Utah Track & Field/XC

Four More in Idaho

2012-02-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Day 1
Day 2

Jan 31st Press Conference

2012-01-31T10:37:00.000-08:00

Part 1 of 4
Part 2 of 4
Part 3of 4
Part 4 of 4

Three More Titles on Day Two

2012-01-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

Several impressive finishes highlighted day two at our opening meet of the season at Boise this past weekend. Senior Bree LeRoy won the high jump title (5-6), senior Lucy Yates led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 800 meter run in 2:10.98, and the 4x400 came from behind for a victory in 3:46.

Two newcomers to the 800m, freshman Ali Eisenbeiss and sophomore Rose Griffin, ran right behind Yates to finish in 2:12.04 and 2:12.06. The Utes also went 2-3-4-6 in the shot put as Alanna Nulph, Destanae Howerton-Davis, Candus Aiello, and Nikkie Rudder all performed well. In the mile a pair of freshmen combined for a 2-5 finish. Andrea Chavez ran the second fastest time in Utah school history of 4:52.55 which amounted to a 23 second personal best from high school. Chavez trails only junior team mate Amanda Mergaert (4:44) on the all time list. After winning the 3K on day one, freshman Susannah Hurst ran 5:02.09 for fifth in the mile to complete a solid double.

Junior Lauryn McKay led a group of 400 meter performances by finishing fifth overall in 56.99 which is just off of her indoor PR. Alyssa Johnson, McKay, Eisenbeiss, and Yates then teamed to win the 4x400m relay in comeback style. Yates trailed by nearly two seconds after getting the stick, but was able to close on Cal State Northridge's anchor runner on the first lap and then made a great move off the final turn to pass her and complete the comeback. Utah ran 3:46.76 which ranks fifth on the all-time Utah list.

Next weekend we will be at the Mountain States Games in Pocatello, ID. Also, a post meet press conference will be uploaded here tomorrow for your viewing pleasure.
Susannah Hurst winning the 3K at Boise State

Up, Up, and Away We Go!

2012-01-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

The indoor season started in full last night here in Nampa, ID at the Jackson's/New Balance Invite hosted by Boise State. The throwers competed three weeks ago at BYU, but this is the opener for everyone else. We had two event winners as senior Klaudia Rokossa won the pole vault by clearing 12-7 and freshman Susannah Hurst dominated the 3K (9:59.51). We also went 4-6 in the weight throw with Anneli Stahl and Nikkie Rudder. Senior Bree Leroy led a 3-4 finish in the pentathlon. Overall, it was a very solid day...especially for the first meet. This meet is about competing hard and bringing the necessary intensity to perform at a high level. We've tried to simulate that in practice with time trials, but there is nothing quite like being at a meet.

The remainder of the meet is today and we have several athletes competing. Young and veteran we need them all to come ready to perform and have some fun. If they can do that then the performances we are all looking for will come. As coaches we know they are ready physically, so we will have to spend more time making sure they are prepared mentally and have a good plan of attack for there events. After that...it's up to them to follow the plan as best they can so that we can work together to make adjustments for the next event.

Looking forward to a great day. Check back for more later.

Welcome Back!!!

2012-01-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

UTES DOMINATE THROWING EVENTS AT BYU

The 2012 season started with a big bang as our veteran throws group had an outstanding day at the BYU Invitational.

In the shot put, Utah claimed the top four spots. Sophomore Destanae Howerton-Davis set a new personal record with a first-place mark of 47-1.25. Nikkie Rudder finished second with a throw of 46-3.50. Candus Aiello (44-5.75) and Alanna Nulph (44-5.75) finished third and fourth, respectively for the Utes.

Rudder won the weight throw competition with a new personal-best mark of 54-11.75. Cynthia Sanchez claimed second overall with a throw of 53-05. Howerton-Davis rounded out the top-three finishers with a mark of 52-10.75.

The opening indoor meet for the rest of our team will be on Jan 27-28 at Boise State. This will give us two weeks out of the holiday break to prepare which is something we've never done before. Hopefully, we will respond well and have everyone healthy by then. I will check in with some practice updates and pictures between now and then. Go Utes!

Good Things Must End

2011-11-22T10:29:00.000-08:00

The 2011 cross country season came to an end yesterday...and a very good ending at that. Amanda ran the race she had to run to give herself a chance to be an All American for the first time. She ran the first half of the race just off of the wicked pace set by the front pack. Only three runners who went through 3K (halfway) slower than her were able to crack the top 40 (AA standard). In fact, Amanda ran seven seconds faster than a year ago on a much more challenging course. She also battled a leg injury over the last four weeks that I know affected her ability to train and race the way she needed to in order to be at her best for the NCAA meet. So 84th place was a terrific effort. It caps one of the best seasons by a Utah cross country runner in school history. She finished fourth in both of her regular season races (Stanford and Chile Pepper). Then she rallied from 18th place with a thousand meters to go at the Pac-12 championships to finish tenth and become the U's first ever all-Pac 12 athlete. Finally, she duplicated her ninth place finish at the NCAA regional meet from a year ago and landed one of the four individual qualifier spots at the NCAA meet. Very steady and very good at every big meet.

Overall, I feel good about the move forward our program made this year. We undoubtedly must continue to improve and do a better job of racing together. I know that will occur as the younger runners mature and are able to use this years worth of experience next Fall. We will return all but one of our top seven runners, however, that one just happens to be Alyssa who has been here for six years thanks to a few injuries along the way. Her personal growth has been instrumental in how much the program as a whole has been able to grow. Her perseverance, toughness, and always expect more attitude has helped put this program back on solid footing. I know our younger runners have all learned so much from her and her trials of success and dealing with setbacks. Hopefully, those lessons can continue to be passed on each year so that future teams can learn and grow as this one has. We will have high expectations next year, but for now it's time to set the focus on the upcoming track season. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Windy and Wet

2011-11-19T11:58:00.000-08:00

We have arrived in Terre Haute for the NCAA Championships. Amanda, Alyssa, Hanah (our athletic trainer) and me are the travel party. We brought Alyssa last year as well. Her and Amanda have forged a great relationship and it gives her someone to hang out with and not think about the race too much. The meet is on Monday, but most teams arrive Friday evening or on Saturday. It gives us a couple of days to run the course as well as attend the student athlete banquet. The weather has included light showers and very breezy conditions thus far. The winds are expected to let up, but the rain chances will increase slightly going into Monday. There are already a couple of mucky spots on the course at the start, around the mile mark, and again midway through the race. We have the banquet tonight with the other teams/qualifiers. This year's guest speaker is Olympic Gold Medalist ('72 Marathon) Frank Shorter. Shorter along with Steve Prefontaine and others are credited for the running boom that occurred during the mid 70's in the US. I'll try to get some more photos and/or video for you tomorrow.

Stachies for Nachies

2011-11-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

Click HERE to check out our entry in the FloTrack.org "Stachies for Nachies" contest. Be sure to vote for (facebook like) our entry.

Back to the Show

2011-11-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

Today's press conference (along with a few pics) recapping the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. Enjoy!

Back To Back

2011-11-14T08:45:00.000-08:00

It took a while to find out, but it was the news we were hoping for. After finishing ninth overall at the NCAA Mountain Region championships, junior Amanda Mergaert is headed back to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. Last year she was the third individual from a non qualifying team before any at-large team births were handed out so we knew instantly that she was in. This year that same ninth place finisher meant Amanda was the sixth individual from a non automatic qualifying team and we had to hope that two teams from our region would earn at-large bids and that is exactly what happened. This made Amanda the fourth individual in our region and now it's off to Terre Haute, IN for Monday's NCAA Championship meet.

Overall, our team finished eighth was slightly lower than we hoped. However, six of our top seven will return next year. Only senior Alyssa Abbott who finished 14th (and just missed making the NCAA meet for the second time) will graduate. I also thought sophomore Rebekah Winterton and junior Hilary Troutner gave us great individual efforts at the regional meet. Winterton was running with a broken toe.

Mergaert is slated to compete in the six-kilometer championship race at Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind., beginning at 12:58 p.m. ET next Monday. A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast from noon to 1:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.

Pac 12 Pics

2011-11-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

Pac 12 Chat

2011-11-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

Post meet press conference. I discuss our performance at the inaugural Pac-12 Championship meet.

Pac-12 Review

2011-10-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

On a very warm day just west of Phoenix we competed in the first ever Pac-12 championships. It was the first championship event for any sport at the University of Utah. It was a great atmosphere and I thought our team responded well to the new challenge. We finished where we were ranked going in (8th). However, we ended up only 18 points behind #16 ranked Cal and well in front of the last four teams. Amanda Mergaert became the first ever all-Pac 12 athlete in any sport for the U of Utah. She was followed by senior Alyssa Abbott who was 24th overall. True freshman Susannah Hurst was 44th. Sophomore Rebekah Winterton (58th) and junior Hilary Troutner (80th) rounded out the scoring five. All but Mergaert set new PR's. However, Mergaert passed eight runners in the last K to garner all conference honors. She had opened near the lead for the first half of the race. After falling back in from the lead following a huge surge she was able to regather herself for the strong finish.

Overall, I was pleased with how well we fought for the entire 6K distance in what was easily the best competition of the year for us. Our younger runners went out as fast as they have all year and still found themselves at the end of pack over the first mile. However, they slowly chipped away at those runners who went out too fast and were able to get us back in the race as a team. It was also satisfying to see a senior who came back specifically to continue to help this program grow and transition into the Pac-12 be able to have a successful race. Alyssa has competed at this level since her first day on campus so it was especially gratifying to see her compete as a Pac-12 athlete and set a new PR as well.

If you missed my pre-race interview with Flotrack you can click HERE to view it.

The pictures attached are compliments of Bruce Fain who is the father of sophomore AuraLea Fain who was our eighth runner.

Chillin' on a Dirt Road

2011-10-24T12:54:00.001-07:00

Another week in SLC and another great concert. Jason Aldean played in front of a sold out crowd which included myself. My seats weren't quite as good as my Foo Fights tickets last week, but they were solid.

Press Row

2011-10-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

Coach Kepler's Press Conference following the Chile Pepper Invite (Oct 15th).

How Do You Like Your Chile?

2011-10-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Top Photo: Amanda and Alyssa get out in stride with the leaders at Chile Pepper
Bottom Photo: Chile Pepper is truly a festival and provides a great atmosphere for the runners and spectators alike.

After a weekend off we hit the road to compete in our final regular season meet at the University of Arkansas. The Chile Pepper Invitational featured 35 teams from all over the country. We were able to take 7th which was a solid performance. Amanda finished 4th again in a new PR of 20:19 for 6K. Alyssa ran 20:59 for 17th. Rebekah (21:48) and Susannah (22:06) were 47th and 63rd. Nikki Rietz rounded out our top five in 105th (22:41). There were 296 runners in the field so our top five being in the first third was good. We still have some work to get done before we compete in the first ever Pac-12 championship meet. Six of the 12 teams are currently ranked in the top 20 in the country. So we have a big task ahead of us, but our group is confident that they will race and compete well in the best conference in the country. We know that this meet will help us prepare for the NCAA Regional meet two weeks later. Championship time is here. It's time to sharpen up and race at our highest level of the year over the next five weeks!

