Utah State Track and Field Signs Six Student-Athletes for 2016-17

Utah State’s [University] track and field program has signed six high school seniors to National Letters of Intent, it was announced Tuesday [Dec. 1, 2015] by longtime head coach Gregg Gensel.

Luke Beattie, Elli Eastmond, Maia Garren, Bailee Parker, Brody Smith and Junior Tovar will all enroll at Utah State and join the men’s and women’s programs in 2016-17.

Beattie is a distance runner at Woodstock (Ill.) High School. The two-time all-state selection finished in ninth place with a time of 14:47 on the three-mile course at the Class 2A cross country state championships Nov. 7.

The son of Debbie and David Beattie was the bronze medalist in the 3,200-meter run at the 2015 state track meet. His personal best in the event is 9:22. His parents both competed in track and cross country at Bowling Green.

“Luke is a solid distance runner from Illinois,” Gensel said. “He has a good improvement curve and with some hard work will be a great contributor to the team.”

Eastmond is from Mapleton, Utah, and attends Maple Mountain High School. At the 2015 4A state track and field championships, Eastmond anchored the 4x400m relay team and helped the Golden Eagles capture not only the event title, but the state title as well on the final race of the day.

The middle distance runner was the 2015 BYU Invitational 800-meter champion. Eastmond’s personal best in the 400m is 56.92 and her best in the 800m is 2:14.

“Elli is one of the best middle distance runners in Utah,” Gensel said. “Her improvement curve is really good, as well, having gone 2:22, 2:17 and then 2:14.”

Garren, a thrower, will join the Aggies from nearby Logan High School. She captured her first state title in the shot put with a heave of 39 feet, 10 inches at the 2015 4A state track and field championships in Provo. On the second and final day of the meet, Garren once again found herself on the top spot of the podium as she won the discus title with a throw of 139 feet, 3.75 inches.

“Utah State has had many outstanding female throwers in the past decade,” Gensel said. “I believe that Maia can carry on that tradition and help lead the next generation of Aggie greats in the throwing events. She is not only an outstanding thrower, but her achievements in the classroom will continue to live up to our high academic standards for this team. We are excited to welcome local standout Maia Garren into the Aggie track and field family.”

Garren’s father, Bill, is the video coordinator for Utah State’s athletics department.

Parker is a distance runner at West Yellowstone (Mont.) High School. She is an eight-time track state champion and two-time cross country state champion. Parker’s personal-best times include 2:17 in the 800, 5:01 in the 1,600 and 11:03 in the 3,200.

“Bailee is from a small school in Montana and hasn’t lost a track race in two years,” Gensel said. “She had a great cross country season this year and we look forward to having her on the team.”

Smith is a distance runner at Cody (Wyo.) High School. He was the 2015 Nike Cross Northwest Region Champion and a qualifier for the 2014 Nike Cross Nationals. Smith has captured five state titles — two in both cross country and the 3,200m, and one in the 1,600m.

“Brody is one of the best distance runners in the country,” Gensel said. “It will be great to have him join the team and we are lucky to get him.”

Tovar is a sprinter at Orem (Utah) High School, where he helped the Tigers capture the 2015 4A boys state track and field championship. He was the gold medalist in the 100m with a time of 10.85 at state and finished fifth in the 400m with a time of 49.54. Tovar also ran the third leg of the 4x400m, helping Orem put an exclamation point on its state title by winning last event of the meet.

“Here at Utah State we have had a strong tradition of continued success in the sprints and we are excited to add Junior Tovar to our sprints corps,” Gensel said. “He shows great versatility because he can run a wide range of events such as the 100, 200, 400, along with both relays.”

The Aggies officially open the indoor season at the Boise State-hosted Ed Jacoby Invitational Jan. 15-16 in Nampa, Idaho.

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