season-best clearance of 5.60 meters under breezy conditions at Jack Rose Track; he now ranks fourth regionally and sixth nationally this year. Junior Claire Petersen continued her strong season by finishing fourth in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a personal-best time that ranks ninth all-time for Aggie women.
The women’s relay teams also found success: Petersen joined Nia Moore, Adia Ross, and Shay Jones to secure an eighth-place finish—and their best time this season—in the women’s 4×100-meter relay; she later teamed up with Annie Ivins, Heidi Harper, and Jones to win first place while breaking a meet record in the women’s 4×400-meter relay.
Utah State will continue competing at both meets through April 18 as part of its ongoing Southern California schedule.
