Upcoming Event: Track & Field versus NCAA First Round on May 28, 2026
Track & Field
vs NCAA First Round
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Stays In-State for Wildcat Indoor Open
2/20/2008 12:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 20, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah track and field team stays in-state this weekend, traveling to Weber State for the Wildcat Indoor Open. Action gets underway on Thursday, Feb. 21, with the weight throw and shot put. All other events will take place Saturday, Feb. 23, beginning at 9 a.m. In addition to Utah, athletes from Weber State, Idaho State and Utah Valley will be competing.
Last Time Out: The Utes saw Ashley Patterson and Chelsea DiGrazia break school records in the 200 meter dash and the mile run, respectively, at the Iowa State Invitational last weekend.
Patterson's time was 25.18 and DiGrazia's 4:53.85. Patterson also had a personal record in the 400 meters (56.13), which ranked second all-time. DiGrazia had a lifetime best in the 3000 meters of 10:05.95, which is 10th all-time.
Lauren Enderson's time of 17:15.27 in the 5000 meters ranks third in school history. Shayla Houlihan added to the strong overall performances of the distance team by running a new personal record in the 3000 meter run finishing in 9:53.32, which is the fifth fastest time in Utah history.
Laryssa Simpson had a strong performance in the pole vault when she cleared 11' 6.25", which is seventh on the all-time list. Liza Whitehead was able to run below 26 seconds for the first time in the 200 meters finishing with the time of 25.97, which is tenth on the all-time list.
Utah finished the meet with the 4x400-meter relay with a season-best and all-time second best time of 3:47.62. Patterson, Chelsey Kaplar, Whitney Wellington and Chelsea Shapard all raced for the Utes.
Ute Notes: Utah athletes have set 17 new all-time top-10 marks this season ... Patterson leads Utah with four wins this season (two individual, two relay) while McAllister has three (two individual, one relay) ... In addition to Ashley Patterson's accomplishments in the 200 and 400-meters, she also set a mark that ranks fourth all-time in the triple jump of 38-9.25" (2/9) ... sophomore Liza Whitehead ran the second-fastest time in school history in the 60-meter dash at the BYU Invitational (7.83) ... Chelsea DiGrazia is one of only six women to run under a five minute mile at Utah ... Shapard ranks third all-time at Utah in the 800m (2:12.54 aa, 2/9).
Coach Kepler's Two Cents: "We will use the Weber State meet this weekend as a final tune-up in preparation for the conference championships the following week. Because of that, we will only have a very limited number of athletes - primarily sprinters, jumpers, and throwers - in action. The rest of our team will be resting as part of their preparation. We ran very well at Iowa State and most of our athletes participated in more than one event so we need to give their bodies time to rest and recover. We have a few athletes battling some injuries so hopefully, they can use the extra rest to get better.
"Our distance runners are competing with a lot of confidence right now, but we all know that the strength of our league is in those events. They understand that they will have to perform even better in two weeks to help our team. I also think we have some other groups that are right on the brink of some big breakouts. We'll have to see if they can make that happen. If they can then we might look pretty good in a couple of weeks."
Looking Ahead: The Utes travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the Mountain West Conference Championship, hosted by Air Force.
Players Mentioned
Hurdles/Sprints
/ Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & FieldCoach Kyle Kepler celebrates 20 years at the helm of Utah Cross Country/Track & Field
Monday, August 11
Utah Cross Country's McKaylie Caesar Feature - A Medical Miracle
Tuesday, April 29
Our Voices: Episode 4 - Celebrating Black History Month
Friday, February 25
Our Voices: Episode 3 - Celebrating Black History Month
Friday, February 18