This past weekend, the University of Utah track and field team was in action as it competed in the Husky Classic hosted by the University of Washington. It was a productive weekend for the team where multiple Utes set personal records and three other athletes set top-10 records in the school books.
Head coach Kyle Kepler was pleased across the board with his team’s efforts. He said that the way Utah competed backed up the way the meet went the last time it was in Seattle, two weeks ago.
The invitational started off with successful performances by the distance medley team consisting of, Caitlin Faust, Grace Englund, Whitney Hessler and Hannah McInturff. The team placed fourth overall with a time of 11:41.53.
The next event the Utes competed in was the 200-meter dash, where Jackie Martin and senior Raynee Helm Wheelock ran for Utah. Wheelock took 33rd in the race and Martin placed 14th with a time of 25.65. Not only was this a personal record for her, but it gave her a 10th place spot in school history.
In the long distance events, Louise Mercer and Jessica Sams ran in the 5,000-meter race. They both set new personal bests. Mercer placed 34th in the race, and she beat her previous personal record by 30 seconds. She also finished in 4th place to find her name on the school history pages. Sams placed 42nd in the event to move her up to sixth place in school history.
Day two of the competition started off on the right foot when the 4X400 meter relay team of Englund, Alissa Atisme, Jackie Martin and Faust took home second place in the event.
Faust then carried the Utes in the 800-meter run where she placed 13th. Her time of 2:09.69 set a new personal record and placed her seventh in school history. Sarah Newton also set a personal best time and cracked into the record books by earning a time of 2:12.14 to put her in 27th place in the event. Englund took 34th in the race, Melissa Taggart also set an individual record, and rounding out the Utes in this event was Hessler who finished in 64th place.
Poppy Tank lead the Utes in the 3,000-meter race with a 29th place finish. Coming in behind Tank was Bella Williams who placed 59th, Trina Moreno who finished in 83rd place and Aubrey Argyle with a 97th place finish.
Three Utes raced in the mile. McInturff was the first member of Utah to finish as she placed 44th. Megan Perkins-Killian set a new personal best with her 61st place finish. Dakota Grossman placed behind her in 63rd with a time of 5:02.21.
“It was a lot of building blocks for us for outdoor, indoor isn’t really our focus,” Englund said. “But we are making the steps right now to run faster for outdoor, and we all thought we did well.”
Utah will next compete in the MPSF Championship in Seattle that gets underway on Friday, Feb. 23.
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