Rockin' in SLC

2011-10-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here is another example of a great concert in SLC. Last night I saw the Foo Fighters. I could almost guarantee you've heard their songs ("My Hero", "Everlong", "Times Like These", "The Best of Me", etc.) They have been together for over 16 years. Lead singer Dave Grohl was the drummer for the 80's grunge band "Nirvana". Here are some pics and video from the concert...yes I had very good seats:)

Track GameDay

2011-10-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Track and Field practice has been underway for a few weeks now so I thought I would give you a taste of what they have been up to. Under the direction of throws coach, Tapio Kuusela, the throwers have looked very good early this Fall. Today was primarily a hammer and shot practice day. Meanwhile, associate head coach, Burke Bockman, has the sprinters, hurdlers, and jumps going through Fall condition. Fridays are typically a game day. It breaks up the minotiny of training and provides an outlet of competition nearly every week. Several of our young women played other sports during the fall and winter seasons in high school. They are used to competing and Friday GameDay provides an opportunity to sharpen the competitive edge that they would not otherwise get. Enjoy.

Living Right in Vegas

2011-10-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

A smooth trip and a terrific team race at the UNLV Desert Invite was our reward for a very good week of practice. We ran without three of our top four runners in an effort to give some of our younger runners a chance to step up in a leadership role. Several of them responded well which will help us as we prepare to enter the championship part of our schedule in October. We won the meet by placing eight runners in the top 20 (2-5-8-11-12-14-17-20). Our 1-5 spread was exactly a minute which we would like to improve with that group.

Hurst, Troutner, Nielson, Rietz, Stringfellow, Mills, Fain, and Yates were the eight. That is FR, JR, FR, FR, FR, FR, SO, and JR.

We will be competing next at the Chile Pepper Festival hosted by the University of Arkansas on Oct 15th. We anticipate being back at full strength the rest of the way. Check back for some pics and video from practice this week.

Stanford Pics/Practice Video

2011-09-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

Some nice pics from the Stanford meet of Amanda and Alyssa together. Susannah and Rebekah also had good races. The video is from Tuesdays interval session at Sugarhouse Park. Enjoy.

Fourth and Fourth on the 24th

2011-09-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

Four seemed to be the number of the day at our first big invitational meet of the season. The Stanford Invite was an opportunity to finally run our top runners together for the first time all season. We finished 4th in the 29 team field with 156 points. Junior Amanda Mergaert finished fourth overall in 20:27. Senior Alyssa Abbott was 13th in 21:04. Both were PR's on that course as well as their highest individual finishes.

True freshman Susannah Hurst and sophomore Rebekah Winterton were 35th and 37th, respectively. Winterton ran almost a minute faster than she did as a freshman.

Another true frosh, Nikki Rietz, was 89th in 22:33 to round out our top five. She passed 13 runners in the last 600 meters which is a very positive sign. Overall, I thought we competed well. We will be working on closing the gaps and running together in the next few weeks.

We are off to Las Vegas for the Desert Classic Invite on Saturday. Again, we will rest a few of our top runners in preparation for the Chile Pepper Invite in three weeks.

Interval Heaven

2011-09-20T09:16:00.001-07:00

A little footage from our practice at Sunnyside Park yesterday....3 minute Intervals. Enjoy.

2011-09-19T09:37:00.001-07:00

Provo, Utah - The University of Utah women's cross country "B" team wrapped up competition at the BYU Invitational with 72 points to finish third-place overall.

We had a horrible start and found ourselves at the back of the pack. This course is always "sneaky" difficult, but we were too conservative. However, I liked the way several of our women were able to work their way back into the race.

With six of the our top runners resting for the week, freshman Nikki Rietz led the way for the team with her 11th-place finish. Rietz had a slow start and was around the 40th position at the beginning of the race. As the race continued, Rietz fought her way back toward the front and finished with a time of 18:53.

Finishing second for the Utes and 22nd overall was freshman Macee Nielson with a time of 19:22.2.

It's time for everyone to step up physically and mentally as the heart of our schedule is upon us starting with the Stanford Invite this weekend.

MS Champion

2011-09-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Last night was another very special night for an individual as well as our program. Senior Alyssa Abbott was honored by the Utah-Southern Idaho Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society as the Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year. The 33rd Annual "Dinner of Champions" presented by the McCarthey Family honored people who have excelled in a variety of ways to support the fight against MS. Some of these people have a direct connection with MS among family or friends. Other recipients serve as volunteers and leaders in the community to raise awareness of MS. To have an athlete from our program selected to receive this award is very special. Alyssa has been a leader for us in so many ways on and off the track. Her goals are always set very high and her focus to achieve those goals is never compromised. We are all extremely proud of her.

The University of Utah was also represented by Nate Fakahafua (Male HS Athlete of the Year) who is a freshman on the Utah Football team and Dr. Chris Hill (Sportsperson of the Year) who is our Athletic Director (and my boss:)

All of the recipients join a very select group of past recipients who excelled in much more than their athletic endeavors. While their successes in athletics have served as an inspiration to many, it is their work in the classroom and community that have allowed them to be deserving of their respective honors.

Last nights dinner and ceremony was a collection of some of the very best athletes, community leaders, and people to ever live in Utah. It was a fun and memorable evening. A special thanks goes to the McCarthey Family for putting on this event and leading the fight in finding a cure for MS.

1-2-3-4 Dominate!

2011-09-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

My apologies for the delay of this posting. I was out of town yesterday at the annual Pac-12 coaches meetings. However, it was a very good weekend for the Utes as we dominated the UNR Twilight 4K in Reno on Saturday night. Senior Alyssa Abbott returned home and put on a show for her family and friends as she ran away from the field in her first race in almost three years. Abbott easily won the race in a time of 14:41. Her first race as a freshmen was also in Reno and she won that race as well. Sophomore Rebekah Winterton (15:02), freshman Susannah Hurst (15:07), and junior Hilary Troutner (15:10) took the next three spots overall. Another freshman, Lauren Mills was 10th (15:33) to close out the Utah scoring and give the Utes an easy 20-41-65 victory over host UNR and UNLV. Lucy Yates (13th), Kate Stringfellow (15th), Nikki Dotter (17th), Alexis Davis (24th) and Brooke Casagranda (28th) rounded out the Utah finishers.

We held out a few runners for a variety of reasons again so we should continue to improve when they return to the line up. It was fun to have everyone compete well and win a meet in that fashion. Both UNR and UNLV are young so I thought we did what we should have. We have some work to do in the next two weeks before we run our first 6K race of the season at Stanford.

Anticipated Debut

2011-09-09T12:09:00.001-07:00

After back to back medical redshirt seasons super senior Alyssa Abbott will step back on the cross country course for the first time since the 2008 NCAA Championships. Arthroscopic knee surgery on both knees forced her to miss the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Her track seasons in that time have included qualifying for the NCAA Regional Championships in the 1500 and 5K both years. So she has continued to improve when she has regained her health after extensive re-hab and cross training both times.

On Saturday Alyssa will go back to her hometown (Reno, NV) where she ran and won her first ever collegiate race in 2006. It will be a different course, but family and friends will be there to watch the senior open what we all believe can be a very special season.

She's been our leader during her entire time in our program. It's great to see her get to lead us into our inaugural season in the Pac-12. While the conference affiliation, the course, and the uniforms are different one thing hasn't changed with Alyssa. She will be excited and nervous prior to the race, but once the race begins everyone will see what I've been lucky enough to see for the last five years....the bouncing blonde pony tail clad in a white top and red bottoms leaving a trail for everyone else to follow:)

Hills at Red Butte

2011-09-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday's practice focus was getting in some hill running. We have lots of options when it comes to hills near campus. Fortunately, many of them are on dirt and gravel. They vary in slope and length so we can simulate just about any type of hill that a course will give us. The first part of the workout was on a long, steady hill. The second half was on a dirt trail in the foothills behind the medical center and is much steeper.

Watch out! I'm starting to become a movie "director". I didn't really have to do too much editing. Adding the music didn't even require a medical degree. Hopefully, this isn't just beginners luck.

Enjoy!

...and We're Off!!!

2011-09-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

Four true freshmen and a newcomer to the scoring five helped us finish third in our opening meet of the season at Utah State. Susannah Hurst-FR, Hilary Troutner-JR, and Nikki Rietz-FR (see second video) finished 2-5-8 to lead our team into the 2011 season. True freshmen Macee Nielson and Lauren Mills were 23rd and 25th to round out our scoring.

I was impressed with our freshmen, especially with it being their first collegiate meet. I thought they ran aggressively. Hilary put in a ton of miles and rededicated herself to finding out how good she can be. I'd say she's off to a great start. We had some other solid performances for the first meet as well. We held out three of our top four and four of our projected top ten runners so we should improve even more as we add them into the mix at upcoming meets.

Getting Libertized

2011-09-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

We spend a lot of time at Liberty Park doing our threshold work during the year. It is only about two and a half miles from campus so it's easy to get to. Liberty features a 1.5 mile loop with either a woodchip trail or grass to run on. The trail has a gradual slope to it, but not enough in either direction to interrupt the consistency we are looking for in these efforts.

Another attempt at using my HD Flip Cam. I even did a little editing by trimming some of the clips. If I ever figure out how to combine them and add music I'll be in business and you won't have to listen to me giving instructions.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some footage from our meet on Saturday. Be sure to play the videos from the bottom to the top. I didn't save them in the in the right order (still learning).

2011-09-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

Working with a new Flip Cam (It's HD!!!). Of course, that means more things to figure out. Took a few videos at camp and this is the one that turned out good enough to post. Lucy, Nikki, Nikki, and Lauren running some hills on an old dirt road.

Fan Fest!

2011-08-27T17:58:00.001-07:00

Our annual Fan Fest celebration took place earlier today at the football stadium. Each team has an area for fans of all ages to stop by and obtain autographs, meet the student athletes, and play some games. We were in charge of a huge inflatable obstacle course. As usual our team was terrific interacting with the kids and adults. With this being our inaugural season in the Pac-12 there was a lot of excitement about that.

If your local you may have also heard senior Alyssa Abbott and myself on ESPN 700 radio just before 1PM being interviewed about the upcoming season as well. Overall, it was a fun day...but now the season can begin. We will be at Utah State next Saturday morning for our usual season opening meet. More details about whose running later in the week so check back.

Camp '11

2011-08-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

Your 2011 University of Utah Women's Cross Country Team

Why Does it Have to End?

2011-08-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

What a terrific camp! I am really pleased with how everything went. The workouts, the team activities, and team bonding were all very successful. This mornings run at Deer Creek Trail above the reservoir was amazing. Cool temps mixed with the rising sun and a few high clouds made for a very enjoyable run.

The run was followed by blueberry pancakes, packing, and some quick showers before heading back to camp. Tomorrow we will finish the week with a long run up on Pipeline Trail near campus. I hope you've enjoyed following our camp journey this week. School and the regular season begin on Monday. I'll keep you updated.

