Completed Event: Track & Field versus NCAA Championships on June 12, 2025 ,
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Five Utes To Compete at NCAA Track and Field Regionals
5/26/2008 12:00 AM | Track & Field
May 26, 2008
SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah track and field team will send five athletes who had regional qualifying marks to the NCAA West Regional, May 30-31, hosted by Cal-State Northridge in Northridge, Calif.
The five athletes have seven regional qualifying marks, which is the most that head coach Kyle Kepler has had in his tenure at Utah.
The top-five finishers in each individual event will move on to the National Championships meet, held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, June 11-14. Athletes also have the opportunity to earn an at-large selection based on their performance during the season.
Last Time Out
Lauren Endersen and Chelsea Shapard each won Mountain West Conference titles to lead the Utes to a sixth-place finish at the MWC Track Championships.
Endersen's time of 35:58.21 in the 10,000 meters was a 42-second personal best in the event. She was 10 seconds down to the two leaders and cut the deficit in half with two laps to go.
Shapard set a new track record in the 400-meter hurdle final in 58.51 to win her second-straight MWC title in the event. She came off the last hurdle in third place before out-sprinting everyone to the line.
The 4x400-meter relay team broke a school record, finishing third in 3:43.93, which just missed a regional qualifying mark. The team consisted of Shapard, Ashley Patterson, Chelsey Kaplar and Whitney Wellington.
Josefin Berg had a podium finish in the hammer throw with a third-place finish. Her last throw of 182'3" moved her up to third.
Chasity Toilolo and Shayla Houlihan each scored in two events for the Utes. Toilolo was sixth in the shot put with a personal record of 45'6.5" and also finished sixth in the discus, while Houlihan was fourth in the steeplechase with a school-record time of 10:43.60 and placed eighth in the 1,500-meter run.
Chasing Chelsea
Chelsea Shapard and Chelsea DiGrazia have both made their mark on the Ute track team this season.
Chelsea Shapard won her second-straight Mountain West Conference Championship in the 400-meter hurdles on May 17. She set a new track record with a time of 58.51. Shapard broke her own school record in the event at the Arkansas Twilight on May 2. Her time of 58.07 won the event. The previous record of 58.47 was set back May 12, 2007. Her time ranks 15th in the nation, second in the MWC and third in the West region.
Although she will be focusing on the hurdles, Shapard also holds a regional qualifying mark in the 800 meters, done at the Utah Twilight on May 8. Her time of 2:08.83 ranks sixth in the conference and second all-time at Utah.
DiGrazia earned an NCAA regional qualifying time in the 1,500 meter run at the Drake Relays, finishing third with a time of 4:26.39. Her time ranks fourth in the conference this season and is fourth on the all-time list at Utah. She was fifth in the event at the MWC Championships.
Inventing the Abbotts
Alyssa Abbott holds two regional qualifying marks for the Utes this season, in the 1,500 meters and 800 meters. She leads the conference with a time of 4:25.38 in the 1,500 meters, which was set at the Drake Relays. The mark is also second on the all-time list at Utah. Abbott is eighth in the conference in the 800-meter run. Her time of 2:09.68 was done at the Arkansas Twilight on May 2.
Abbott was ninth at the MWC Championships in the 1,500 meter run.
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 second-best in the conference this season and eighth in the West region.
Berg placed third at the MWC Championships in the hammer throw.
Stunning Shayla
Shayla Houlihan set the school record in the steeplechase with a time of 10:43.60 at the MWC Championships, finishing fourth. Her time is an NCAA regional qualifying standard and ranks sixth in the conference this season.
Houlihan scored points in two events for the Utes at the MWC Championships. In addition to her steeplechase finish, she was eighth in the 1,500 meters.
Players Mentioned
Distance
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Hurdles/Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints
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