It was a podium sweep for the Aggies in the event, to boot, as Marshall Rasmussen captured the silver medal with a vault of 16-925, while Javin Richards was the bronze medalist (16-3.25). Rasmussen missed all of the last outdoor season with an injury.

This is the fourth straight meet Hammer has cleared 18-6.5. Only three other collegiate athletes have been successful at that height this season and none of them on more than one occasion. The junior from Nampa, Idaho, has now won a combined five conference outdoor and indoor titles in the pole vault over the last three years.

“We’re really proud of how our kids competed,” said Artie Gulden, USU's director of track & field and cross country, in a press release. “Having two conference champions and lots of all-conference kids is great. Our athletes broke two school records on the women’s side and set multiple all-time top-10 marks. Logan broke his own meet record in the vault in less-than-favorable conditions for vaulting.”

Hammer highlighted a strong meet for the Aggie men as they finished third — their best performance at the MW outdoor meet since 2021 — out of eight teams with 114.5 points. Colorado State reigned supreme on the men’s side with 192.5 points, followed by New Mexico with 171.5.

Hammer was one of two champions in the men’s competition for the Aggies on Day 3. The other was Landon Bott, who is now the reigning conference outdoor and indoor champion in the 800 meters. The sophomore beat all comers with a time of 1 minute, 49.68 seconds, while teammates Brennan Benson (1:51.37) and Ernest Green (1:51.59) placed third and fourth, respectively.

Three other Aggies secured their spot on the podium in Saturday’s men’s competition in standout freshman sprinter Ayodele Ojo, plus throwers Nate Franz and Joseph Turner. Ojo was the silver medalist in the 100 (10.32), while Franz was the runner-up in the discus (187-5.25), immediately followed by Turner (184-11.25). It was a personal record effort for both USU throwers as Franz now ranks fourth in program history and Turner sixth.

Ojo returned to the track later in the evening and finished seventh in the 200 (21.08). Fellow Aggie freshman Daniel Chase was seventh in the 100 (10.47).

Leading the charge for the Lady Aggies on Day 3 was their fourth-place 4x400 relay team of Emma Reeves, Adi Nielson, Alison Richter and Mashaylee Jones (3:42.20). The foursome broke the school record in that event the previous week.

Nielson and Reeves also competed on Saturday individual event finals. Nielson finished sixth in the 400 hurdles (1:00.96), while Reeves was eighth in the 200 (23.92).

USU’s Krysthina Vlahovic placed sixth in the women’s 100 hurdles for the third straight year — this time with a time of 13.96 — while teammate Emma Thornley finished sixth in the 5,000 (16:18). The senior is USU’s record holder in that event.

Former Logan High standout Milly Garren was ninth in the discus for the Lady Aggies with a mark of 154-4.25, to go along with her fifth-place, PR performance in the shot put.

New Mexico racked up 152.5 points captured its first MW outdoor women’s championship in program history, while Colorado State was second with 112.5 points. USU finished ninth out of 11 teams with 38 points.

“From a team perspective, it’s great that the men finished third,” Gulden said. “We had a number of guys step up to help us do that. The women collectively had a rough day today and our team performance isn’t indicative of how good our team is. But at the end of the day, we did not get it done and we have to improve moving forward.”

This was the final meet of the season for several Aggies, but many of them will return to action at the NCAA West First Round meet, which will be contested from May 28-31 in College Station, Texas.