Todays pics are pretty cool. See if you can find Amanda and Alyssa in the picture that looks like the side of a mountain:)

Keep'em Fed So They Train Well

2011-08-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was able to redeem myself as a grill master...whew!!! I received some help from our resident English woman (Lucy) and Nikki. Overall it was another terrific day of camp. Two good running sessions, great meals, excellent team projects, and a well deserved stop at the local ice cream shop (Fill'er Up). Camp comes to an end after our run in the morning and blueberry pancakes. Be sure to catch pics of our run tomorrow. We will run at Deer Creek Trail which has some amazing views.

The AM Workout

2011-08-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

Another productive day of camp is well underway. A short, but fairly intense hill workout this morning followed by breakfast and a team meeting. The rest of today includes working on team goals, and afternoon run on the Rail Trail near Echo with lunch, dinner, and an evening activity mixed in.

Camp has progressed well thus far (with the exception of my grilling skills last night which included charring a few of Tyson's best). Check back for more amazing pics from our run later today.

It's All About Tempo

2011-08-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

After a great dinner, team introductions, and an evening run the first day of camp ended with many tired individuals. However, we were up early for an AM threshold interval workout that went well. We had a few different groups and they all ran well together. Sometimes something that simple...just running together can be a challenge for a new group. However, the freshmen all found there spots and fit right in. Breakfast, team meetings, team activity, lunch, short nap, and an afternoon easy run before dinner are on the schedule yet today. Check back for more pics. I hoped to have video, but I'm struggling with downloading my flip cam at the moment.

Don't worry parents...they are eating well and getting plenty to drink :)

Report Day

2011-08-15T14:53:00.000-07:00

The 2011 University of Utah Cross Country season officially kicks off at 4:30p today. Student athletes will arrive and get physicals. Tomorrow we begin at 9am with meetings, followed by a short team run, and then we are off to camp. Check back here this week for pictures and video of camp. We have a terrific returning group and six new freshmen who will lead us into our inaugural season in the Pac-12. It will be exciting and a great challenge to be part of the best xc conference in the country. We all look forward to raising the bar and continuing to keep this program on the steady rise towards being a national power.

More Academic Success

2011-08-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

After having three individual athletes receive all academic honors from the US Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association last week, the same association has honored the University of Utah Track & Field TEAM as one of 164 all academic teams from the past season. The Utes combined for a 3.29 GPA during the spring semester.

That is the highest overall team GPA we've had in my six years as the head coach here at Utah. We've continually made progress each year. To have over 40 young women combine for that type of GPA is impressive. However, our goal is to have that become the standard rather than an exceptional year.

Our athletic academic support services do a terrific job to help our athletes receive the support and resources they need to be successful in that regard.

We had 16 athletes receive Dean's List honors (3.5+) and 30 achieve a GPA of 3.0 or higher. It took 3.84 to be on our top ten list for the spring semester. As a coach it's hard to ask for much more.

Nice job gals!

The A's Have It

2011-08-04T09:07:00.001-07:00

Senior Alyssa Abbott along with sophomores Angie Kaplar and Amanda Mergaert were named to the 2010-11 US Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association All Academic Team. To be eligible student athletes were required to obtain a 3.25 cumulative GPA. They also had to finish the indoor or outdoor season ranked in the top 96 of an individual event, be part of a relay that was ranked in the top 48 on the national list at the end of the season, or compete in any round of the NCAA Championships.

Abbott (3.89 GPA) qualified for the NCAA Championships in two events (1500 and 5K) for the third straight year. Kaplar (3.25) was a first time NCAA qualifier in the 100 meter hurdles. Mergaert (3.31) was also a two event qualifier (800 and 1500) in consecutive seasons.

Pics from top to bottom: Kaplar, Mergaert, Abbott

2011 XC Schedule Posted

2011-08-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

Our cross country season schedule has been finalized and is now posted to the right of this post. We go to some great meets and cities. The meet in Reno, NV on September 10th will be under the lights as it is a twilight meet. Stanford is always a huge meet and our gals love that course. The trip to Las Vegas will be our first ever for cross country. The Chile Pepper meet at Arkansas is another huge meet where we have performed well in the past. Our initial Pac-12 conference meet will be in Phoenix which should be a lot of fun. The Mountain Region meet is only 45 minutes from our campus so we expect to have a good following helping us try to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Wish us luck!

Rebekah (Part 2)

2011-07-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

This is the second part of Rebekah's trip to the US Junior meet where she met some new friends. How many of them to you recognize?

Rebekah and Friends (Part 1)

2011-06-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

As promised here are the pics of Rebekah and her new friends that she met at the US Championships this past weekend.

Molly Huddle: 5K Champ and American Record Holder
Lisa Koll: 4x NCAA Champion
Kara Goucher (and son Colt): 10K Runner up
Shalane Flanagan: 10K Champ and American Record Holder
Jen Rhines: 3rd in the 10K

These are the girls. The boy pics will be posted soon so check back.

2011-06-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

Another terrific day for Utah Track & Field at Hayward Field in Eugene. Freshmen Rebekah Winterton entered the junior 5K seeded tenth based on season best times. However, she was focused and determined throughout the race. She went with the main pack early which was off the lead pace, but still very quick. She was patient, but made moves when she needed to maintain contact. That intelligent racing and a super last 600 meters rewarded her with a fifth place finish and a 41 second outdoor PR (17:19). The last two years we've had two top five finishes at the junior meet (A Mergaert-1500) to go along with A Kaplar's eighth place finish in the 100 hurdles a year ago as well.

We also were able to watch the senior women's and men's 5K finals tonight as well. Pictures coming soon with Rebekah and the medal winners. Another great season of Utah TF is complete. It was filled with a ton of development and some really special moments.

Up Next: The Utes move into the Pac-12 on July 1st. The initial Pac-12 cross country season will be here before we know it. Enjoy the summer and check back often for more updates about Utah TF and XC.

Paying the Rent

2011-06-23T21:35:00.001-07:00

Evening one of this years produced some exciting, but expected results. Flanagan, Goucher, and Rhines went 1-2-3 in the women's 10K. Flanagan ran hard from the gun producing a sub 31 (30:59) winner. The men's race was anything but hard from the start. They dawdled through 5K at 14:39 (maybe a tempo run for a few). However, the last 1200 and particularly the last 800 (1:56 for Rupp) was entertaining. Rupp (28:38) won outkicking Tegenkamp (28:39) and Bauhs (28:40). That winning time is about 90 seconds slower than Rupps PR. Of course, this is a meet to make a team, so it's about beating people regardless of the time (so long as you have the World Qualifying Standard which Rupp does).

Coach Bockman helped Galen with a 400 repeat workout about 10 days ago so we'll even give him an assist with turning out an American Champion. We'll call the pictures with Rebekah part of the Rupp/Goucher training group's rent for using our track the last six weeks.

On a side note, our trip here today was very smooth. We were able to fly right into Eugene. Amazing how much nicer the 32 minute flight from Portland to Eugene is than the two hour drive. Good premeet, good dinner, and a great night to watch the 10K's. Rebekah made it worth it by getting pics will all of the 10K podium placers except Teg. She replaced him with Lisa Koll (4 time NCAA Champion, Shalane's training partner, and an Iowa product who grew up 25 minutes from yours truly) who is out with an injury right now. For now I just have the one pic. I'll get the others up when Rebekah sends them to me.

Friday, 10:10am, Junior Women's 5K....watch on line LIVE Here

It's Official!!!

2011-06-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

The list of awards in our program grew again. Senior Alyssa Abbott has been awarded the prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarship. She is the first recipient from the University of Utah in several years. This award is only given by the NCAA to a select few graduating seniors annually who are among the most well rounded student athletes. Academic excellence, athletic performance, leadership skills, and community service are the primary areas used to determine award winners. Abbott finished the spring semester with a perfect 4.00 GPA. She graduated this past spring with a cumulative GPA of 3.89 in Exercise Sport Science. Abbott was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII Track and Field and Cross Country First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She received Academic All-District honors four consecutive years. The award includes a scholarship to help the student pursue a post graduate degree of their choice. She is an eight time NCAA qualifier between cross country and outdoor track. Abbott was the vice president of the U of U Student Athlete Advisory Council this past year as well as a team captain. She also participated in several community service activities over the last five years.

Congrats Alyssa!!!

2011-06-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Freshman Rebekah Winterton is completing her final preparations on our track before she runs in the US Junior Championship meet in Eugene, OR next Friday. Winterton qualified for the junior 5,000 meter race at this years championships when she ran 17:33 at the Husky Classic in February.

Training has continued to progress well but we know that this is the longest period of time she's ever trained at this level. So our expectations will be realistic. While she won't be happy just to be there, the focus will be more on running an intelligent race rather than an exact place or time. The experience from meets like this are invaluable for the future.

Sometimes 2nd is Good

2011-06-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Click HERE to find out how!

Also...the pics above came from our visit to the Blank Park Zoo and Trainland USA during our down time at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last week in Des Moines.

First Timer

2011-06-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay with this post. The internet connection at our hotel in Des Moines was not the best. Despite that and the less than ideal weather conditions for three days we were ending the season at the NCAA Championships. Amanda ran a very good semi final race and just missed the final by 1.4 seconds. She ran her last lap in 63 seconds, but finished sixth in her heat and only the top five advanced automatically. The other heat was slightly faster and took both time qualifying spots. After watching the final on Saturday she knows she can run with the best in the country on any given day.

We had a fun time during the off days visiting the Des Moines Zoo, Trainland USA in Colfax, the Iowa Hall of Pride, and Wells Fargo Arena. We also drove by the State capitol building and hung out at Grey's Lake when we weren't at the meet.

Special thanks goes to Don Paige (former US Olympian) for the picture.

We do have one more competition this season. Freshman, Rebekah Winterton, qualified for the US Junior Championships in the 5K. That race will take place on Friday June 24th at 10:10 (PT) in Eugene, OR.

The Regions Best....

2011-06-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hard work and discipline are rewarded!!!

Click Here to Find Out How.

Back to Des Moines

2011-06-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Mergaert wins the Region, qualifies for the Nationals
School record in the 1500 meters now 4:16.57

The Utah track team completed the West Region Championships by qualifying one person to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Amanda Mergaert ran the new school record in the 1500 Meter race finishing in a time of 4:16.57, which broke the previous record by three seconds and her previous personal record by more than five seconds. Mergaert's effort earned her first place in the event as well as the top qualifying time overall from both regionals for the NCAA Championships.
In her final race as a Ute, senior Alyssa Abbott competed in the 1500 Meter finals. She was betrayed by some bad luck as another runner fell in front of her as she was about to make a big move down the backstretch. Momentum was lost and she was unable to qualify for Des Moines with Amanda.

Brianna LeRoy led the way for the Utes in the High Jump with a jump of 5’7”, which earned her 16th place while Langley Iverson finished 24th overall clearing the mark of 5’5”. Two days earlier LeRoy had hit the second best mark of her career with a 19’4” in the Long Jump taking the 21st place.

Angela Kaplar was 42nd in the 100 Meter Hurdles with a time of 14.24. Anneli Ståhl threw 175’0” in the hammer and placed 34th . In the 800m, Lucy Yates ran a in a slow, tactical race and posted a time of 2:09.39 which earned her 4th place in her heat, but only the top three advanced to the next round.

It was a week of near misses which was bittersweet, but all of our gals competed hard and learned a lot. Only one of them graduates so we look forward to our first year in the Pac-12 with the other six leading the charge.

