Men’s relay team crushes USU school record

The men’s medley relay team was a spectacle to behold at the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships where they crushed a school record and earned one of the best race times in NCAA history.

The top two teams in the event, New Mexico and Utah State, arguably ran two of the best races in the NCAA with an altitude adjustment. New Mexico clocked a time of 9:33.41, while USU recorded a 9:34.61, converting the races into the two fastest times in the history of the NCAA.

Before an altitude adjustment the team of seniors Brady Martin, Clay Lambourne, Jordan Beutler, and Dillon Maggard already recorded the fastest time in school history by smashing the previous record by almost nine seconds. The squad of Aggie runners placed second in the event while clocking in the fifth-fastest time in Mountain West history before the adjustment.

The altitude-adjusted time will be employed to determine the seeding for the NCAA National Indoor Championships, with USU going into the event with the second-fastest time in the nation.

During the women’s event, the team consisting of freshman Jordan Brandt, sophomore Josie Givens, junior Shannon Maloney and senior Kelsey Yamauchi-Richins landed in eighth place with an 11:57.70 time.

Freshman Talie Bonds recorded a personal best in pentathlon by tying for first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.68 seconds. Junior Alyssa Hirschi finished the first round in 14th place, while sophomore Niki Xydona ended in the 10th slot. These three multi-eventer Aggies all recorded season bests in the high jump, where Bonds earned third place with a jump of 1.66 meters and placed her in second overall.

Hirschi moved from the 11th spot to eighth in the third round with her season-best throw of 10.46m, where Bonds slid into fifth with a throw of 10.12m. Xydona earned a season-best in the long jump with a leap of 5.47m to land her in sixth. Bonds still led the team with 2,864 points, placing her in seventh.

The final event of the day for the Aggies was the 800-meter, where Hirschi finished the race in sixth place with a time of 2:24.64, while Xydona (2:36.33)  and Bonds (2:36.75) ended up in 12th and 13th.

Overall scores placed Hirschi and Bonds in a tie for ninth with 3,475 points, making it a career best for Bonds, while Xydona finished in 11th place and tied her career best with 3,463 points.

The Mountain West Indoor Championships continue Friday, with the men’s heptathlon beginning at 10 a.m. and field events at 12:30 p.m.