Winterton finished the race in 89th place overall. Her finish put her in the top two percent of all Division I cross country athletes.
“It was so cool being at this meet,” Winterton said. “I was really excited to get out and run in the mud and cold, and maybe went out a little too fast. Overall, it was a great learning experience and hopefully will be better next year.”
The poor conditions had an effect on the entire race, as runners were tripping and falling all over.
“In all my years of coaching, I have never seen that course as bad as it was this weekend,” said Utah head coach Kyle Kepler. “It was unbelievable. The men even got to run on it first, so by the time the girls were running, it was all torn up.”
Winterton was forced to pull out some of her moves as she tried to avoid falling during the race.
“A group of five girls went down right in front of me,” she said. “I had to put my hand out and keep myself up, and in the same process, may have pushed a girl back down to the ground.”
Between all the training Winterton has put into this season as well as the conditions she had to put up with, Kepler was very proud of how she raced.
“I think she gave everything she had,” he said. “We set Rebekah up for the regional meet all season long so that she could make it to nationals. We were hoping that would maintain through this race, and she did just that.”
While the experience was a fun one for Winterton, she wishes she could have shared it with her teammates.
“It was weird not being with my team,” she said. “I got to go to the banquet and see everyone get dressed up with their teammates and whatnot, and it just made me miss my team. It was still so much fun, and just something you have to experience to understand.”
Kepler said it was a good learning experience for Winterton, and that it will help her if she makes it back next year.
“Experience is such a big part of this meet,” he said. “The second time around will be so much better for her. Even if it is at a different course or place, just experiencing the atmosphere of the national meet helps you so much the next time around.”
Now that the season is over, Winterton is looking forward to having some time off before preparing for the indoor track season.
“I will probably take five to seven days off, then I will do some cross training before slowly building up my mileage,” she said. “I am just burned out from this past season, and my body definitely needs a break.”