Next up for the Utes is the NCAA Outdoor Championships at the Drake University in Iowa on June 8-11, where Amanda Mergaert represents the team in the 1500 Meter race. Look for more details in a future post.

Look Who's Training at the U!

2011-05-23T13:33:00.001-07:00

Just another day at the McCarthey Family Track and Field on the University of Utah campus. We watched Olympian Galen Rupp and European Champion Mo Farah run a workout at our facility this morning. Their coach, Alberto Salazar, was also there leading the workout. Assistant Steve Magness was also present with the group as they are completing their final preparations for the US/UK Championships that occur later this summer.

All of these guys have too many accolades to list here so click on their names below and it will take you to links with that info.

Galen Rupp
Mo Farah
Alberto Salazar

Smarties!!!

2011-05-19T11:44:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our team on an outstanding spring semester academically. We had 16 team members make the Dean’s List (3.5 GPA with 12+ graded credit hours).

We also had 30 of our 41 team members with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. I am very proud of those of you who made such a great effort. The team top ten list was the most difficult to make in my 12 semesters as the head coach of this program.

1. Alyssa Abbott, SR 4.00
Rosalie Griffin, FR 4.00
Jenny McCune, SO 4.00
4. Alexis Davis, JR 3.94
Steph Muelleck, SO 3.94
6. Carly Selleck, SR 3.93
7. Kastin Frostl, SR 3.90
8. Bree LeRoy, JR 3.85
9. Nikkie Rudder, SO 3.84
Kate Stringfellow, FR 3.84

Keep up the great work and focus!

Coach Kep
Go Utes!

Better Late than Never!!!

2011-05-17T12:05:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delay in reporting from the conference championships. Blogger website was down for a while and I couldn't post.

We had six all conference performances at the outdoor championship meet including three runner up finishes and three third place finishes.

Alyssa Abbott (1500), Bree LeRoy (Heptathlon), and Angie Kaplar (100m hurdles) were all second place finishers. Amanda Mergaert (1500), Anneli Stahl (hammer), and Langley Iverson (high jump) were third.

LeRoy (pictured above with American Great Lolo Jones) totaled 18.5 team points as she scored in all five events she competed in (Hept, LJ, HJ, Jav, and 100m hurdles). Mergaert complete a tough 1500/800 double by finishing 5th in the latter event.

Overall, our team competed hard. Several underclassmen continued to gain experience at a high level meet. We will have seven athletes who will move on to the West Region First Round of the NCAA Championships. First and Second round competition for the West region will begin on May 26th in Eugene, OR at Historic Hayward Field.

Ka-Boom

2011-05-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

In the words of an old friend (Gary Rima)...Ka-boom! Our final regular season meet produced some terrific performances including another school record and several PR's. Sophomore Angie Kaplar broke her own school record by .22 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles as she place a close second place in 13.61. That time should ensure her a spot at the NCAA First Round meet in Eugene next month.

Junior Bree LeRoy (pictured) continued her outstanding season with a new personal best in the long jump (19-8.25). This was a full foot lifetime best.

Junior Langley Iverson had another solid performance. While she only cleared 5-7.25, her succeeding jumps look as good as they have all year.

The throwers had a solid day as well. Nikkie Rudder was second in the shot put (46-10.25). Destanae Howerton-Davis had a huge lifetime best (45-2.5) to finish third. In the discus Howerton-Davis was third (138-10.25). Anneli Stahl threw the hammer 175-3.25 to finish second.

Sophomore Theresa Waybright got her season turned around with her first clearance over 12 feet this year.

I thought we performed well for the most part. We have some injury issues that have taken their toll on our sprinters. Hopefully, the weekend off will help them as we get ready to enter the championship season.

It Was Our Time!

2011-05-02T18:35:00.000-07:00

This picture says it all! Go Utes!

A Weekend for the Record Books

2011-04-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

The final day of the Drake Relays ended as it began...with new personal bests and three more top five finishes. Warm temperatures and blue skies brought unfamiliar warmth to a track season that has been filled with less than ideal conditions otherwise.

Lucy Yates took the Utes from eighth to fifth on her anchor carry in the sprint medley relay with a 2:07 leg. Defending 1500 meter champion Alyssa Abbott and Amanda Mergaert (4th a year ago) then went 2-3 in that even this year. Both broke the 29 year old school record of 4:22.03 (Carla Pittlekow). Abbott's time (4:19.73) was the 3rd fastest ever at the Drake Relays while Mergaert's (4:21.06) was the 7th fastest ever in event history. Event winner Stephanie Morgan of Illinios broke the 20 year old Drake Relays record (4:19.53) with her 4:15.00 clocking.

If your going to get beat, make them break the record and that is exactly what happen.

For the week the Utes were able to score six top five finishes including one champion, two runner ups, and two third placers.

Not too many teams have ever come and had the type of success we experienced at the Drake Relays this past weekend. Our gals competed hard and showed a toughness that this program is beginning to be known for. I will admit...it was impressive. We fought for every place we could get.

Former Ute Shayla Houlihan (shown above in picture) dominated the women's steeplechase to collect consecutive victories in that event as well.

1-2-3 Recipe

2011-04-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

~Alyssa is all smiles as she anchors the D-Med to a Drake title.

~Bree and Langley celebrated a successful 2011 Drake Relays.

The 2010 Drake Relays featured a little bit of everything. Utah had it's first ever individual champion as Alyssa Abbott won the 1500 meter run near the end of the meet on Saturday afternoon. There was a near miss at a second champion in the rain on Friday as Langley Iverson was second in the high jump. Freshman Amanda Mergaert was fourth in the 1500 just off the pace set by Abbott. Then there was multi eventer, Bree LeRoy who fell going over the ninth hurdle in the first event of the heptathlon and went on to finish 12th of the 13 finishers. A few solid relay finishers were sprinkled in the middle.

Drake Relays History Lesson
With ABC Television celebrating 50 years of The Wide World of Sports on April 29th this year the sport of track and field and the Drake Relays come to the forefront again. Wide World was a weekly Saturday afternoon program that featured sporting events from all over the world. Boxing, soccer, bull riding, car racing, bowling, etc were among the many sports that were featured on a regular basis. However, the very first event televised on WWS was the 1961 Drake Relays. Track & Field events all over the world (especially those that featured the US vs Russia) also became a staple of the WWS line up each year.

Present Day
Fast forward to 2011 and this year's annual Drake Relays...the 102nd edition of America's Athletic Classic...one of premier track and field meets held in the world.

~The week started with LeRoy gaining redemption in the multi event as she was the day one leader and ended up second overall with a new lifetime best score of 5,090 (her first time over 5000 points).

~Iverson followed up last years runner up performance with a third place finish this year despite clearing a bar three inches higher.

~The University of Utah crowned it's first ever relay championship at the Drake Relays as the Distance Medley relay team of Amanda Mergaert, Ashley Mosley, Lucy Yates, and Alyssa Abbott ran 11:17.09 to run away from the field.

One more day to go. What's next? Stay tuned and check back tomorrow for more results.

A New Report...

2011-04-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at producing a video so don't make fun of it too bad. It only took two hours for two minutes of video. Enjoy!

Home and Away

2011-04-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

This weeks picture comes from Edwards Stadium at the University of California.

This past weekend we had most of our team at BYU for the annual Robison Invitational. We also sent two athletes to the Brutus Hamilton Invite hosted by Cal. Angie Kaplar highlighted the performances at BYU by breaking her own school record in the sprint hurdle race )13.83 to win that event. At Cal it was Amanda Mergaert who came up a winner in the 800 meter race with a new personal best time of 2:07.38. That time also ranks third in Utah school history.

Other top performances included:

Alyssa Abbott-1500m, 4:23.83, 3rd at Cal
Bree Leroy-100m hurdles, 14.42, PR (seventh all time at Utah) and Javelin-117-4.75 (tenth all time)
Alana Nulph, Nikkie Rudder, Candus Aiello, and Destanae Howerton-Davis going 1-2-3-4 in the shot put.
Candus Aiello-Discus, 143-4.5 PR
Lucy Yates-400m, 56.66 PR

We had several other athletes compete hard and continue to improve. We will send athletes to the 102nd annual Drake Relays and the Steve Scott Invitational this coming weekend.

23 Years Later....

2011-04-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

Our 5K record had stood for 23 years until senior, Alyssa Abbott, put her name on top of the list with her 16:17.86 performance at the 53rd Annual Mt Sac Relays this past weekend. That was one of several outstanding performances for our team this weekend.

Bree Leroy set a new PR in the high jump when she cleared 5-8.75.

Amanda Mergaert just missed the school record in the 1500 with her 4:23.51 lifetime best mark. Lucy Yates also set a big PR in the 1500 running 4:26.47 as they won back to back heats. Both would come back four hours later and record 2:09 in the 800 as well.

Angie Kaplar ran a season best mark of 13.91 at the Cal State LA meet on Thursday evening.

Based on last years qualifying marks all of these marks will get into the NCAA First Round competition.

Other outstanding performances came from a pair of freshmen. Rebekah Winterton clocked the seventh fastest time in school history in the 10K (36:05). Rosalie Griffin ran a pair of 400 meter hurdle races at Cal State LA and Long Beach and improved her personal best a full second each time. She ran 62.54 on Saturday.

Candus Aiello had a big weekend in the shot and discus. She scored PR's in both (46-2 and 142) to lead the way for the throwers who all had improvements and/or were very consistent in their multiple competitions at the three meets in the LA area.

At the Mark Faldmo Invitational hosted by Utah State, Alexis Laws ran her first steeplechase race and finished second in 11:22.19.

After missing a weekend competition due to poor weather a week ago our team was in need of a great weekend like this one. We will be back in action at the Robison Invitational hosted by BYU next weekend.

One More Year...

2011-04-09T12:59:00.000-07:00

We've had to wait almost 30 years, so what is one more? It's been almost that long since a track and field meet has been hosted on campus at the University of Utah. That "streak" was set to end yesterday, however, mother nature decided that it wasn't quite time. A huge spring storm pushed through Utah this weekend and brought winter like conditions with it dumping 3-4 inches of snow on campus. We were clearing the track and making preparations, however the other teams didn't feel like it was worth making the trip to compete in the snowy/rainy conditions. It's hard to blame them as we all have to protect our athletes and do what we think is right for their development and well being.

While we would have liked to host this meet, the weather conditions around the country weren't much better. It was raining in Phoenix, the winds were blowing at the Texas Relays (20+ mph), and the same weather we had on Friday continued on Saturday down at UVU.

We head to the Mt Sac Relays this coming week. It's a huge annual meet that is known for great competition and excellent weather. We need both! I give our team a ton of credit. They were very disappointed to not be able to compete on their new home facility. I think they were mentally prepared to deal with the conditions which says a great deal about their character and competitiveness. We will simulate some race conditions in our practices this weekend and refocus towards our trip this coming week.

Steady Progress All Around

2011-04-03T11:23:00.001-07:00

All in all it was another productive weekend for our team. Junior Bree LeRoy went to Tucson, AZ to compete in her first multi event of the season which resulted in a 200 point PR. At the UVU Invite we won two events and had several other high place finishes in what turned out to be the first real nice day of the spring thus far.

