Mergaert Breaks School Record at Conference Meet

Saturday, February 27

Albuquerque, N.M.

All Day

University of Utah

MWC Indoor Championships

Mergaert Breaks School Record at Conference Meet

2/27/2010 12:00 AM | Track & Field

Feb. 27, 2010

Complete Results in PDF Format

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The University of Utah finished out the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships Saturday afternoon with a fourth place overall finish. Junior Alyssa Abbott won the 3000m run and Amanda Mergaert broke the school record in the mile run.

"We came to compete every single day of the conference meet and we really got after it," said head coach Kyle Kepler. "I couldn't be any more complimentary to my kids for all of their great efforts throughout the meet. We had an awesome meet as a team. Even if some of our athletes were unable to qualify for the finals in their events, they still competed their hearts out for us."

Mergaert ran a solid race in the mile run. After running in fifth place for the majority of the race, she pushed herself in the last leg to finish second overall with a time of 4:51.21 (altitude adjusted). Mergaert's time is a new lifetime best and breaks Utah's school record previously set in 2008 by former runner Chelsea DiGrazia (4:53.85).

Abbott competed in the 3000m run for the second time this year after red-shirting the 2009 indoor and outdoor track season. The Ute dominated the track with a swift time of 9:41.57 (altitude adjusted), which ranks third all-time in Utah school history. This is the first time a Ute has won the event in Mountain West Conference history.

Sophomore Langley Iverson competed in the high jump, finishing second overall after clearing a height of 5-8.75 (1.75m). Brianna LeRoy also competed in the event, finishing eighth overall with a mark of 5-4.25 (1.63m).

Utah's 4x400m relay team comprised of Alyssa Johnson, Ashley Mosley, Lauryn McKay and Chelsey Kaplar had a combined time of 3:45.35 on Saturday to finish third overall. It was a season best finish for a Utah 4x400m relay team and it ranks third all-time in school history.

Johnson and Mosley also competed in the finals for the 400m dash. Johnson finished fifth overall with a new lifetime best of 56.12, which ranks second all-time for Utah. Mosley had a false start in the race.

Sophomore Lucy Yates competed in the 800m run at the conference meet, finishing seventh overall with an altitude adjusted time of 2:12.21.

Freshman Nikkie Rudder and senior Sarah Grimm competed in the shot put. Rudder had a mark of 43-3.25 (13.19m) to earn eighth place overall. Grimm had a toss of 40-1.5 (12.23m) to earn 13th place overall in the event.

"Ashley Mosley ran the fastest leg in the 4x400m relay. She was kind of bummed about getting a false start in the 400m dash, but she did a great job in the relay and really helped the group in their finish," said Kepler. "Nikkie Rudder competed well today and was great to have a true freshman score for us in that event. Brianna LeRoy was instrumental in our success at the meet and she competed very well in all of her events over the past three days."

Final Team Scores:
1. BYU - 193
2. TCU - 129.50
3. San Diego State - 87
4. Utah - 63
5. New Mexico - 48
6. Colorado State - 46.50
7. Wyoming - 37
8. Air Force - 34
9. UNLV - 25.