It was yet another successful weekend for the University of Utah track and field team. The Utes competed up north in the Mark Faldmo Invitational hosted by Utah State University on Saturday, April 14.
Mesa Weidle and Whitney Hessler both competed in the 400-meter dash. Weidle came in second for the Utes with a time of 57.28. Hessler rounded out the top 10 with 1:00.00 finish. Nicole Griffiths was runner-up in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.06.
Hannah Allred was the top finisher for the Utes in the 5000-meter race, taking fourth place with a time of 18:18.03. Shaylen Crook followed in fifth, Emma Christensen finished in seventh, Jade Mulvey took eighth and Astrid Lindgren took ninth Regan Crofts took 13th in the javelin throw with a distance of 34.14 meters.
The team also had a strong showing in the 1500-meter where all Utah participants placed in the top 10. Megan Perkins-Killian earned third place with a time of 4:38.47. Bella Williams trailed in fourth with her time of 4:39.13. The rest of the top 10 consisted of Dakota Grossman in sixth, Melissa Taggart in seventh, Aubrey Argyle in eighth and Natalie Platil in ninth. Both Perkins-Killian and Williams recorded new personal bests in the race.
In the 400-meter hurdles Rachel Whipple, Ruby Jane Mathewson and Brooke Martin competed for the Utes. They placed fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Mathewson set a new career best in this race.
Eliza Hansen competed for the team in the high jump and took 13th with her high of 1.61 meters.
Head coach Kyle Kepler feels his team received the experience they wanted from the meet this past weekend. He is pleased to see the improvement coming out of some of his racing groups.
“[The team has] some gals who needed some good solid races,” Kepler said. “I thought [they] responded well, you know a couple second place finishes and several lifetime bests. The kids in the 5k I thought ran well despite less than ideal conditions with the wind and we still had several lifetime bests. Our four hurdlers are continuing to improve. So for the group that we took, I think they all ran pretty darn well.”
Next up, the Utes will head to California where they will be split up competing in three different meets. Some of the team will be competing in the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University on Thursday, April 19 and Friday, April 20, and others will head to the Mt. SAC Relays, hosted by Mt. SAC Community College, on the same two days. On Saturday, April 21, the Utes will be competing in the Long Beach State Invitational.
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