Junior Langley Iverson won the high jump (5-7.25) and sophomore Angela Kaplar won the 100m hurdles with a season best time (13.99). Officially, we went 2-3-4 in the shot put. However, newcomer Alana Nulph who is red shirted for the outdoor season was the winner. In the discus we had three plus Nulph in the finals and went 3-4-5-8.

Sophomore Alyssa Johnson led a 2-3-4 finish in the 400m hurdles. Freshmen Kayla McMurray and Rosalie Griffin (and Johnson) all set personal best marks.

True freshmen Alexis Laws, Rebekah Winterton, and AuraLea Fain also had solid 1500m races with all three setting new PR's and finishing 3-4-10.

Sophomore Lauryn McKay (25.66) was fifth in the 200m dash. Check out Kaplar's victory in the 100 m hurdles by playing the video.

We host the inaugural home meet at our new facility (McCarthey Family Track & Field) this coming Friday. We will have teams from primarily Utah attending and look forward to an excellent meet. Hope to see you there.

SF Our Way

2011-03-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

The early Stanford trip has always been a favorite. Great competition, usually great weather (not this year), great facility, and generally a fun area. This year was no exception as we ran fast and were able to enjoy the surrounding area on Saturday evening while waiting for our Sunday morning flight. Another usual...going up to San Francisco for dinner and check out the sites. In the past we have done the usual things...The Pier, Lombard Street, the Embarcadero, and the Golden Gate Bridge. We even gone over to Sausalito (a quaint seaside town on the north side of Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County).

So this year I decided to check out some other hot spots. I drove the girls through Golden Gate Park which is about 4-5 miles long and ends up at the coast on the west side of the city. From there we drove by the Cliff House, through the Presidio, by the Golden Gate Bridge, over to Union St, and finally ended up in Union Square for dinner at Cheesecake Factory. We will be keeping Canon and Kodak in business. I've posted some of pics in this post and will put a few up to the right as well. It was a great time and the girls really enjoyed seeing parts of the city they had never seen. Great place to visit, but most likely a tough place to live due to the high concentration of people constantly on the move. Our dinner at CCF was outside six floors on the patio of the Macy's right in Union Square. Think of Times Square in NYC, but not quite as big.

From there it was back to Palo Alto. We arose to a cool, but sunny morning and were able to get in our long run (76 minutes). Back to business as usual because we wouldn't have it any other way :)

Two Top Fives

2011-03-27T10:27:00.001-07:00

The Stanford Invite ended like it finished for us. After two very good season opening races on Friday and even more rain overnight Lucy and Amanda came to the track on Saturday ready to race. Lucy was third in her heat (2:06.71) and Amanda second in her heat (2:08.06). They were third and fifth overall and both just missed lifetime best performances. So for the weekend we ran a total of 8100 meters across four races and missed four lifetime bests by just over four seconds total. That's how you like to begin the season!

At ASU we also had some solid performances to start the season. Langley cleared an outdoor lifetime best 5-10 to finish second overall (first collegian) in the high jump. Nikkie Rudder was eighth (in an outstanding field) in the shot put with a toss of 47-2. Bree took ninth in the long jump going 18-5.75. We also had several freshmen get their first outdoor experience and perform at a high level.

The videos are of Amanda and Lucy going down the backstretch on the opening lap of their 800 meter heats. Sorry for the poor video quality. It was a rainy/high humidity day and hard to keep everything dry.

Start Me Up...

2011-03-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

The outdoor season has officially begun. On Friday afternoon the hammer throwers open the season for our team at the ASU Invitational. Anneli Stahl took third place with a throw of 181 feet. Freshmen Destanae Howerton-Davis and newcomer Cynthia Sanchez set new lifetime bests as well.

On Friday evening the distance runners took to the track at the Stanford Invitational. The week long Bay area rain gave way to overcast skies and dry conditions for the evening races which led to some fast times and solid races. Amanda Mergaert got things started by winning her 1500 meter heat in 4:27.47 which was about a second from her lifetime best. The race was excruciatingly slow through 800 meters (2:28). Mergaert hung with the lead group and with 300 to go made her move and got to the lead coming off the final turn and took the victory going away. Her final 400 circuit was 66 seconds.

Fifth year senior, Alyssa Abbott, opened her final outdoor campaign with a very smooth 16:31.54 effort that was two seconds from her lifetime best. Abbott ran fairly even 1K splits (3:16-3:14-3:19-3:20-3:21) to take fifth in her heat. With 2,000 meters to go Abbott found herself leading the pack and the runners continued to shuffle around until about 800m to go when the eventual winner forced the pace which broke up the pack into their finishing order.

It's nice to see the throwers get off to a solid start. I know they are working hard right now and will throw further later in the season. Amanda continues to learn and is about a month ahead of where she was at this time a year ago. I think that slow opening pace cost her 5-6 seconds, but she closed well and covered the pace change well. That 5K was only the third of Alyssa's career. Physically, she's right where she needs to be. She is also well ahead of where she was a year ago. We have three weeks before the next 5K.

On Saturday the remainder of the team will compete. The sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, throwers, and a few distance runners will compete at ASU. Mergaert will join teammate Lucy Yates in the 800 meter race at what is expected to be a rainy day at the Stanford Invite.

Presidential Affair

2011-03-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

Regardless of your political beliefs any chance you get to see a Presidential Library & Museum is a historical opportunity that should be taken advantage of. The George Bush Library & Museum happen to be located on the southern edge of the Texas A&M campus. It is a unique collection of artifacts and stories that surround the entire life (including his Presidency). It featured his presidential limo, a large section of the Berlin Wall, and a replication of the Oval office just to name a few. The stories of his entry into the Navy, politics, Iraq invasion, and Fall of the Berlin Wall are surrounded by those of his family life. It was nice to be able to enjoy some time away from the track this afternoon and take in some American history.

Oh...and did you know they named their FB field after me? I didn't realize I was so well liked and thought of here at A&M.

First Time

2011-03-12T08:37:00.000-08:00

It wasn't the outcome we all envisioned or wanted. Regardless, Langley had a terrific season and this one day won't take anything from that. In her first NCAA finals she struggled with her rhythm and was only able to clear the opening bar. She made no excuses. I know it will only make her work harder and want to get back to this meet. That's who she is. As a coach there is no situation that is tougher to deal with than this one. Every athlete wants to perform their best on the biggest stage. When that doesn't happen you have to help your athletes deal with it and most importantly--move on! I give our kids 24 hours to deal with it as they wish. Then we move on, analyze our training and preparation, and set forth on a new plan to continue to improve. In Langley's case, no one can take away the fact that she cleared 6-0 3/4 at two different meets this year. She is one of the best collegiate jumpers in the country and she will be back at this meet.

The Waiting Game...

2011-03-10T11:22:00.000-08:00

After a smooth trip to College Station yesterday we wanted to get out and see "the sights" here in the area. There is no competition on Thursday so we went over to "historic" downtown Bryan, TX. That was a short trip. Then we decided to look for a mini golf place. Hanah's (our trainer) phone led us to "Paradise"....scuba diving. So I tried my phone/map and we found a game place that included glow in the dark mini golf, bowling, laser tag, and lots of other arcade type games. The golf competition was fierce and included several lead changes. Although one thing never changed from the first hole...I was in last place the whole time. A double par is never a good way to start. We all had at least one hole in one including Langley's back to back single shot holes midway through the round. Andrew made a stunning comeback with six holes to go to win. Langley and Hanah were a few shots behind. In my giving mood, I was another few shots behind them. Just doing what a good coach does....set up the logistics of the trip, get everyone to and from safely, provide very nice accommodations and meals, provide support and motivation as needed, and take a butt kicking in mini golf. It's all about the athlete here at Utah Track & Field:)

We will head over to the championship facility in a little bit for a short practice session. Then I have packet pick up and a coaches meeting. That will be followed by a banquet this evening (an indoor championship first). I will try to get some video and or pics from those events posted later. Check back for more then.

A Coaching Commentary

2011-03-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

Educating and Coaching has long been my passion. I've spent the last 12.5 years with college level student athletes. Before that I was a college athlete for five years. While times have changed and brought new technology, unique personalities, and varying ideas of work ethic one thing has never changed with this group. They all have high expectations. Sometimes these expectations match their ability and potential, sometimes they do not. Our goal as coaches is to first help our student athletes align their goals and expectations with their ability and potential. This alignment includes academic, athletic, and life goals. The second goal is to provide them with the technical/physical expertise and support they need to improve in those areas. Finally, as coaches, it is imperative that we provide great communication and motivation in the way of our own expectations and direction. This communication is ongoing and must never stop. It must also display a degree of flexibility. Humans are not robots. They get ill, they have injuries, and they have personal issues...especially college age student athletes.

As a coach you live the successes, failures, last one in and first one out moments with the student athletes. You own those moments the same way they do. This past weekend was a perfect example. Our distance medley relay was looking to qualify for the NCAA indoor championships by competing at a Last Chance Qualifying meet at Notre Dame. They wanted to join our high jumper, Langley Iverson, who had already automatically qualified weeks earlier. We flew half way across the country to run 4,000 meters as fast as we could. We knew they would have to run a near perfect race. This same group smashed our school record a year ago, but missed the NCAA meet by three seconds. We were the second team out despite our great effort.

About the only difference this year is that we switched the lead off and anchor legs. There approach was one of a championship team. Regardless of the outcome, they were together in this endeavor. Our fifth year senior, Alyssa Abbott (who was 15 weeks removed from arthoscopic knee surgery) led us off as well as we could have hoped for. The middle two legs (sophomore Alyssa Johnson and junior Lucy Yates) did their part and got the stick around to sophomore Amanda Mergaert for the final 1600 meter leg. Amanda ran a life time best for 1600 and our time of 11:11.71 was a new school record again. However, once again we came up a few seconds short. We beat Texas, we beat Indiana. We ran faster than Florida, Minnesota, Boston College, and Michigan State. But this time we were the first team not selected to the championships. Thirteenth when we had to be twelfth. There's not much worse as a coach than having to explain to a group of high achieving athletes, who poured their hearts and souls on the track for each other and our program, that they will be excluded from the NCAA championships again...by mere seconds. The NCAA indoor meet is the toughest to qualify for of the 89 championships that the NCAA conducts. Only about 3% of the total Division I track athletes are selected to compete each year. (i.e. over 20% of the Division I basketball teams make the NCAA tournament).

Ultimately though, you have to look at the successes that allowed us to even put the relay together. Alyssa recovering from surgery in time to compete during the indoor season. Alyssa and Lucy both recovered from injury and illness this year. Amanda had a huge breakthrough in cross country as a NCAA individual qualifier and has been able to carry that over to the track. She dropped her 1600/mile time by 10 seconds during the indoor season. We overcame a lot of obstacles to put ourselves in the conversation. Somebody ultimately had to look at our time and draw a line. We weren't in that conversation in early February. We weren't in that conversation three years ago. Now we're becoming a regular at that table and that is good company to be keeping. These women, like all of the young women on our team and those who came before them, always expect more. They push themselves on a daily basis to be the best they can be physically, mentally, and emotionally. Some days are better than others based on the standards that we all set. However, I still wouldn't trade the worst days for another career. If I don't know anything else, I know the following about the young people I have coached and will continue to educate. Give them 24 hours to deal with their greatest of acheivements or worst of disappointments and the next day they will reset their goals and begin working to achieve those goals all over again. Which then brings out the questions: Who's teaching who? Who's motivating who? It really doesn't get any better than that.

