Utah Track and Field to Open Season This Friday
The University of Utah’s Track and Field team during the Women’s 4×400 Meter Relay in an NCAA Track and Field meet at the McCarthey Family Track and Field Complex in Salt Lake City, UT on Saturday April 13, 2019. (Photo by Curtis Lin | Daily Utah Chronicle)
December 6, 2019
The University of Utah track team is looking forward to its first meet of the season this Friday and Saturday, where they will head north to Ogden for the Weber State Winter Open. Head Coach Kyle Kepler is excited for the new season.
“This schedule is filled with several high-level competitions held at some of the best facilities in the country. My staff and I are excited for the challenges and opportunities this schedule provides for our entire group of student athletes as we focus on overall development and improvement,” he said.
The season will culminate in the Pac-12 Championship on May 9-10. Beginning this weekend at the Winter Open on Friday, events will include women’s long jump, weight throw and high jump. Saturday will begin in the morning with women’s 600 meter run, 55 meter hurdle trials, 55 meter dash trials, the mile, the 55 meter hurdle finals, 55 meter dash finals, 400 meters, 800 meters, 200 meters, 3000 meters and finishing off will be the women’s 4×400 meters.
On Jan. 1o, the Utes will compete in the first ever Lauren McCluskey Multis, named after the former Ute track and field star who was murdered on campus in October 2018.
The Ute Track team will be led this year by seniors Anna Busatto, a distance runner from Italy; Caitlin Faust, a 400 M/800 M runner from Georgia; Sarah Feeny, a distance runner, who will be playing in her hometown of Ogden this weekend and who is also on the cross-country team; Nicole Griffiths, a distance runner from Oregon; Brooke Martin, who runs the hurdles from Arizona; Sarah Newton, a distance runner from Holladay; Kolbi Sims, who runs combined events from Idaho; and Poppy Tank, a distance runner from England who is also on the cross-country team. The team as a whole is rounded out by 13 juniors, 12 sophomores and nine freshmen.
Following the Winter Open is the Jackson Open in Boise, ID, followed by a month off. The team will split between the Don Kirby Invitational on Feb. 13-14 and the Husky Classic from Feb. 14-15. The next week the Utah squad splits once again. Some will compete in the Alex Wilson Invitational hosted by Notre Dame, and the others at the UW Last Chance Meet. This will complete the indoor session of the Utes’ season.
The first outdoor invitational will be held in San Luis Obispo for the Cal Poly ShareSLO Invitational on March 20-21. The Utes will then head to UCLA for the Jim Bush Legends March 27-28.
NCAA Prelims will be held May 28-30 in Lawrence, Kansas, and finally, on June 10 through 13, the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held at Mike A. Meyers Stadium.
