Completed Event: Track & Field versus NCAA Championships on June 12, 2025 ,
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Track & Field
vs NCAA Championships
Utah Heads to Arkansas Twilight, Weber State Open
4/28/2008 12:00 AM | Track & Field
April 28, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY - Coming off a solid weekend at the Drake Relays and Robinson Invitational, the Ute track and field team again splits its squad for the coming weekend. Utah will be sending a group of athletes to the Arkansas Twilight on Friday, May 2, while everyone else will stay in-state for the Weber State Open on May 3.
Several Utes are close to regional qualifying marks and one of the goals of the weekend will be to strive for those times.
Last Time Out: Alyssa Abbott and Chelsea DiGrazia both earned NCAA Regional qualifying times at the Drake Relays, finishing second and third, respectively, in the 1,500 meter race. Abbott's time 4:25.38 is second on the all-time list at Utah, while DiGrazia's time of 4:26.39 ranks fourth. The times rank one-two, respectively, in the conference this season.
Lauren Endersen placed fifth on the 10,000-meter run on Thursday (37:39.33) and then won the University division 8,000-kilometer road race (29:00) on Saturday. She was the third overall female to cross the line.
Chelsea Shapard was fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.78. The team of Shayla Houlihan, Janett Ern, DiGrazia and Abbott placed seventh in the 4x1600-meter relay, finishing in 20:00.14.
At the Relays, the Utes had six top-seven finishes.
At the Robison Invitational at Brigham Young, Josefin Berg won the hammer throw with a toss of 190' 9". In the same Utah throwers had two personal records - Kastin Frostl in the hammer throw and Wanda Dalton in the discus with throws of 133'-6" and 121'-4", respectively.
Chasing Chelsea
Chelsea Shapard, Chelsea DiGrazia and Chelsey Kaplar have all made their mark on the Ute track team this season.
Chelsea Shapard won the 400 meter hurdles with a regional qualifying time of 59.89 at UCLA on April 10. Her time ranks second in the MWC this season.
Shapard and Kaplar both run on the 4x400-meter relay team, which has the third-best time in the conference (3:46.59). Ashley Patterson, Kaplar, Whitney Wellington and Shapard make up the team.
DiGrazia earned an NCAA regional qualifying time at the Drake Relays, finishing third in the 1,500 meter race with a time of 4:26.39. Her time ranks second in the conference this season.
Pitter-Patterson
Ashley Patterson from set a new school record in the 200-meter dash at Utah State on April 19. Patterson won her heat in the process of setting the new record and finished with a time of 24.47. She also holds the sixth-best time in the conference this season in the 400-meters (55.83).
Inventing the Abbotts
In addition to her conference-leading NCAA regional qualifying time in the 1,500-meters (4:25.38), Alyssa Abbott ranks in the top-six in the conference in the 800 meters (2:10.97).
Batterin' Berg
Josefin Berg placed second in the hammer throw with a toss of 199'04'' at Utah State on April 19, the second-best mark on the all-time Utah list. Her distance is the best in the conference this season.
Stunning Shayla
Shayla Houlihan set the school record in the steeplechase with a time of 10:44.31 at the Stanford Invitational in the first week of competition. Her time was an NCAA regional qualifying standard and ranks fifth in the conference this season.
Additional News and Notes:
The Utes has five athletes who have regional qualifying marks, while two school records have been set this season. They have also set 15 new all-time top-10 marks during the outdoor season.
Coach Kepler's Two Cents: "We just need to stay focused on improving and moving forward regardless of the level. Whether someone is leading the conference in an event, chasing a regional qualifying mark or just trying to make the conference team we need everyone to keep making steps forward. With finals week this week, the ultimate focus will be on that. However, we can still get some things done at practice. We can continue to get better. For some it will be a chance to recover from a strenuous travel and competition schedule before we really start to gear up for the conference championships in two weeks. This is what makes track and field such a great sport. No matter what level you're at, you can strive to keep getting better and help the team throughout the entire season."
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Throws
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Hurdles/Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
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