In the final meet of the cross country season, the Utah cross country team finished No. 6 overall at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships.
Even though this will be the final meet for the Utes as a team, Alyssa Abbott came in No. 9 in the 6K race and has qualified for the 2008 National Cross Country Meet next week.
Although Abbott initially didn’t plan to run at the meet because of an injured IT band, she changed her mind and decided to participate. In addition to placing ninth, she set a personal best time of 20 minutes 52.4 seconds.
“It’s amazing Alyssa was able to run the race, not to mention do as well as she did today,” head coach Kyle Kepler said. “She is good enough for nationals and she came out and proved it.”
Other runners with notable performances were Chelsea DiGrazia and Lauren Enderson. DiGrazia finished No. 21 with a personal best time of 21 minutes 10.3 seconds while Enderson clocked in at 21 minutes 26 seconds to place No. 32 in the race.
As a team, the Utes scored 188 points and tallied a total time of 1 hour 47 minutes 37.9 seconds between the seven participating runners. The team’s No. 6 finish is the second highest finish in school history.
“Team-wise, this has been a tremendous year and is a tremendous honor for the team,” Kepler said. “Our seniors have worked so hard to raise the level of this program and this is really a special day for them along with the rest of the team.”
Abbott will run in the National Cross Country Meet Monday, Nov. 24. The meet will be held in Terre Haute, Ind.