Kaplar and Johnson Qualify in Event Finals

Friday, February 5

Pocatello, Idaho

All Day

University of Utah

Mountain State Games

2/6/2010 12:00 AM | Track & Field

Feb. 6, 2010

POCATELLO, Idaho - The University of Utah women's track and field team had a good showing during the first day of competition at the Mountain State Games. Freshmen Angela Kaplar and Alyssa Johnson set new personal bests in route to qualifying for the finals in their respective events. The Utes will wrap up competition on Saturday.

Kaplar competed in the 60m hurdles preliminaries, where she finished in first place with a time of 8.75. Her time is a new personal best and ranks third on Utah's all-time performance list. Cassie Merkley from Idaho State finished second with a time of 8.92, followed by Alyssa Christensen of BYU (8.94). The top eight finishers will compete in the finals on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MT.

Johnson qualified for the finals in the 200m dash after a 25.27 finish, a new personal best. Her time ranks third on Utah's all-time performance list. Ally Dean from Weber State won the race with a time of 24.92, and Camille Marchand of Montana State came in second with a time of 25.23. The finals will take place on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Freshman Nikkie Rudder took fourth place in the shot put with a toss of 44-1.25. Senior Sarah Grimm earned 10th place overall with a mark of 38-10.25. Freshmen Amanda Pais and Anneli Stahl also competed in the event. Pais had a toss of 34-11 (17th) and Stahl had a mark of 31-3 (22nd).

Sophomore Brianna LeRoy competed in the pentathlon on Friday earning third place overall with a total of 3419 points. She took second place in the high jump (5-4.50) and in the long jump (17-10.25). LeRoy took fourth place in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.10 and had a time of 2:41.96 in the 800m run (15th). In the shot put, LeRoy tied for 10th place with a mark of 32-0.