Moapa Valley High School track star Mordechai Yadegar II has decided to attend Utah Tech University, the alma mater of his personal coach, Josh Thompson. Yadegar will join the Trailblazers’ cross-country and track and field teams.

“It took a lot of time for me to finally figure out where I wanted to go because I had offers from other schools,” said Yadegar. Those offers came from Southern Utah University and Boise State.

Thompson, also a former MVHS track star, is an assistant coach at Utah Tech, “So the biggest reason for choosing Tech was to continue working with him since what we’ve been doing’s been working.”

It truly has been working. Yadegar called his MVHS senior season “probably the healthiest” he’s ever had. He dealt with allergies in preparation for a race in St. George this season but still managed to set a personal best time.

Yadegar has drastically improved all his times since Thompson became his personal coach. Yadegar knocked almost 15 seconds off his 1,600-meter pace and almost 40 seconds off his 3,200-meter pace since his sophomore season.

Yadegar won the 800-meter, 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races at the NIAA 3A State Championships and also contributed to the first-place 4×400 relay team. The Pirates ran away with yet another team championship, scoring 132 team points. The next best team scored 74.

In a few weeks he’ll be traveling to Eugene, Oregon, for the Nike Outdoor Nationals, June 19-22. Then he’ll have two months to prepare for his move to St. George, where he’s majoring in exercise science and is considering the same coaching path his own personal coach has taken.

“I’d like to thank my parents for all the support they’ve given me…I appreciate and thank all my coaches for giving me opportunities…and I have to thank all my friends,” Yadegar said. “And, of course, I want to thank Josh for giving me an incredible opportunity to run all these races.”