Oh So Close!!

2011-03-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

We returned to the scene of the crime (Notre Dame) where a year ago we shattered the school record in the DMR (11:13.77) and then on Sunday found out we came up two seconds short of qualifying for the NCAA championships.

As the great Yogi Berra once said, "This feels like deja vu all over again." About the only thing we did different for the entire trip was switch up the lead off and anchor legs. Alyssa led us off in 3:28 and Amanda brought us home in 4:40. In between Alyssa ran 54.2 and Lucy carried 2:07.6. All buy Lucy's leg were lifetime bests.

Again we ran terrific and broke the school record (11:11.71). We finished second and beat Texas and Indiana. With the final declarations due Monday at 11am (MST) I'd like to be a little more glass half full, but when your ranked 13th and history shows they take 10-12 relays each year you have to be realistic. This year may very well be the toughest year in the events history. There are 11 teams who have run 11:07 or faster and four at 11:00 or better. To know we have one of the best relay teams in the country for the second year in a row is great, however, I know we would all like a chance to prove it against the best on the same day.

Like last year we drove back to Chicago on Saturday after the meet to catch our Sunday morning flight. We to the "L" into the city and ate and the ever popular Giordano's Pizzeria. We followed that with a bit of shopping on State Street before the snow and wind got the best of us and we trained it back to the hotel.

As far as what we do know about NCAA's...

We know that Langley Iverson will be going to College Station regardless of the final selections. She punched her ticket six weeks ago with an automatic qualifying mark (6-0.75). She backed that mark up with an identical clearance at the conference championships a week ago.

An Instant Classic

2011-02-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

It was a script that even ESPN Classic would want to air again. Two of the best collegiate high jumpers, from rival schools (Red vs Blue), having to go to a jump off to decide the winner at a conference championship meet. They have been down a similar path before as both are juniors and have beaten each other on this stage in previous championship events.

Both cleared 6-0.75 on their first attempts. The bar moved to 6-2 which would be lifetime bests for both jumpers. Each jumper had the bar cleared and knocked it off on the way down. That led to a sudden victory jump off. Each jumper getting a fourth attempt at 6-2. If both made the bar would move up, if both missed then the bar would lower two centimeters. If one made and the other didn't then a victor would be declared. After misses by both athlees at 6-2 (1.88cm) and 6-1.25 (1.86cm) a clearance was made at 1.84 by the first jumper. The second jumper would miss and the great rivals would embrace with a well deserved round of applause from everyone in attendance. Because it was the final field event before the 4x400 meter relays the meet came to a stop until the conclusion of this epic duel per conference championship rules (The 4x400 meter relays must be the final event and can not begin until all other events have ended).

Unfortunately (for us), the second jumper was Langley and the first her longtime rival from BYU (Ada Robinson). That ending described most of our close calls. Sophomore Amanda Mergaert finished second in the mile for the second straight year. A .27 second loss (4:51.73-4:52.00) after running an intelligent race was not the ending she deserved. That time was six seconds faster than she ran a year ago at this meet. In the shot put we went 4-7-8. Junior Candus Aeillo was probably our biggest surprise of the meet throwing a three foot PR to finish fourth. Newcomer Alanna Nulph also had a huge PR for seventh. Sophomore Nikkie Rudder had a tough day (by her standards) but was still able to finish eighth.

We also got a runner up finish from Lucy Yates who held on by less than half a second (2:09.39-2:09.86) for second.

Senior Alyssa Abbott entered the 3K as the defending champion. Through 2K she was in terrific position for a repeat, however it was not to be as she finished fifth after a great close by a pair of New Mexico teammates. Abbott is less than 15 weeks removed from surgery on her knee that kept her out of cross country. She ran a lifetime 3K PR two weeks ago, but the UNM girls on their home track had a great day.

Sophomore Angie Kaplar was sixth in the 60 meter hurdles (8.64) in Saturday's final. The 4x400 meter relay closed out the meet with a solid fourth place showing. Alyssa Johnson, Lucy Yates, Lauryn McKay, and Ashley Mosley ran 3:45.41 which is either the second or third fastest time in school history.

All in all it was a solid meet. We had a few nice surprises and no one really fell apart. We had eight all conference performances in five events (including four runner up finishes) and 19 of the 24 athletes we took to the meet figured in our 71.5 team points which gave us fifth place. We scored 8.5 less points a year ago for fourth. So it was a tough year in the league, especially among the top tier.

So Far, So Good

2011-02-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

Day two at the conference championships meant five event prelims and five event finals. We were able to advance a runner into the 60 hurdles (Angie Kaplar), 400 meter dash (Alyssa Johnson), and 800 meter run (Lucy Yates) finals. There were not enough runners entered in the mile for a prelim, so Amanda Mergaert advanced to the final in that event as well. We are currently in third place with 28 points. Prior to the meet I think most people would have picked us for fourth or fifth. If we can perform at

In the 5K our two freshmen (Rebekah Winterton and AuraLea Fain) were 12th and 17th overall. I thought they both ran well even though I know they both wanted to finish a little higher. In the weight throw our usual duo of Anneli Stahl and Cindy Sanchez competed well and earned 4th and 7th places. As usual those positions were separated by only a few centimeters. Our vaulters also had very good days. Klaudia finished 6th overall (even though the results currently have her listed as 7th. There is an error that the officials will fix on Saturday prior to the meet). She cleared a season best 12-10.5. Theresa was 13th and had some good looks at 12-4 before bowing out. Bree LeRoy continued her impressive meet by returning to the facility today and picking up 5th place in the long jump with a lifetime best effort of 18-10.75.

There will be eleven event finals tomorrow and we have athletes qualified and competing in eight of them. So hopefully we can have another outstanding day. I was happy with the way we competed today and expect us to come out tomorrow and be aggressive. Most of the women competing tomorrow have experienced a great deal of success as this meet in the past and we'll be counting on them to use that experience to perform well again.

Thanks for all of your support. You can't believe all the alums and other supporters who email/text/facebook/etc. us with well wishes. We pass them along to the team and I know they appreciate it greatly.

And We're Off...

2011-02-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

The indoor conference championships are underway. Day one was good to us as our multi eventers (Bree and Suzie) got us off to an excellent start. Both had PR's (Bree-3654; Suzie 2910). Bree recorded her first All-MWC honor with a runner up finish. Suzie was 13th in her first conference competition. Bree beat long time rival Mindy Sagers of BYU by three points to earn eight team points for our team and put us in second place overall after day one. The 800 was a battle. Mindy had to beat Bree by about six seconds to pass her. However, Bree gutted out her least favorite of the five events to just barely stay within that time frame and hang on to second. Her time was a season best and right at her 800 meter PR.

The bulk of the meet begins on Friday with prelims in the 60m-800m track races as well as finals in the weight throw, pole vault, 5K, and DMR.

Go to http://www.themwc.com/champ/itrack-champ-2011.html for live results.

To view all track races on a web delay of about 30 minutes go to: http://www.runnerspace.com/Mountain-West-Indoor-Championships

And, of course, check back here for more insider information and the coaches take on the weekends event.

Final Tune Up

2011-02-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

With the conference championship meet starting on Thursday this week we used our final regular season meet at Weber State this past weekend as an opportunity to "fine tune" some of our athletes. We won five events and Angie Kaplar set another school record in the short hurdles. This time it was the 55m hurdles instead of the 60m event due to facility constraints. Her time of 7.96 in the prelims bettered the old mark (7.99) set by Elisha Kekacs back in 2000. Kaplar went on the win the event.

The Utes also won the high jump, weight throw, long jump, and mile events. Junior Langley Iverson cleared 5-7.75, junior Cynthia Sanchez threw a personal best 58-7.5, junior Bree Leroy leaped a lifetime best of 18-8, and freshman Kate Stringfellow ran 5:22.10 to claim victories.

The MWC championship meet starts on Thursday with the multi event and continues through Saturday. As a side note, the Utes have their highest number of athletes ranked in the top 10 pre-championship rankings since the MWC formed in the '99-'00 season.

2011-02-15T14:32:00.000-08:00

UTES SET MORE SCHOOL RECORDS AT WASHINGTON
Mergaert 4:45.11, Kaplar 8.56

Utah tracksters had their best meet so far this season in the Flotrack Husky Classic at the University of Washington. Amanda Mergaert improved her two-week old school record in the Mile to 4:45.11. Angela Kaplar improved her record in the 60 Meter Hurdles to 8.56 finishing fifth in the finals. Anneli Ståhl and Alyssa Abbott had all-time second best performances in their respective events, the weight throw and 3000 Meters. Anneli threw over 60 feet for the first time, 60’9.25” missing the school record by only 2.75 inches and Alyssa had a big personal record and almost half a minute improvement from last week’s time clocking in 9:30.12. Utah’s 4x400 Meter Relay team Lauryn McKay, Alyssa Johnson, Lucy Yates and Ashley Mosley finished first with an all-time third best time of 3:46.46. Langley Iverson was second in the High Jump clearing an impressive 5’10”.

Utes had more outstanding performances. In the Shot Nikkie Rudder and Junior College transfer, sophomore Alanna Nulph were both in the finals and set new personal records, 46’8” and 45’5”, respectively. Nikkie’s mark is third and Alanna’s seventh on the all-time list. Candus Aiello almost made the finals with her best throw of 43’11.75”.

On Friday night in the 5000 Meters freshmen Rebekah Winterton and AuraLea Fain posted new lifetime best times, 17:33.01 and 17:49.03 resectively. Rebekah’s time is eight best time on the all-time list. The same duo ran new records first thing on Satuday morning, this time in the 3000 Meters. Winterton was the better of the two again clocking in a time of 10:07.90 placing fifth over-all while Fain finished with a time of 10:19.26 earning her 12th place. Nikki Dotter had a personal best time of 5:06.17 in the Mile.

In the Pole Vault Theresa Waybright tied her lifetime best height of 12’ 4”, which height was also cleared Klaudia Rokossa. Theresa’s mark is the sixth best vault on the all-time list.

Next the Utes travel to Weber State to compete in the Wildcat Tune-up Meet. The throwers will compete on Thursday the 17th and the rest of the team will compete on Saturday the 19th. It will be a good last check-up before the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships the following week.

GO UTES!!!!!!

Another School Record

2011-02-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Our sophomore class has decided that the second time around is really better. After Amanda Mergaert broke her own school record in the mile last weekend, fellow soph Angie Kaplar felt it was time to get in the mix as well. Kaplar has been chasing older sister Jen Kaplar-Cutrer's Utah mark all season. That chase finally came to an end in Boise when she won the 60m hurdle event in 8.58 seconds, .02 faster than the old record.

Kaplar and Mergaert (800m) joined Langley Iverson (high jump) and senior Alyssa Abbott (2011 debut-3K) by winning their events. For Abbott it was her first race since last May. She missed the xc season due to undergoing knee surgery in November. Mergaert's 2:08.78 was another PR. Iverson won the competition with an easy clearance at 5-8.75. Abbott broke 10 minutes in her 2011 opener.

