The Utes broke both school and personal records as they competed in the Cherry and Silver Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. over the weekend.
Utah was led by two of its senior runners, as Rosalie Waller took first in the 600 meters while Stephanie Jolley took third in the 400 meters. The two seniors joined with junior Alexandria Eisenbeiss and freshman Grace Englund to take a fourth-place finish in the 4×400-meter relay. That team broke the school record for the event.
“I thought our seniors provided outstanding leadership,” said Utes head coach Kyle Kepler.
Waller’s winning finish in the 600 also broke a school record, as she set a new standard with a time of 1:30.73. The 600-meter race is not in the NCAA Championships, but Kepler noted it is a good way to help Waller get ready for the 800-meter race she will be competing in the future. Eisenbeiss also competed in the 600-meter race and was able to snag a fourth place finish with a time of 1:33.34.
Utah had to face a significantly higher level of competition over the weekend than it had up to this point in the season. In previous meets, the fields consisted of about 200 athletes. In Albuquerque, there were upwards of 800 athletes competing. Jolley had the challenge of running against probably the most difficult competition in her 400-meter race, the bronze medalist from the 2012 Summer Olympics, DeeDee Trotter. Jolley was intimidated but stayed focused for the heat.
“Seeing how fast she runs and running against her definitely made me try to run a little faster,” Jolley said.
Against the stiff competition, Jolley finished third with a time of 55.23, a lifetime best for her.
The 4×400 relay was the last event of the meet and the Utes’ last chance to shine. Waller and Jolley started and finished the race for Utah while Eisenbeiss and Englund ran the middle two legs. The group’s time of 3:44.55 set the school record. It was the first school record Jolley had broken and Waller’s second of the weekend.
“To close out the meet like that was a lot of fun,” Kepler said.
Other athletes who broke personal records were freshmen Alissa Atisme and Courtney Jost. Atisme’s time of 25.32 in the 200-meter dash proved she is continuing to get better in the shorter races. Jost’s personal record was in the triple jump. Her jump of 11.89 meters landed her in 18th and is the second longest in Utah’s record book.
“Any time you have two school-record performances and freshmen setting PRs, you feel good,” Kepler said.
Some other notable performances from the Utes came from seniors Aoife Hickey and Nikkie Rudder and freshman Kassie Nagel. Hickey placed sixth in the weight throw while Rudder took eighth. Rudder also threw the shot put and had a seventh place finish. Nagel ended in 13th for the event.
Utah will break into two teams this weekend, with one part of the team going to Pocatello, Idaho for the Mountain States Games and the other going to Seattle, Wash. for the Washington Invitational. That event will be the distance runners’ first chance to test themselves since the cross country season ended.
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