Utah Track and Field Begins the New Year With a Bang
Event signage 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)
January 19, 2020
With four event titles and several personal records, the University of Utah track and field team started the new year with a bang. After a long break, the Utes competed at the Bronco Invite in Boise, Idaho on Saturday, Jan. 18.
“Really it was an awesome day. I am really excited about some of the results we saw today and we won several events including all three heats of the 4-x-400 relay,” said head coach Kyle Kepler. “We put three teams on the track and we won three races, so it was great.”
The first personal record of the day came from sophomore Maya Lebar, who tied for eighth all-time in the 60-meter dash prelims. Her PR time was 7.89.
She was followed by a host of other competitors putting up new personal records. These included Ruby Jane Mathewson, who placed 19th in the 200 with a PR of 26.66.
Whitney Hessler took home the event title in the mile event, finishing with a PR time of 4:59.59. Lauren O’Banion also set a new PR in the 400 event with a time of 56.24.
Caitlin Faust posted another PR time in the 800 race, claiming victory with a time of 2:10.96.
The next big win came courtesy of the relay squads. The team of Oneillia Fuller, Skyler Blair, Jasie York and Faust won the event with the fastest time of the season thus far at 3:46.07.
Even more personal records were set in the 600 race. Sarah Newton’s new personal record, which earned her second place was 1:32.51. Brooke Manson’s new personal record, earned her to third place with a time of 1:33.73.
One more personal record was set in the shot put. Kolbi Sims had her farthest distance yet with 10.27 meters or 33’8.50”.
“It was just a really awesome day,” Kepler said. “I am really proud of the way we competed today. I thought our kids really ran hard and had awesome energy all day long. Everyone was cheering for each other and it was just a great team atmosphere.”
The Utes will compete next at the Texas Tech Invite/Multis in Lubbock, Texas. This next event is a three-day meet taking place on Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the Sports Performance Center Indoor Track.
