After last season saw the Utah cross country team once again fail to qualify as a team for the NCAA Championships, 2015 became a landmark year for the Utes. Utah qualified as a team for the NCAA championship for the first time in school history and performed well, with 11 Utes earning All-Academic honors. Ranked as high as No. 20 in the national polls during 2015, the Utes finished 26th out of 31 teams at the NCAA Championships.
Leading the way for the Utes this year was sophomore Hannah McInturff, a native of Pocatello, Idaho. McInturff, with the exception of the NCAA Championships, finished in the top 10 of every race that she competed in for Utah and was the top performer at the final meet of the season, finishing in 104th place. She was selected to the Pac-12 cross country All-Academic team, the second straight time she has been named to the All-Academic team. She was also named to the All-Pac-12 second team and earned All-region honors at the NCAA Mountain Regional.
“No one will ever outwork McInturff,” said head coach Kyle Kepler.
McIntruff said during the season that the Utes were working toward Nationals all year long and that “[going to nationals] would be a very cool experience, since our team has never been before, and a great reward for all of the hard work we put in this year.” The hard work that McInturff put in paid off and was key to Utah being selected for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships
Sophomore Sarah Feeny was another crucial aspect of Utah’s run this fall. The Ogden High School alum placed in the top 25 in all four races she competed in, excluding the NCAA Championship race. She placed 22nd at the NCAA Mountain Regionals, earning All-region honors, and 166th at the NCAA Championships, the second-best finish by a Ute. Feeny joined McInturff on the Pac-12 All-Academic team, her first selection.
“[Going to nationals] was the best experience,” Feeny said. “It’s always been a goal of mine to go to nationals as a team, and to finally to be able to go with my team — it was the best thing. We were all super excited to race for each other.”
After redshirting during the 2014 season and giving birth to a daughter in January, redshirt senior Susannah Hurst-Spencer also had a good year for the Utes. Hurst Spencer earned All-Region honors after finishing 20th at the NCAA Mountain Regional, and she also finished 39th and 168th at the Pac-12 NCAA championships, respectively. She finished just two spots behind teammate Feeny at the NCAA meet.
Hurst-Spencer was also named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team for the third time in her career.
Junior Jessica Sams, the daughter of an Air Force general who ingrained toughness in her from a young age, placed 29th at the NCAA Mountain Regionals, 45th at the Pac-12 Championships and 220th at the NCAA championships. Sams was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team for her first time this year.
Redshirt senior Andrea Chavez, an athlete Kepler described as “strong and independent,” placed 41st at the Pac-12 Championship and 45th at the Regional championships. In her last race wearing a Utah bib, Chavez finished 168th at the NCAA Championships, the fourth-best finish by a Ute, and was named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team for her third time.
Another redshirt senior, Jocelyn Todd, spent four years running for Iowa before transferring to the U. And good thing she did, as Todd finished 47th at the Pac-12 Championships and 50th at the NCAA Mountain Regional. She capped her short career at Utah by placing 190th at the NCAA Championships.
“Our team improved so much this season. We’ve set the standard higher now,” said Feeny. “We have grown to compete at a higher level.”
As for next year, the bar continues to get higher.
“[Goals for next season are] to keep improving like we’ve been improving this year,” Feeny said. “We’ve made a huge jump. If the team can keep working together and not leaving any step out, those are the key things.”
The Utah cross-country team had a historic season, and the 2015 team will be enshrined in Utah cross country lore for a long time to come.
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