The Utah Valley University men’s track and field team secured its first indoor conference championship since 2015, relying on strong performances from its distance runners to win the title in Spokane, Washington.
After winning the 5000-meter and distance medley relay on Friday, Utah Valley added more victories with Sila Kiplagat taking first in the mile and Porter Whitworth winning the 3000-meter event. The team swept the podium in both races and took seven of the top eight spots in the 3k. These results contributed to Utah Valley earning 102 of its total 197.5 points from the mile, 3k, 5k, and DMR events.
“It was a great weekend, both the men and women performed really well. We were fortunate to have two really solid days from top to bottom on the men’s side,” said head coach Scott Houle. “Porter Whitworth winning both the 3k and the 5k, that double’s pretty hard to do. We look forward to seeing what we can continue to build on and bringing the other events into the outdoor season. Finishing first and second, collectively, we feel like the kids represented the department and the school really well, and we’re excited about the outcome!”
Utah Valley finished ahead of Tarleton State for the men’s championship; Tarleton State scored 174 points. On the women’s side, Tarleton State narrowly defeated Utah Valley with a score of 180.5 to UVU’s 159.
Gavin Stafford led Utah Valley’s male sprinters by setting a personal record of 6.67 seconds in the 60-meter dash for third place—ranking him third all-time at UVU—and taking second in the 200-meter with a school-record time of 20.98 seconds. Kade Thompson placed fourth in both sprint events.
James Duncan matched a school record in the men’s 60-meter hurdles at 8.02 seconds for third place, while Matthew Maclennan finished fourth at 8.03 seconds.
In women’s competition, Aubrey Tasker tied a school record in high jump at 1.71 meters to take gold.
Morgan Nokes set her own school record in winning Saturday’s mile (4:45.52) and later claimed victory in both that race and the women’s 3k for her third win of the weekend; teammates Reagan Doman and Caren Kipsirat joined her on each podium as Utah Valley swept those events.
Eme Stout achieved a new personal best in fifth place for women’s 60 meters at 7.52 seconds—third fastest ever for UVU—while Payge Walz earned silver in women’s hurdles with another personal best.
Utah Valley athletes won both Outstanding Track Performer awards: Whitworth for men after sweeping his distance races (3k/5k), Nokes for women after winning three events (mile/3k/5k). Nokes has not lost a final at WAC indoor championships across two appearances since also claiming titles in her debut year of 2024.
The Wolverines will begin their outdoor season at the Utah Tech Invitational scheduled for March 20-21 in St. George.
