The Utah cross-country team competed in the Pac-12 championships in Oakland, Calif. last weekend, finishing ninth overall of the 12 teams in the conference. The Utes were led by freshman Sarah Feeny, who finished in 41st place overall. Utah finished with a total of 241 points.
Oregon won the tournament with a mere 54 points. Stanford finished second, followed by Colorado in third.
This wasn’t necessarily a disappointing performance for the team, but the Utes certainly had higher hopes coming into the race.
“Overall, we were hoping for a little better, no doubt about that,” said head coach Kyle Kepler.
Feeny finished in a personal record time of 21:18. Senior Rebekah Winterton finished second for the Utes and 49th overall with a time of 21:25. Jessica Sams (51st), Shaylen Crook (55th) and Hannah McInturff (61st) were the next three to finish for Utah.
Feeny was happy with her personal performance but felt she could have done better in the race.
“I felt OK with it,” Feeny said. “I PR’d [personal record], so that was sweet. I felt good most of the way up until the 5k. I just kind of died after that.”
Feeny did partly attribute her faster time to the layout of the course. The race took place on a golf course and was a little bit more flat than other courses. Not having many hills allowed for better footing, which can lead to better times.
Despite wanting to finish higher, Kepler was more than happy with how his athletes worked throughout the race.
“The kids put forth great effort. There are no questions about their effort or preparation,” Kepler said.
The back runners have really performed well for the team recently, and that did not change for this particular race. Additionally, Sams, Crook, McInturff and team-leader Feeny are all underclassmen, which bodes well for the team’s future.
“I thought our three, four and five runners did well,” Kepler said. “This is as good of talent that we’ve ever had on a team. The program is moving in the right direction, though [it’s] not always easy to see.”
With so much young talent, inconsistent performances are bound to happen. As a senior, Winterton knows there is a process to go through and it can be frustrating some of the time.
“We’re just so close to getting to a breakthrough moment, where people can recognize us,” Winterton said.
Kepler also acknowledged the fact that it is difficult to win with inconsistencies.
“You just can’t afford to have a mediocre day, because it can look bad real fast,” Kepler said.
Utah will now look ahead to the NCAA Cross Country Regional Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. on Nov. 14. With only the top two finishing teams in this race earning an automatic spot for the national championships, the Utes have plenty to race for and will look to be more consistent than they were at the Pac-12 Championships.
“We’ll get some good workouts in this week and then start preparing ourselves for next week” Feeny said.
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