The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues
Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

Utes Grab Third Place at Regionals, Punch their Ticket to NCAA Championships

Utes+Grab+Third+Place+at+Regionals%2C+Punch+their+Ticket+to+NCAA+Championships

In what was lauded by her coach as one of the finest days in Utah cross county history, sophomore standout Hannah McInturff finished fourth at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships and led the 20th-ranked Utah cross country team to a third-place finish in Albuquerque, N.M. on Friday, earning a team trip to the NCAA National Championships.

On Saturday, the Utes found out they had earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history. The Utes will travel to Louisville, Ky. next Saturday for their final meet of the season and a chance to win the school’s first Division I national championship. The Utes, while competing in Division II, won a national championship back in 1981.

Ute head coach Kyle Kepler was ecstatic about his team’s performance at the meet.

“We had a huge day, maybe the best day in the history of the program,” Kepler said. “I can’t be prouder of a group of girls. They did it. This is all on them and they are the ones who believed that we could get it done this year. All of the effort and all the accolades will go to them.”

McInturff crossed the finish line in the six-kilometer race with a time of 21:07.25, just behind Colorado’s Erin Clark, who finished with a time of 20:56.06. With the finish, McInturff has finished in the top 10 of every race that she has competed in this year.

The next Ute to finish was senior Susannah Hurst who finished with a time of 21:33.46 in 20th place, while sophomore Sarah Feeny finished in 22nd place with a time of 21:35.22. Rounding out the top five were junior Jessica Sams, who finished in 29th place with a time of 21:40.39, and Andrea Chavez who crossed the finish line in 45th place, clocking in at 22:14.64.

Utah’s score of 116 points garnered a third-place finish, just ahead of BYU, which finished fourth overall with a score of 126 points. The only two teams who finished ahead of the Utes were New Mexico with 50 points, and Colorado, who edged out the Lobos by one point to win the NCAA Mountain Regional Championship with a score of 49.

The Utes’ total time was 1:48:10.96, with an average time of 21:38.20 per person in the six-kilometer race.

Utah hasn’t had many high-ranking finishes over the years, which makes this performance particularly noteworthy.

Kepler had a lot of people to thank after the meet, saying, “I am really proud of this group. It is a historic group, to say the least. This performance really goes to our entire team. Every single gal on our entire roster played a huge part in this. Not everyone gets to run in this race, but everyone was here in spirit.”

For these Utes, it truly was a team effort.

“I also really want to thank my coaching staff,” Kepler said. “Having [assistant coach Mackenzie Wartenberger] on board for her first year made a huge difference and [assistant coach] Pete Herber really understands the vision of what we are trying to get done. The training and support staff has also done a tremendous job keeping our girls healthy. We get so much support from everyone connected with the program and that is what you have to have to have a program that has a chance to get into the NCAA Championship.”

[email protected]

@23ounces

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The Daily Utah Chronicle welcomes comments from our community. However, the Daily Utah Chronicle reserves the right to accept or deny user comments. A comment may be denied or removed if any of its content meets one or more of the following criteria: obscenity, profanity, racism, sexism, or hateful content; threats or encouragement of violent or illegal behavior; excessively long, off-topic or repetitive content; the use of threatening language or personal attacks against Chronicle members; posts violating copyright or trademark law; and advertisement or promotion of products, services, entities or individuals. Users who habitually post comments that must be removed may be blocked from commenting. In the case of duplicate or near-identical comments by the same user, only the first submission will be accepted. This includes comments posted across multiple articles. You can read more about our comment policy at https://dailyutahchronicle.com/comment-faqs/.
All The Daily Utah Chronicle Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *