Fresh Legs to Host the 2019 Mountain Region Cross Country Championships
The University of Utah Cross Country Team during the Women’s 5K run at the Utah Open in an NCAA Cross Country Meet at Sunnyside Park in Salt Lake City, UT on Friday October 25, 2019.(Photo by Curtis Lin | Daily Utah Chronicle)
November 13, 2019
The University of Utah Cross Country team welcomes the 2019 NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Friday, Nov. 15 at the Rose Park golf course in Salt Lake City at 11 a.m. The Utes are ranked No. 9 after jumping seven spots following their 3rd place finish at the Pac-12 Championships, the highest placement they have ever achieved in program history.
The Utes will compete against very difficult competition at the Mountain Region championships. They will face off against archrival BYU, who is ranked No. 1 in the Mountain Region and No. 3 in the nation overall. During the championships as well, the Utes will need to run well to match up against Colorado, New Mexico, Air Force, and Northern Arizona.
Poppy Tank, Bella Williams, and Sarah Feeny are all set to run in the competition for the Utes, and want to follow up their amazing finish at the Pac-12 championships in Monmouth, Oregon where they finished 6th, 7th and 10th respectively.
Cara Woolnough and Trina Moreno were also scoring runners for the Utes, placing 27th and 38th at the Pac-12 championships. The Utes will need good numbers from all these players again if they want to place highly at the Mountain Region championships.
Looking back, its easy to see just how well the Utes performed during the Pac-12 Championships. It was the highest finish during the meet in program history for the Utes, but against another round of spectacular competition, the Utes will need to run well again, and will be counting on their best runners to help them accomplish that goal.
Having two weeks off will hopefully help them to gain fresh legs and be prepared for the upcoming championships. In addition, the Utes may benefit from the familiar scenery. This will be the first time the Utes are hosting the Mountain Region Championships since 2010.
After the Mountain Region Championships, the Cross Country Committee will announce the automatic teams, at large teams and individual women qualifiers to the 2019 Division 1 Cross Country Championships. Fans can watch the selection show on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 3 p.m. on NCAA.com.
The Utes hope to be selected to those championships, but much of that will depend on their play during the Mountain Region Championships this Friday.
