Natalie Swain has had quite a year. 

Not only did the Bingham graduate wow the competition during her first few months at Utah State University, earning Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Week honors, she’s continued to make noise as her first year in Logan winds to a close. 

What Swain did at Utah State in 2023 was impressive. In cross country, she placed second at the Sagebrush Invitational 5K, lifting the Aggies to the team title at the event USU hosted. 

At the Virginia Invitational later that year, Swain crossed the finish line in 138th place and finished 235th at the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

With those grueling finishes under her belt, Swain wrapped up her first season of cross country at Utah State with a 59th place finish at the Mountain West Championships 6K race, crossing the tape in 22:23.1. 

What was just as important to Swain though was the fact that she was named Academic All-Mountain West for her efforts not only on the green grass of the courses she ran but the efforts she gave in the classroom. 

It was Swain’s dedication to her academics that kept the Utah State freshman from competing during the indoor track season. 

But Swain didn’t let that sway her once she returned for the track and field season this past spring. The Bingham graduate finished 10th in the 1,500 meters in a time of 4:33.00. 

Swain also set a personal best in the mile, crossing the finish line in third place in a time of 4:56.92 at the Robson Invitational that BYU hosted. 

And in the 5,000 meters at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, Swain notched another personal best time of 16:59.32 to go with some of the other honors she collected to wrap up her freshman year. 

In Eugene, Oregon at the USA Track and Field Championships, Swain collected two medals. 

She took fifth place in the women’s 1,500 meters with a time of 4:37.92 and finished sixth in the women’s 5,000 meters with a personal record time of 16:42.05.

For Swain, academics come first; that has been the case since she was at Bingham and on the National Honor Society. Not even the fact that she’d miss crucial region championships or big meets swayed her decision. 

In the end though, Swain would make up for lost time, turning a 28th place finish at the 6A state cross country championships as a senior into a 5th place medal at the NXN [Nike] Southwest Region Championships in Phoenix, Arizona. 

For the record, Swain set a state record that November day in the valley of the sun and that undoubtedly helped her cause to earn a spot on the Utah State University cross-country and track and field teams. 

For those directly involved in making the Aggies’ program accessible to all, the future in Logan seems very bright for one of Bingham’s track and field greats—even for a freshman like Swain. 

“We had a bigger group here at the U20 meet [in Oregon] than I’ve ever brought across a lot of events so that’s great for the future of the program,” Artie Gulden said, USU’s director of track & field and cross country.   λ