Utah Track and Field Sprints Into MPSF Championships
Utah Utes Women’s Track & Field team warms up as The University of Utah and Weber State host the Utah Spring Classic at the McCarthey Family Track and Field Complex in Salt Lake City, UT on Friday April 06, 2018. (Photo by Curtis Lin/ Daily Utah Chronicle)
February 26, 2020
The University of Utah Utes track and field team hopes to cap off a terrific indoor season this weekend as they visit Seattle for the fourth time this year, this time to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships.
While the Utes have been competing at an extraordinarily high level, they will need to perform even better as they will be competing against an array of nationally ranked teams. Such teams include No. 4 USC, No. 7 Oregon, No. 8 Stanford, No. 9 BYU, No. 10 Washington, No. 13 Colorado and No. 19 UCLA.
Highly ranked runners for the Utes include Kolbi Sims, who just last week at the UW Last Chance meet set a new personal record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.58. Another standout for the Utes has been their DMR team, consisting of Caitlin Faust, Jackie Martin, Brooke Manson and Sarah Newton. They ran the track in 11:10.63 and along with Sims set a time ranking second all-time in Utah history.
These runners will be competing this weekend for the Utes. Faust will be competing in the DMR, the 800 and the 4×400. Sims will represent the Utes in the pentathlon and the high jump. Martin will be competing in the 400 and the 4×400. Manson will compete in the DMR and the 800. Newton will also compete in the DMR and the 800.
Following the MPSF indoor championships will be the NCAA indoor championships. These events are limited to the Top 16 individual and Top 12 relay times. The Utes are ranked No. 16 in the DMR and with a great showing here, they should either keep their 16 place position or improve upon it and make it into the NCAA championships. Kolbi Sims also has a good chance of being able to compete at the individual level for the NCAA championships.
The Utes have had one of their most successful seasons to date and have produced some incredible times. The next few weeks will be a culmination of all that hard work, and will hopefully provide a solid springboard into the indoor NCAA championships and the upcoming outdoor season.
The team will start their competition on Friday, Feb. 28. The action will carry into the next day.
Following the events this weekend, the NCAA indoor championships will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from March 13-14.