Klaudia Rokossa (pole vault) cleared 12-5.5 and Alyssa Johnson ran 56.57 in the 400m dash to claim runner up finishes. Bree Leroy was 4th in the long jump (18-1/5) and 8th in the 60 hurdles. (9.20).

The throwers had another solid day with as Nikkie Rudder (45-7.75) led a 3-4-5-6 finish in the shot put. Anneli Stahl (55-8.5) topped three Utes who finished 4-5-7.

We had a little more excitement on the way home than we were hoping for. Click HERE for details.

We're off to Seattle on Friday for the Husky Invite. Check out Flotrack.org for live coverage. Coach Bockman will tweet throughout the meet as well. Follow him at www.twitter.com/utah_trackfield

Five for Fighting!

2011-01-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

FIVE VICTORIES FOR FIVE UTES

LeRoy, Kaplar, Stahl, Yates, and Mergaert combine for five wins, three all-time top five performances, and a school record.

SUPERMAN (Women)...It's not easy to be me...
The University of Utah tracksters had an awesome mid-season meet hosted by Idaho State on Friday and Saturday and New Mexico Invitational hosted by the University of New Mexico. At New Mexico, Amanda Mergaert won the Mile finishing in 4:46.40 (altitude adjusted time), which is a new University of Utah record. Lucy Yates also won her event, 800 Meters in the same meet clocking in a time of 2:09.26 (aa). At the Mountain States Games Brianna LeRoy won the Pentathlon with a new record total of 3643, which is all-time fourth best score in school’s history. Anneli Ståhl won the Weight Throw with a personal record and the fifth best throw on the all-time list, 59’ 1.25”. Angela Kaplar won the 60 Meter Hurdle competition with an outstanding time of 8.65.

CHANCES are...
Utes had many other great performances. Cynthia Sanchez was second in the Weight Throw with a toss of 58’ 2.5”, eighth on the all-time list.Utah had four throwers in the Shot Put finals: Nikkie Rudder placed third with a new record put of 46’ 7.25”, third on the all-tiime list; Candus Aiello had a life-time best of 44’ 5.5”, eighth on the all-time list; Freshman Destanae Howerton-Davis placed fifth and had a three foot pr, unleashing 43’ 9.25”, tenth on the all-time list; and Alanna Nulph was eighth with a season best toss of 41’ 10.75”. .

It's not EASY TONIGHT...
Brianna LeRoy had some great marks that lead to her win in the Pentathlon: a new pr and all-time eighth best time in the 60 Meter Hurdles, 9.02, 5’ 7.75” in the High Jump, 18’ 3” in the Long Jump, and new pr in the Shot Put, 33’ 10”. .

Another SLICE of Utah Track
Freshman Rebekah Winterton was third in the 3000 Meters finishing in a record time of 10:20.72 (aa). Alyssa Johnson finished fourth in the 200 Meters with a good time of 25.39. Utah 4x400 Meter Relay Team Distance Rosalie Griffin, Wilson, Lauryn McKay, Stephanie Muelleck and Kayla McMurray finished third with a time of 3:56.16.

UP NEXT FOR THE UTES University of Utah women's track and field team will compete at Bronco Open hosted by the Boise State University in Nampa, Idaho on Feb. 5.

GO UTES!!!!

A Historic Jump

2011-01-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

The all-time Mountain West Conference best mark ever recorded in the women's high jump was 6-0.25 (Lindsay Metcalf-BYU) until around 7:30pm this past Friday night. That's when the bar was raised to 1.85m (6-0.75) and on her second attempt Utah junior Langley Iverson re-wrote the record book with her clearance at the Cherry & Silver Classic hosted by New Mexico. That mark ranks second in school history only 1/8" behind Traci Stevens. It also ranks third in the country this year. It was Iverson's first ever clearance of the 6-0 barrier. The mark is also an automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA indoor championships to be hosted by Texas A&M in March. She cleared the same height as the winner (Elizabeth Patterson), finished second in the event on the clearance count back. Patterson was a NCAA Champion and multi time NCAA all-American at Arizona.

Other outstanding performances came from the following athletes:

Bree LeRoy (high jump), 5-8, 7th...ninth on the all time Utah rankings
Cynthia Sanchez (weight throw), 57-3, 4th...ninth on the all time Utah rankings
Nikkie Rudder (shot put), 45-7.75, 4th
Klaudia Rokossa (pole vault), 12-1.5, 9th
Rosalie Griffin (400m), 58.43

We are back in action this weekend. Most of the team will be in Pocatello, ID for the Mountain States Games on Friday and Saturday. A few distance runners will travel to New Mexico for the UNM Invitational on Saturday.

Another Day Outside

2011-01-18T13:41:00.000-08:00

Another January day in Utah, another day outside at the outdoor track for practice. Sure we can get some snow and chilly days, but Utah (and especially Salt Lake City) also offers more temperate days than most cities located at similar latitudes. Any chance we can get on our new outdoor track we will take it. Our team really enjoys the new facility and training on the soft surface it provides. Oh...and the view....just might be the best in the country. The Wasatch Mountains on three sides and the Salt Lake Valley floor below us. You can actually see the Great Salt Lake and Utah State Capitol from our track!!!

Success at Snake River

2011-01-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

Our first full team meet of the year was a successful one as we picked up two individual event titles (HJ and Weight Throw) as well as six other top four finishes. Langley Iverson won the high jump (5-7.75) and Aneli Stahl won the weight (54-10.75). Overall, I thought we performed well for the first meet of the year for most of our athletes. We had several athletes running in "off" events either as a time trial or just to see where there fitness level was. We also held out a few key athletes to train through this meet and allow some minor injuries a little more time to heal. I expect a big leap forward in the next few meets in several events.

Runner ups included: Angie Kaplar-60H, 8.68; Bree Leroy-LJ, 17-11; and Nikkie Rudder-SP, 46-4

Third place finishers: Lucy Yates-400m, 57.77; 4x400m relay-3:54.35 (McKay, Johnson, Yates, Griffin)

Fourth place finishers: Candus Aiello-SP, 44-0.50

Videos:

Welcome back Klaudia. After red shirting last year with an achilles issue she is back and looked pretty good for the first time out in a year.

Theresa continues to improve. Her runway has become very consistent which was an issue a year ago.

Newcomer and freshman Suzy Vozarova's first ever high jump was successful as she made two bars and had three good attempts at 5-3.

First week back

2011-01-14T11:54:00.000-08:00

After completing our first full week of practice after the holiday break we will be off to Pocatello, ID to compete in the Snake River Open on Saturday. Overall, I think we had a solid week. I saw lots of great individual effort. Other than the women who were recovering from injury, I feel like our kids did a nice job of getting their workouts in over break despite not all of them being in places where they had a track available.

I included a few short videos from practice in this post.

Off On the Right Foot

2011-01-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

We took a limited squad to the opening meet of the indoor season at BYU this past weekend. We came away with two champions, a runner up, and some invaluable experience for a group of freshmen. Newcomer Cyndi Sanchez got us going in the first event as she won the weight throw with a nice toss of 53-10.75. Sophomore Nikki Rudder picked up where she left off last year by winning the shot put in a new indoor lifetime best toss of 46-6.75. She had three throws that went further than any throw during the entire indoor season a year ago. Teammate Candus Aeillo (who red shirted a year ago) was second with a lifetime best throw of 44-3.

Sophomore Angie Kaplar started the second day of the meet with a pair of lifetime bests in the 60 hurdles. in the prelims she ran 8.69 and then in the finals she took the runner up spot with 8.64 which ranks third all time at Utah. Older sister Jen Kaplar holds the school record at 8.60.

We also had several freshmen compete in their initial Division I college meet which was fun. They gained a great deal of experience and hopefully shed a few nerves in the process. We'll be back in action at the Snake River Open in Pocatello, ID on Saturday. We will have a full squad competing and look forward to seeing where we are after the holiday break.

Holiday Break Fun

2011-01-06T15:30:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday break and the new year is off to a great start. For me, the break involved visiting family at home in Iowa, going to Disneyland and Universal Studios for the first time (with Hannah), and spending a day in Santa Monica before returning to SLC. Check out a few of the pics from Disneyland and California Adventures.

Favorite Ride: Space Mountain and Tower of Terror (rode this one four times:)

Favorite Character: Homer Simpson (he was burping on Hannah while we were taking pics with him and Marge)

Best Accommodations: JW Marriott-Le Merigot, Santa Monica....plush, very plush!

Best Food: Corn Fritter at Tony Roma's and Funnel Cake in Downtown Disney

The track season officially begins tomorrow at BYU with our throwers getting things started for us. School begins on Monday. We hope you'll follow us all season long during our final season in the Mountain West Conference!

The Bowerman

2010-12-17T07:43:00.000-08:00

The second annual Bowerman Award (Male and Female College Track & Field Athlete of the Year) was presented on Wednesday evening at the U.S. Track/Cross Country Association Convention. It was another amazing and well produced evening that was broadcast live on Flotrack.org. All of the finalists were deserving, however it was Queen Harrison (Virginia Tech) and Ashton Eaton (Oregon) who prevailed. Both were multiple time NCAA Champions. Harrison represented the US at the Beijing Olympics and Eaton is the current world record holder indoors in the heptathlon.

I have to pay homage to one of the other female finalists, Lisa Koll. No, not because is a distance runner!!! We grew up only 20 miles apart and I was the coach that came in second in the recruiting battle. (ISU had vet school and UNI does not. You'd think every school in Iowa would have a vet school with all of the agricultural enterprises here). The inaugural winner of this award, Jenny Barringer, was born and lived in my hometown for the first seven years of her life. She still has relatives in town. There is obviously some in the water that didn't quite drink enough of. We had a nice 15 minute conversation. Just listening to those two wonderful people chat and enjoy the unique bond that we all have was a lot of fun.

Another fellow Iowan (by birth anyway) was our MC. ESPN anchor (and former Mizzou high jumper), John Anderson, was amazing. His knowledge of track and field, the athletes, and his quick wit and humor made for an evening that will be hard to replace. Above that he was so gracious and spend two evenings in the foyer chatting with anyone who would say hello. He still has relatives in Iowa and even though he moved to Green Bay during his youth he also returns to the state to visit relatives. And like most people when he drives here he is looking for a barn or a silo to make the next turn rather than a street name.

Enjoy the pics. Sorry the picture of John and me is a little blurry. Blame Wichita St coach, Steve Rainbolt for that, ha ha. (Sorry to throw you under the bus, Bolt). And of course, the three little Iowans that could. There might be a debate about who the most talented runner in that picture is, but the debate for least talented won't last beyond a blink of the eye :)

2010-12-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

With cross country season complete it is time to start thinking about track & field. Our track girls have been practicing hard all Fall and our first meet will be in January. Click HERE to check out our 2011 schedule.

Today's video is sophomore, Anneli Stahl, throwing the weight implement at our indoor practice facility. Enjoy!

She Did it Again!

2010-11-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

Big meet often leads to big pressure. The answer is usually an experienced veteran who has steadily progressed through these opportunities and moments. However, Amanda Mergaert and usual have not been in the same sentence (or stratosphere for that matter) lately. Like a lot of young runners she has big expectations and dreams. She works hard physically and mentally to fulfill them. She has also taken on the wisdom of an older teammate who has "been there and done it before". Fortunately, that has been the equation for a major breakthrough this fall.

