The Utah cross country team finished in eighth place at the Pac-12 Championships last weekend in Boulder, Colo. The team scored a total of 207 points, edging out the ninth place Cal by six points. Arizona won with 69 points.
“As a group, I thought we were finally able to put it all together,” said Utes head coach Kyle Kepler. “We had some girls who ran their best races of the season. They ran for each other, and were able to compete at a championship level.”
The season has been full of good performances from individual Utah runners, but Kepler said this was the best race for his team all year.
“They competed above the expectations given,” Kepler said. “That is what we are looking for. That doesn’t mean we will always win, but if we are competing higher than the expectations given us, it is a success.”
Leading the way for the Utes was Rebekah Winterton, who finished in 12th place overall with a time of 21:59 — earning her Second Team All-Pac 12 honors.
“I have continued to improve all year and was really happy with the race,” Winterton said. “I definitely think that I can progress and get ready for Regionals.”
Susannah Hurst was next to finish for Utah in 29th place, while Andrea Chavez, Nikki Rietz, AuraLea Fain rounded out the Utes’ top five. They finished in 44th, 66th and 67th places respectively.
“I am so proud of these girls,” Winterton said. “We all really showed a lot of toughness. There was definitely a ‘do it for the team’ mindset during this race. That’s all that mattered. Everyone worked together and worked hard.”
Utah will compete next at the NCAA Regional Championships in Ogden on Nov. 15. This will be a chance for the team to qualify for the NCAA Championships, or at least send some individuals.
“My goal is to get to nationals,” Winterton said. “Besides the members of the qualifying teams, they only take the next four finishers to the national meet. I will probably have to be in the top 8-10 for that to happen.”
This far into the season, Kepler is just hoping that nothing catastrophic occurs between now and then.
“Knock on wood — stay healthy,” Kepler said about what needs to be done before Regionals. “We need to avoid those nagging injuries, as well as all those illnesses that go around this time of year. That is always a concern. We had a big race here last year, and I am expecting the same this year. We are very excited for this race.”