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Utah Track and Field Ready to Compete at MPSF Championships
2/24/2015 12:00 AM | Track & Field
Feb. 24, 2015
SALT LAKE CITY- The University of Utah women's track and field team is gearing up for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships this weekend at the University of Washington, beginning Friday at 12 p.m. PT with the women's weight throw at the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.
"We are headed back to Seattle," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "I know the indoor season seems like we spend a lot of time in Seattle and we do because they have a really nice facility. We will be there competing against the rest of the Pac-12 schools, including other schools who don't have conference championships for indoor track."
The MPSF consists of nineteen of the West's top track and field programs. The group is comprised of members of the Big West, Pac-12, and West Coast Conferences. For the first time ever, all twelve Pac-12 indoor track and field programs will compete, including No. 5 Oregon, No. 12 USC, and No. 16 Stanford.
"It should be a fun meet," Kepler said. "It is different than most conference championship meets and it feels more like a last chance meet. The focus of all of the track and field programs is to try and qualify for the NCAA Championship meet. It is an incredibly difficult meet to make. It is the most difficult NCAA Championship to qualify for since they only take less than four percent of the total athletes involved in the track and field. We will see if we can get a qualifier, or two, at this meet and if not we will start to look forward to the outdoor season."
Last year the Utes finished 12th overall in the meet, capturing one event title and a combined total of 26 points.
Redshirt senior Rebekah Winterton, who won the 5,000 at last year's MPSF Championship, has recorded several impressive performances this year including capturing first in the 3,000 at the Bronco Invitational with a time of 9:52.33. Accompanying Winterton in the distance events will be freshmen Sarah Feeny and Hannah McInturff. Feeny will compete at the MPSF Championships for the first time in her collegiate career and currently ranks third in the Mountain Region and tenth in the MPSF in the mile. Her season-best time of 4:44.50 at the Husky Classic also ranks fifth among all freshmen nationally and third among true freshmen. McInturff recorded a personal-best time of 4:49.61 in the mile the last time she competed at the Dempsey Indoor Facility and looks to improve upon an already successful freshman season.
Senior Aoife Hickey prepares to compete in the last MPSF Championship of her collegiate career and improve upon her eighth-place finish a year ago. Hickey's season-best throw of 18.66 meters at the New Mexico Classic currently ranks sixth in the league. Accompanying Hickey in the throws will be senior Destanae Howerton-Davis who is currently ranks sixth in the Mountain Region and 11th in the MPSF in the shot put event.
Sophomore Alissa Atisme will lead the sprints group after recording a school record in the 200-meter dash at the New Mexico Classic. Atisme's record is set at 24.56 seconds, surpassing her previous record by four tenths of a second. Grace Englund, Raynee Helm, and Rhianna Williams will also be competing in the sprinting events for the Utes.
Williams Making a Splash
Sophomore Rhianna Williams has been one of the most versatile runners on the Ute roster this season. Primarily competing in the 200 and 400-meter races, Williams heads into the MPSF Championships this weekend ranked seventh in the Mountain Region and tenth in the MPSF in the 400. Williams' season-best time of 54.92 seconds also ranks second all-time for the Utes. She also ranks second at Utah all-time in the 200, with a personal-best time of 24.94 seconds.
The track, however, is not the only venue where she excels. Williams also competes for Coach Joe Dykstra on the Utah swimming and diving team, where she currently ranks fourth on the team in both the 50 free (23.31 seconds) and 100 free (50.51). Williams is also a member of the 200 and 400 free relays, that have recorded impressive performances at the Texas Invitational and currently rank sixth and fifth in the Pac-12, respectively for the Utes.
Williams will have a busy schedule this weekend as she attempts to juggle competing in both the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships for track and the Pac-12 Championships for swimming.
"It is an incredibly unique situation to be in two championships at one time." Kepler said. "It is really incredible how well the schedule worked out for Rhianna to compete in both meets this weekend. We are not too worried about her getting fatigued because the schedule works itself out well enough that she will have time to rest in between competitions. Her events in swimming are primarily sprint events that don't take too long. Most importantly, she thinks that she will be okay. She really thinks that she can do it without anything causing poor performances on either end. As her coaches, we have to believe in her that way. We know that it is a unique situation, but she is a unique talent and we want to allow her to showcase those talents the best she can."
Check back to UtahUtes.com following the meet for results and a recap of the day's action.
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