Utah wrapped up conference competition this past weekend with the 2009 Mountain West Conference Championships, held in Laramie, Wyo. Utah finished with 76 points, thanks to two event wins and four top five finishes on the final day of competition, which was good enough for fifth place. BYU won the conference championship in a landslide, as it finished with 190 points.
“I’m really pleased with our effort,” said coach Kyle Kepler. “I’m really proud of the kids. They came to compete. They scratched and clawed for every point we could find. In these types of meets, not everything is going to go perfect, but for the most part, our kids were able to overcome everything thrown their way, and we were able to get three event champions and two more regional qualifying marks.”
The highlight for the Utes during day one was in the hammer throw. Junior Sarah Grimm and senior Josefin Berg took the top two spots in the event, respectively. Grimm threw a distance of 197 feet 7 inches, which was 3 feet and 4 inches farther than Berg’s second-place throw. Also competing in the hammer throw for the Utes were Jessica Hampton and Kastin Frosti. Hampton threw a personal best mark of 151 feet 1 inch, good enough to place No. 15, while Frosti finished No. 18 with a throw of 140 feet 8 inches.
“Grimm has just been consistent all year long,” Kepler said. “And that (hammer throw) was our first real event. So for her and Berg to go one and two really got things going for us.”
Grimm also competed in the discus throw, and threw a team-best 143 feet 4 inches.
The second day of events is when Utah made its mark8212;in the track events as well as on the high jump. Langley Iverson came up big for the Utes in the high jump, winning the event with a jump of 5 feet 8.75 inches, a new personal record for the freshman out of Reno, Nev. The jump was also good enough to earn Iverson a regional qualifying mark.
“To have a freshman, in Iverson, do what she did was amazing,” Kepler said. “She had to sit out for four days, since we got there Wednesday and she had to sit out and wait her turn until Saturday. But she did her thing and she showed what she could do, and she came away with a regional qualifying mark and an event win.”
On the track, Chelsea Shapard helped carry the Utes in three events. Shapard won her third straight conference title in the 400-meter hurdles event, with a first-place time of 57.88 seconds. The time was a new personal best for Shapard, as well as an improvement to her regional qualifying time. Shapard helped the Utes break another school record, this time in the 4×400-meter relay. The team of Shapard, Chelsey Kaplar, Whitney Wellington and Ashley Patterson ran a regional qualifying time of 3 minutes 38.96 seconds. The team would finish No. 3 overall in the race.
“What else can I say about Chelsea (Shapard),” said Kepler. “In her individual event, the 400-meter hurdle, she’s now won that three years in a row. And especially in our league, the Mountain West Conference, that’s very tough to do.”
With the conclusion of the Mountain West Conference Championships, Utah will now send 10 qualified athletes to the 2009 NCAA West Regional Championships in Eugene, Ore. on May 29 and May 30.
For the field events, Grimm and Berg will compete in the hammer throw, Klaudia Rokossa will compete in the pole vault, and Iverson will compete in the high jump. On the track, Utah will have Shapard and Kaplar compete in the 400-meter hurdles, Chelsea DiGrazia compete in the 1500-meter run, and the team of Shapard, Kaplar, Wellington and Patterson will race in the 4×400-meter relay.
Tyler Cobb/The Daily Utah ChronicleHaley McAllister-Birkeland competes in the long jump during the Utah Twilight meet held the first week of May. The team has wrapped up conference competition and is focusing on the NCAA regional.
Erik Daenitz/The Daily Utah ChronicleChelsea Shapard won the conference title in the 400-meter hurdles for the third straight year. Shapard set a new personal best time of 57.88 seconds at the MWC championships.