Utah Cross Country Team Remembers Lauren McCluskey on Uniforms Before Pac-12 Championship

Lauren McClusky was killed in an on-campus shooting outside of a dormitory late Monday night.

The University of Utah cross country team will honor former track and field athlete Lauren McCluskey on Friday when the group heads to Stanford for the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships.

According to the team's Twitter account, runners will wear black uniforms with a patch of a heart around the initials "LM". 

McCluskey was shot and killed on campus Monday night by 37-year-old Melvin Rowland.

According to Jill McCluskey, Lauren's mother, Lauren had dated Rowland for about a month but he had lied to her about his name, age and criminal history. She ended the relationship on Oct. 9 and complained to University of Utah police that she was being harassed. At about 9 p.m. on Monday night, Lauren was returning to her room on campus when Jill, who was on the phone with her daughter and heard Lauren yell, "No, no, no!"

Rowland was later found dead inside of a downtown Salt Lake City church from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The school held a vigil in McCluskey's memory on Wednesday. University of Utah President Ruth Watkins said McCluskey was a “highly regarded member of the track and field team, and an outstanding scholar, a senior majoring in communication.” She had a 3.75 GPA and was excited to graduate in May 2019.

The Utes soccer and football teams will also wear the logo in their respective games on Thursday and Friday night. The football team will wear it as a helmet decal, while the soccer team will don wristbands in her memory.