A standout long jumper will be wearing Aggie blue and white next season.

Utah State’s women’s track & field team recently signed junior college All-American Taeja Bartee, plus a pair of distance runners in Lucy Boone and Mia Taylor.

Bartee was an All-American in two events this past outdoor season as a sophomore at Iowa Western Community College. The native of Peoria, Arizona, placed fifth in the long jump with a mark of 19 feet 10.75 inches, and sixth as part of the 4×100-meter relay team.

Bartee’s personal record of 20-7.25 in the long jump is farther than USU’s school record of 20-3.5, which has stood since 1990. Bartee, who captured a region title in her signature event this past season with a leap of 20-2.5, also has a personal record of 39-1.25 in the triple jump. That mark would be good enough for seventh in the Utah State record books.

Meanwhile, the Aggies, in Boone, are getting a multi-time Idaho high school state champion. Boone was the 3A state cross country champion at Ririe High as a senior, plus was the state titleist in the 3,200 meters in track & field as a sophomore and junior. The Rigby native, additionally, was the state runner-up in cross country as a sophomore and junior, and was the 3A silver medalist in the 1,600 and 3,200 as a senior.

Boone, who finished in the top four at state in the 1,600 and 3,200 in each of her four track & field seasons, has personal records of 5:16.51 in the 1,600, 11:17 in the 3,200 and 18:05 in cross country. She placed eighth at state in cross country as a freshman.

Taylor was more of a combo middle distance/distance runner at Westlake High. The Eagle Mountain native placed fourth at the 6A State Track & Field Championships in the 800 as a senior. Taylor, who also ran cross country for the Thunder, has personal records of 57.38 in the 400, 2:12.30 in the 800 and 5:00.32 in the 1,600.

USU TENNIS SIGNEES

Both USU programs have signed multiple players over the past two months. The reigning Mountain West regular season and tournament champion Aggie men have added a trio of incoming freshmen to their roster, while the women have signed a pair of athletes from the transfer portal.

USU’s three signees on the men’s side are Austria’s Max Kohler, Sweden’s Alvar Lange and Dana Point, California, resident George Hakopian. There is little information about Lange and Kohler, but Hakopian is one of the top high school class of 2026 recruits in the nation. Hakopian is ranked 16th nationally for his class and fifth in California. Hakopian, a blue chip recruit, has only lost to fellow blue chippers and 5-star recruits in UTSA events, according to Tennis Recruiting Network.

The Aggie men must replace at least two of their top performers off their ’26 squad, which went 19-6 in dual action, including 10-0 against Mountain West opponents, and were ranked 51st entering the NCAA Tournament.

Jean-Baptiste Badon, USU’s top singles player and the MVP of the Mountain West Tournament, exhausted his eligibility, while former Bear River High star Keanu Rigby was also honored on Senior Day. The Aggies have also lost at least two players to the transfer portal, highlighted by Roman Venger. Venger won 17 of his 20 dual singles matches for the Aggies as a sophomore and nine of his 10 dual doubles matches. Venger has signed with Florida Atlantic.

This was USU’s third appearance in the NCAA tourney, joining the 2017 and 2018 squads. The Aggies established a new program record this past season with six consecutive dual sweeps.

The Lady Aggies, meanwhile, have added incoming seniors Tayla Wilmot and Tia Clemens from the portal. Wilmot is a transfer from Tulsa, while Clemens played at Bowling Green.

Wilmot competed in some duals for the Golden Hurricanes as a junior, although complete statistics were unavailable. The native of South Africa played a lot as a sophomore and freshman. She went 13-18 in singles and 13-16 at doubles as a sophomore, and 11-7 in singles and 12-13 in doubles as a freshman.

Clemens was a second-team all-Mid-American selection as a junior for the Falcons. The Cleveland, Ohio, native led Bowling Green with 20 total dual wins — 14 in singles and six in doubles, competing primarily at the No. 1 spot in both. Clemens accounted for 22 dual victories as a sophomore — 14 singles and eight doubles — and 18 — 12 singles, six doubles — as a freshman. Clemens went 14-11 in singles action this past spring.

The Lady Aggies finished the ’26 campaign with a winning record for the first time since the 2019 squad also went 12-11. USU, which lost in the quarterfinals of the MW tourney, recognized a pair of athletes on Senior Day in Olivia Halvorsen and Magdalena Nunez Pureco.