Marking its first home meet of the season, the University of Utah track and field team hosted the first part of the Utah/Weber State Spring Classic at the McCarthey Family Track and Field on Friday, April 7. Taking advantage of the friendly crowd and familiar terrain, the Utes ended up with four event titles, including setting a new track record.
“I thought it was a really good night,” said head coach Kyle Kepler. “I thought our kids competed very hard and put on great performances. It is a big effort to run this event and I think it is important that we do. Our kids deserve it because it is their one chance per year to compete in front of their friends and family.”
Junior Dakota Grossman thinks that this classic was special for the team because it happens only once a year, and it gives her team a home field advantage.
“It’s our home field, we practice here, and it’s really exciting because we finally get to have some fans and family come out and support us,” Grossman said.
In the long jump event, freshman Ann Wingeleth broke the track record by hitting a mark of 20 feet, 1.5 inches (6.13m), breaking the previous record set by Montana State’s Carley McCutchen (5.95m) in 2015.
Freshman Holly Stallman competed in the long jump as well, finishing sixth overall with a mark of 17 feet, 11.5 inches (5.47m). Junior Madison Lanford followed in 17th place with a mark of 15 feet, 11 inches (4.85m), while sophomore Lauren McCluskey earned 21st place overall with a mark of 14 feet, 2.5 inches (4.33m).
Sophomore Christine Glasmann won the javelin competition for the second year in a row, after throwing for 148 feet, 5 inches (45.23m), and against a strong headwind that continued throughout the meet.
The Utes also won the 3000-meter steeplechase as senior Dana Snell, who was the only Ute to compete in the race, took the title after finishing with a final time of 11:24.04. Snell was also recognized later in the meet as the team’s lone participating senior.
“Dana Snell won her event on senior night,” Kepler said. “She is our only senior because the other girls in her class redshirted and we are very happy for her. She was down early in the race but made a nice comeback.”
Utah’s 4×100-meter relay team finished third with a time of 48.78 seconds. Utah also competed in the 100-meter hurdles, with Lanford finishing 16th overall with a time of 15.60 seconds. Freshman Piper Wehrli placed 19th overall with a personal best time of 15.92 seconds, while McCluskey came in just behind Wehrli to take 20th overall, posting a time of 15.93 seconds.
Up next, the Utes will head to Walnut, Calif. to compete in the Mt. Sac relays.