Amanda was 57th at the regional meet a year ago as a freshman. This year she was ninth and qualified for todays NCAA Championships. After celebrating that accomplishment for about 20 minutes she wasn't happy just getting to her first NCAA meet. She had more big goals to fulfill and achieve. I'd love to tell you she achieved them all. If it wasn't for two lousy seconds I would.

She finished 45th (out of 255) at her first NCAA cross country championship meet. The top 40 are named to the all America team and Amanda's time of 20:56 on a very windy day (25-30mph) came up a couple of seconds shy of that big goal. However, I can tell you that she ran an all American race. She had an outstanding race plan as was where she wanted to be at every checkpoint. She got out well at the start, used other runners to break the wind, used the long straightaways to build momentum, and finished strong. Only a sophomore, she ran the race of a much more experienced championship runner. That growth has come through trial and error, becoming a student of her sport, and listening intently to a great senior leader.

We will enjoy this one a little longer (30 minutes:) and then it's on to track where Amanda and her teammates have more unfulfilled goals and a few more dates with championship destiny.

Shopping at the NCAA's

2010-11-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

We (Amanda, Alyssa, and I) arrived in Indianapolis late on Friday night on a non stop flight from SLC. Alyssa qualified and finished 76th in the NCAA championship meet in 2008. She missed this season after having to have her knee scoped. Her experience has been invaluable for Amanda and her development last spring and continuing this fall. Besides, if Alyssa didn't come Amanda would have had to hang with me all weekend. This was Amanda's only request (that Alyssa attend) after she qualified which I thought was pretty cool.

The first request after sleeping in on Saturday was.....A.) a premeet run at the course? B.) a great breakfast? C.) a tour of Terre Haute? Nope. Shopping at the mall in downtown Indianapolis was the winning request. Go figure. With the championship banquet later that evening, the girls wanted to search for outfits/shoes. They had packed suitable outfits, but wanted to attempt to find the perfect dress if it existed. After about 90 minutes of exploring the stores a pair of pants and shoes were purchased by Amanda and I coincidentally picked up a sport coat. Again...go figure! They were done shopping before me in the last store so, of course, they had me PAGED! This was after they had asked me about two dresses that were less than suitable for the event we were attending. Of course, I tried to play it off as their choice despite how skimpy and hideous both dresses were:) Fortunately, they were kidding and their taste is a little more appropriate than some women their age.

Today was pretty low key....a premeet run at the course. Amanda has an excellent race plan. She just has to do what she does best and compete. Lunch at Panera was solid. Then they dropped me off at packet pick up and the coaches technical meeting. From there it was dinner with Amanda's parents who drove down from Michigan.

Amanda will start in Box 32 tomorrow. If your watching on the web she will be on the left. The boxes are numbered 1-42 from L to R as the runners look out onto the course.

Go Utes!

The Perfect Storm!!!

2010-11-14T16:31:00.000-08:00

On an idyllic crisp fall morning the Utes shined on their home course in every way as we hosted the NCAA Mountain Region meet. Great efforts all around, several lifetime best performances, and an individual qualifier to the NCAA Championships were the result of some Utah "home cookin'." Sophomore Amanda Mergaert (who finishied 58th at this meet as a freshman) ran smooth for the first half of the race and then moved into the top 12 with 2K to go. In the last 400 meters she continued to move and wound up ninth to secure one of the four individual qualifying spots Her time of 20:45 was a new lifetime and school record for the 6K distance. The NCAA championships are on November 22nd and can be viewed at www.ncaa.com from 10a-11:30a (MST).

The rest of our youthful team also ran well and included several new personal best performances. Sophomore Jenny McCune (22:03/52nd), and freshmen Alexis Laws (77th/22:31) and Nikki Dotter (92nd/22:55) all set new lifetime marks to lead the Utes to a 12th place finish in the team standings.

We had a very positive day for our program. To get a sophomore individual qualifier to the NCAA championships, several PR's, and host a nearly perfect meet was a lot of fun. We just missed our goal being in the top 10 as a team by 20 points. However, it wasn't a lack of effort or will. These girls ran terrific and have something to build on going into the track season.

See you all at the NCAA meet in Terre Haute next Monday!!!

GameDay Came To Our Ci-ty!

2010-11-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

If only the outcome of the game had been better. Regardless, it was a really fun day. The GameDay crew was outstanding, nice, cordial, and very genuine to everyone! They are stars even when the cameras and lights are turned off which was very refreshing. They sign autographs and took pictures after the show for about 45 minutes.

I am now the proud owner of autographs from Herbie and EA as well as some great photos of the event. I included a few of my favs.

Tees and Tanks

2010-11-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

November 4, 2010....66 degrees and nothing but perfect blue skies in Salt Lake City, UT today. We had a little speed workout at the track today. I can't decide if the weather or the view was better!!!

Mergaert Leads Utes with 1st Team All MWC Performance

2010-10-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sophomore Amanda Mergaert improved on her 28th place performance at the conference championship meet a year ago by running herself onto the Mountain West Conference First Team All Conference team with her seventh place finish at this years meet. She was followed by true freshman, Alexis Laws, who was 28th. Jenny McCune (31st), Rebekah Winterton (35th), and Megan Combe (46th) rounded out our scoring five. As a team we were fifth, but only seven points from fourth. The meet was hosted by Wyoming at 7220 ft above sea level. The runners were also greeted by 30-40 mph sustained winds.

I thought our first two runners ran particularly well. Everyone gave great physical effort, but I think we still have some work to do mentally. That comes with experience and doing a better job of working together during the race.

The pics are of Amanda receiving her All Confererence award.

Student Athlete Halloween Party

2010-10-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

The Annual Student Athlete Halloween Party took place this past Sunday night at the student union. Bowling, pumpkin painting, a canned food drive, and good food were the order of the evening. Each team had a theme for their costumes. Our team decided to be "geeks" and the results were pretty funny.

This is just another fun event to help our student athletes have some fun together and forget about the stresses of their studies for a few hours. It also helps out our local food pantry as a requirement to get into the event is providing canned goods. This event sponsored by our Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) which keeps our teams involved in community service projects and discusses issues that are important to the student athlete experience and overall success.

October 23, 2010...A New Era

2010-10-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

A "monumental" day in he history of the University of Utah Track & Field program took place today. The Athletics department held an Opening Celebration Ceremony for the brand new McCarthey Family Outdoor Track & Field that was recently completed on campus. Other than dealing with some rain (for the first time in weeks) the day was a huge success. Thanks to everyone who allowed this day to finally happen. A special thanks to the McCarthey Family for their generous support of this facility and the University of Utah Athletics over the years. Their generosity will be felt for generations to come with this new facility.

Thanks to everyone (especially the alums and former coaches) who attended the event. It had been 28 years since the University of Utah last had a track facility on campus. To our current athletes I say "Welcome Home" and thanks for your patience of this arduous process. There is no doubt that it will be worth it!

It's now time to continue moving this program forward and setting even higher goals than we already had. We have the support and now we have a world class facility to allow us to dream big and achieve great things. It's a great day to be a Ute.

Go Utes!

Pre Nats

2010-10-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

We had hoped to perform a little better in the team standings, however the experience our young group gained will be valuable in the future. We needed a "do over" for the first 400 meters. We didn't respond well to being in the very last starting box and with 40 teams on the starting line we didn't gauge the field very well and ended up near the back at the first turn. However, I give our group a ton of credit for not panicking and running tough over the last two miles. Amanda led us again with an outstanding effort finishing 32nd overall with a new 6K PR of 21:05. To get that far up in the field considering where she was at the mile was excellent. Between her, Jenny, and Rebekah they made up about 30 points in the final 1K of the race.

Our final conference championship as a member of the Mountain West Conference is next Friday at Wyoming. That will be a completely different race with only about 1/4 of the total number of runners as Pre Nats. However, it will require our best effort to finish where we believe we should.

The pictures are from the starting line at Pre Nats, the canal walk in downtown Indianapolis, and the monument in downtown Indy which recognizes the War with Mexico, the Indian and British War, and the capture of Vincennes. We had some time to explore Indy before our flight back to SLC on Saturday after the race.

Workout Wednesday

2010-10-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today we headed up to Park City to do some 1K threshold intervals. It's Fall Break here so we took advantage and used the morning hours for our final workout before heading out to Terre Haute, IN tomorrow for this weekends Pre National meet. It was a perfect morning as you will see in the videos below. For those of you who want a good laugh...after hearing me cheer on the girls and yell instructions a couple walking their dog asked me if I was from the south or maybe east coast?

Practice...we're talkin' about practice

2010-10-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

Monday workout before Pre Nationals. 3-4 minute intervals with 75% recovery to run time. It's Fall Break for us so we did these at 10am at Sunnyside Park which is about a mile from campus. It was a little overcast and 62 degrees...perfect!

V = Tahoe??

2010-10-03T15:23:00.001-07:00

Usually, V stands for victory...and I'm happy to say that this weekend it did stand for a dominate victory. We traveled to the University of Nevada to compete in a 5k Chase Race against UNR and Sacramento State. This race format is very unique with coaches setting their line ups based on four starting groups. Group 1 starts and then Groups 2-4 have :30 handicap starting times after the group in front of them begins. I set our line up based on our previous race results. We had two runners in the first group, three in the second, two in the third, and our number one runner in the final group. You never really know how it's going to actually turn out, but this time it was about perfect. We swept the first four spots and easily won the meet 19-47-58 over UNR and Sac St. As usual the course at UNR was not conducive to fast times, however it forced us to compete in an intelligent manner. it also had a couple of areas that required a hop over a small creek that runs through the park. I think the different style of race and the type of course allowed us to just focus on running our race and competing against other people rather than worry about times. We did that well as the girls really came focused and put forth a great effort.

The reward for their efforts was a trip up to Lake Tahoe for lunch following the meet. Our flight back to SLC wasn't until later in the day, so we took advantage of the great weather. We enjoyed lunch at a lakeside grill/cafe and then Jenny made friends with a local paddle boarder who let some of the girls try it out. Check it out in the video and picture.

AOW!!!

2010-09-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

Check this link out....Pretty awesome for a sophomore!

Click HERE for details

Build it....

2010-09-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

Progress at the track. The base mat is almost finished. The polyurethane top coat (the red layer) should start later this week.

"I love it when a plan comes together"
~Lieutenant -Colonel/Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith

Stanford 2010

2010-09-27T09:19:00.001-07:00

Overall, I thought we ran pretty well considering it was all of our runners first time on the Stanford course. It's not an overly challenging course, but it has a lot of turns and they were competing against 23 other teams for running space. It was a very warm day (mid 80's), and the course was very hard which led to some very fast times.

I like where we are right now as a group. We still have a lot of work to do including getting out harder and in better position at the start. However, with a young group that takes experience which is why I thought 10th out of 24 teams was a solid performance. To have Amanda finish in the top 20 in her season debut against a very good field was a great sign of her overall fitness and recovery from a tonsilectomy this summer. Our 2-5 runners had :40 between them which is solid for a 6K. If we can get that group a little closer to Amanda we'll be able to score a bit better as a team.