OREM, Utah – Utah Valley stands on top of the leaderboard on the women’s side and is tied with Grand Canyon for the lead on the men’s side after the first day of competition at the WAC Outdoor Track & Field championships.
 
The Wolverines’ and Lopes’ men’s squads both picked up 18 points on the day with Southern Utah and Abilene Christian not far behind with 15 and 14 points, respectively. 
 
Utah Valley’s women’s team used the 10k to put themselves ahead in the standings after the first day with 52 points, 14 points over Grand Canyon who holds 39 points. The Thunderbirds ended the day with 19.50 points, Mavericks with 14.50 points, and UTRGV rounding out the top-five with 13 points. 
 
The Grand Canyon women’s team picked up right where they left off from the indoor championships and brought home the first gold of the day with Hannah Blood winning the hammer throw with a mark of 59.85m (196-4.25). Blood was able to barely beat out runner-up Hannah Hilding of UTRGV, who threw a mark of 59.84m (196-4.0). Blood’s teammate, Alyssa Walls, took the bronze with a 59.12m (193-11.5) mark.
 
Stephen F. Austin’s Kira Van Den Ham won the women’s pole vault, as she accomplished the mark of 3.83m (12-6.75) in less attempts than runner up Jaida Olson of GCU. Southern Utah’s Ariana Baker rounded out the top three at 3.68m (12-1.0).
 
The WAC’s top three in the men’s hammer throw finished 1-2-3 in Orem, as Grand Canyon’s Israel Oloyede and Jorden Okyere captured the top two spots with marks of 69.22m (227-1.25) and 65.77m (215-9.25), respectively. Austin Kleinman’s throw of 60.43m (198-3.25) awarded him and Utah Valley the bronze medal in the event.
 
Kelsi Oldroyd used the home field advantage to win the women’s javelin for Utah Valley with a mark of 49.33m (161-10.25). Abilene Christian’s Kaitlyn Callaway had a strong final throw of 44.13m (144-9.5) to make her way up to second on the leaderboard with GCU’s Sophia Saldutto finishing up the podium at 43.68m (143-3.75).
 
The Wolverines took full advantage of the women’s 10k and added 32 more points onto their point total after taking six of the top eight spots. Calia Odekirk and Morgan Nokes finished 1-2 for UVU with Odekirk running the 25 laps in 36:03.13. Matro Jepkemboi of UT Arlington trailed right behind the leaders the entire race en route to a third-place finish.
 
Travis Feeny of Southern Utah made an incredible last-lap pass for the lead in the men’s 10k to take home the gold and the ten points for the Thunderbirds, running the event in 30:46.91. Seattle U’s Yonas Sauers followed right in Feeny’s footsteps for a second-place finish with Utah Valley’s Austin Hone completing the top-three.
 
ACU’s Canaan Fairley leads the men’s decathlon after five events with 3834 points. Fairley won the 100-meter dash and finished top-four in all five decathlon events. UT Arlington’s Brady Shadrick holds a tight seven-point lead for second place over Grand Canyon’s Casey Tow.
 
On the women’s side, the Lopes’ Summer Grubbs holds the heptathlon lead with 3170 points following four events. Grubbs won the 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, and finished top-five in the four heptathlon events. UTA’s Jade Bontke sits in second with 3037 points and Eliza Lemberga of Abilene Christian has 3021 points in third place.
 
Day two of competition begins at 9:30 AM MT with the decathlon 110-meter hurdles. ESPN+ coverage will begin at 3:15 PM MT with the women’s steeplechase.