It’s championship season for the University of Utah cross country team. This past week, the team traveled to Stanford, CA to compete in the Pac-12 Championships. The team placed seventh overall, but many Utes recorded career bests.
The team was led by junior Sarah Feeny who placed 21st overall in her first Pac-12 meet — back from her mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fenny finished the course with a time of 20:31.9.
She was quickly followed by sophomore Bella Williams and redshirt freshman Cara Woolnough. Williams finished in 36th place with a time of 20:59.5 and Woolnough crossed the finish line with a time of 21:14.0, which garnered her 44th place.
Rounding out the top five for Utah included senior Sadie Wassum, who placed 49th with a time of 21:20.0 and freshman Sophie Ryan, who placed 53rd with a time of 21:25.0.
Also running for the team this weekend included freshman Kennedy Powell, freshman Scarlet Dale and junior Sarah Newton. Powell finished 56th with a time of 21:28.9, Dale came in 58th with a time of 21:31.9 and Newton hit the finish line in 67th with a time of 21:41.4. Last to cross the finish line for the Utes was sophomore Natalie Platil who finished 81st with a time of 22:13.2.
This meet was a career-best for six of the runners on the team: Feeny, Woolnough, Wassum, Ryan, Powell and Newton.
No. 4 Oregon dethroned No. 1 Colorado to win this year’s championship, snapping the Buffs’ three-year streak of winning this meet. The top five also included No. 6 Stanford, No. 16 Washington and UCLA.
Utah finished with 191 total team points in this meet.
The team will have this weekend off but will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 9 to compete in the NCAA Mountain Region Championships. The event will take place in Provo with the runners for Utah as well as the time of the race yet to be announced.
