On April 4, Utah’s Rebekah Winterton broke the school record in the 5,000-meter run. That mark lasted two weeks.
Susannah Hurst took down her teammate’s record with a time of 16:06.31 to finish fifth in the 5,000-meter at the Mt. Sac Relays over the weekend. Hurst’s performance was part of a successfully busy weekend for the Utes as they set three new school records over the course of two competitions.
“We had some terrific performances,” said head coach Kyle Kepler. “Up and down the lineup and everywhere you looked, if it wasn’t [personal records] or school records, we were still competing at a very high level.”
Winterton started off the competitions by setting a new school standard in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday, going 33:28.43 and finishing third. The next night, she watched Hurst take the 5,000-meter record from her.
With Hurst besting her teammate’s mark, a rivalry has been born on the track.
“I was so happy for her,” Winterton said. “I am just grateful that I have someone to work with. The record was cool while it lasted, and it was nice I got a replacement record.”
In fact, according to Kepler, it wasn’t a jealous or bitter moment for Winterton but a “special” one.
“Those two train together, so I think that was a special deal for them,” Kepler said. “Susannah had no bigger supporter that night than Rebekah. They are juniors and really want to take this program to the next level. It was a lot of fun.”
Hurst echoed her coach and teammate and is looking forward to the friendly competition she and Winterton will have until the end of their Utah careers.
“I think we work well together, so it’s fun to see how fast we can go in our races,” Hurst said. “It will be fun to see who has it at the end of the season and who has it at the end of next year.”
Alissa Atisme finished off the record-setting trifecta by running a 12.03 in the 100-meter dash. The new mark came after Atisme almost didn’t run at all. When she got to the meet, her name was missing from the events list.
“I didn’t know my lane assignment or anything, so that was pretty nerve-wracking,” Atisme said. “I was like, ‘Well I don’t know what that means.’ I had been looking forward to this meet for a while, so I was really hoping to get to race, and thankfully it all worked out.”
Kepler and his staff fixed the oversight with meet officials, and Atisme dashed her way into the Utah record books.
“Alissa had been around it all year long. It was just a matter of time and hitting the right race,” Kepler said.
With three new school records in one weekend of competition, the Utes are showing growth, and Winterton said if there’s a rivalry on the team, it’s about not being the runner who’s being left out of the fun.
“There is a new passion with everyone,” Winterton said. “Maybe there is a rivalry inside the team because you don’t want to be the one being left behind and missing out on the success. There might be little bit of jealousy, but as long as you are helping the team, it’s good.”
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