Men's Preview
Jaden Roskelley heads into the decathlon as the favorite following his performance at the Robison Invitational. The sophomore set personal bests in seven of the 10 events en route to scoring 8,000 points and making himself one of three athletes to accrue at least 8,000 points this season. Ben Barton ranks third in the Big 12 and hopes to improve on his runner-up finish in the heptathlon during the indoor track & field championships.
Eli Hazlett is one of three Cougars to rank in the Top 10 in the 400-meters after the senior the second-fastest time in program history at the Robison Invitational. The native of Moab ran 45.25 in his final race at the Clarence F. Robison Track & Field Complex with Josh Taylor, 45.74, and Trey Jackson, 45.84, also setting outdoor personal bests.
The trio along with Jonah Heimuli rank second in the 4x400-meter relay behind Arizona State. Their time of 3:03.05 from Mt. SAC Relays in the second-fastest time in program history.
Tyler Mathews and Sebastian Fernandez are the only two runners in the Big 12 to have run under 1:47 in the 800-meters this season. Mathews ran the second-fastest time in program history at the Bryan Clay Invitational, 1:46.20. Fernandez, the runner-up in the half mile at last season’s championship ran a seasonal best 1:46.79 in California.
The 1,500-meter will feature a pair of Cougars including Carter Cutting, who became the fifth runner to break the four-minute mile in Utah at the Robison Invitational. The sophomore ranks fourth in the conference heading into the championships after finishing 12th last year.
James Corrigan will look to defend his 3,000-meter steeplechase crown on Friday evening as the Cougars own the three of the four fastest times. The 2024 Olympian ran a seasonal best time of 8:30.63 at the Payton Jordan Invitational, a little more than three seconds behind Iowa State’s Joash Ruto’s time of 8:27.22 from Bryan Clay. Isaac Hedengren and Landon Heemeyer also have a shot to score important points for the Cougars having run 8:32.86 and 8:33.72 respectively.
The runner-up in the shot put at last year’s outdoor championships, Danny Bryant ranks fourth this season with a seasonal best toss of 19.42m/63-8.75 at the Beach Invite. He also ranks eighth in the discus after finishing 11th in Waco last season.
