By Matt Jones
Catch him if you can
Watching Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is like discovering a cheat code for your favorite video game. He’s relentless, using equal amounts of force and finesse to create a potent storm that defenses can’t stop. His 5’9,” 215-pound frame hurdles over big, burly defenders, then dispatches them to the dust. His sheer force is plain. Those shifty jukes out-maneuver the opposition. He is must-see TV.
Jeanty joins a long list of Boise State running backs who have developed into elite talents. Rushers who not only define the college football landscape but end up showcasing their skills on Sundays as professionals. He is the latest Bronco erupting onto the national scene, second in rushing yards at the time of this publication, and a candidate for the coveted Heisman Trophy (awarded in December 2024). Jeanty is the nation’s most dynamic player and, statistically, one of Boise State’s greatest ever. Last season, he was the only Division 1 player with multiple rushing touchdowns and receiving touchdowns of 50-plus yards. He was second in all-purpose yards (159.67), and the first player since 2016 to record 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in a 10-game span.
Jeanty came from a military family, living in Florida, Virginia, Texas and Italy before arriving at Boise State. But even with those experiences, Jeanty, a junior majoring in communication, is a self-proclaimed “Bronco for Life,” proudly calling Boise his home. He’s imprinting his legacy on the program’s history while wreaking havoc on anyone who reluctantly enters his path. Luckily, we have the pleasure of watching and cheering him on.
Read more about Jeanty’s career highlights
French blue (and orange)
The steeplechase is not natural. It requires a level of strength and resilience that’s nearly impossible. It is for the most obsessed, the die-hards. Boise State alum Marisa Howard (BS, nursing, 2015) is exactly that.
Howard is the seventh Bronco and first female alum to earn a spot on the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team.
She was one of only three U.S. runners to compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
A Bronco has qualified for each Summer Olympics since 1988.
After finishing third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase – a race that features a devastating total of 28 barriers and seven water jumps – at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, she punched her ticket to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. She was one of just three U.S. women in the race.
“Her level of resilience and the way she kept coming back, I use the word unrelenting,” said Pat McCurry, Howard’s trainer and head coach of the Broncos cross country and track and field program, after watching her compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. “Nothing rattled her. She just wouldn’t relent.”
On Aug. 4, inside France’s largest stadium, Stade de France, Howard represented the country and Boise State on the global stage by finishing seventh in her heat with a time of 9:24.78. She was shy of fifth place by only 7.39 seconds.
Howard didn’t let nagging injuries – which would derail most athletes – get in the way of a dominant career at Boise State. She was a three-time Mountain West champion, two-time All-American, and the national runner-up in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2014. After graduating from Boise State, she competed in two Pan American Games, earning a silver medal in 2019 and nearly competing on Team USA in 2021.
Three years later, she would be an Olympian.
2024 Mountain West Champions
Gymnastics
The gymnastics team made history by winning the inaugural Mountain West Championship. The Broncos defeated Utah State, San Jose State and Air Force to capture the program’s 18th conference title.
Emma Loyim, a senior from Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, majoring in health studies, collected two individual victories to lead the Broncos, tying the program record for highest beam score at a conference championship with a 9.950. Boise State scored 49.500 on the apparatus, the second-best beam mark in program history and the highest at a conference championship. Loyim tallied a 9.900 on floor to become the ninth Bronco to win multiple conference crowns in the same season.
Men’s tennis
The men’s tennis team defeated San Diego State to win back-to-back Mountain West Tournament championships. The Broncos have won six conference tournaments since joining the league for the 2012 campaign with a total of 18 conference titles all-time.
Men’s golf
Cole Rueck, a junior from Corvallis, Oregon, majoring in finance, won the 2024 Mountain West Championship, becoming the fifth conference champion in program history. He went bogey-free in his final 27 holes on his way to securing the title, and his 7-under 209 is tied for the fifth-lowest score at a conference championship in school history.
More names for the Hall of Fame
Bronco legends representing five programs over the span of four decades joined the Boise State Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024, one of the highest honors bestowed on former Bronco student-athletes.
Hall of Fame Class of 2024
The 2024 class includes:
Tanoka Beard, men’s basketball (1989-93)
Ryan Clady, football (2004-07)
Brock Forsey, football (1998-2002)
Tasha Harris, women’s basketball (2004-10)
Troy Merritt, men’s golf (2006-08)
Allie Ostrander, women’s cross country and track and field (2015-19)
A fond farewell to the 'Voice of the Broncos'
KJ Mac, the longest-tenured on-air radio personality in the Boise market, retired after 45 years and more than 1,200 games as the in-arena public address announcer for Bronco men’s and women’s basketball teams. Mac was an iconic figure and an integral part of the basketball gameday experience dating back to his first season in 1979. He received the Idaho State Broadcasters Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.
Bronco Athletics by the numbers
22: Men’s basketball earned 22 consecutive home victories – the longest active streak in the country.
26: Boise State is one of 26 Division I programs to qualify for the postseason with football and men’s basketball.
3: Boise State is one of three FBS schools (along with Alabama and Texas) to win a conference football championship and secure 20 wins in a season for men’s and women’s basketball teams.
3.42: This fall 2023 GPA represents the first time all of Boise State’s 18 varsity sports programs achieved an average GPA of 3.0 (or higher in Boise State’s case) during a single semester.