2016 Track and Field Preview

1/12/2016 12:00 AM | Track & Field

Jan. 12, 2016

The Utah track and field team enters into its fifth year as a member of the Pac-12 Conference with high expectations. The Utes are coming off a historic 2015 cross country season, with the team qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the first time in its history, and the track and field teams will be aiming to continue that success.

"I think that our goals are always the same," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "Every year we want to improve within the conference and make a splash nationally with a bunch of individual qualifiers. We want to have some All-Americans and be a top 25 program. That is what we are always after. With that noted, our sport is all about personal improvement, whether it is day-to-day, meet-to-meet or week-to-week.

"We want to use the success of cross country to springboard into the outdoor track season," Kepler continued. "I think our track kids sense that and want to improve upon that. Cross country is just the start and track and field is there to pick up where they left off and finish even stronger."

The Utah distance runners turn their attention to the track following the cross country campaign. By far the deepest group on the team, the Utes will be led by the sophomore tandem of Hannah McInturff and Sarah Feeny. McInturff placed in the top 10 in all but one race she competed in during the cross country season. She ranks fourth all-time at Utah in the indoor mile. Feeny ran the second-best time nationally among freshman in the 1,500 last season and finished third in the event at the Pan Am Junior Championships. Fifth-year senior Susannah Hurst Spencer is the current school record holder in the outdoor 5,000 (16:06.31) and a two-time NCAA Preliminary qualifier in the 10,000. All three earned all-region honors in cross country. Others include Becky Sarmiento, who holds the school record in the 3,000 steeplechase, as well as Andrea Chavez, Shaylen Crook and Jessica Sams, who all hold top-10 times at Utah in the distance events.

"The success we had in cross country required everybody," Kepler said. "I think Hannah and Sarah accept their role in the events they are going to run, but I think we have other kids that have just as much expectation, or pressure, because they put it on themselves and they care and want to be really good. Whether it's Hannah or Sarah, or a fifth-year senior like Susannah in the long distance events, we will need everybody to be successful. [Hurst Spencer] was out last year and wants to get back to being where she was and qualify for regionals and nationals. I think that there are a variety of kids that have taken on the responsibility, and it is not on one or two people's shoulders. They all need to step up and help shoulder the load."

The sprints and hurdles group hopes to make progressive strides during the 2015 indoor and outdoor season under the tutelage of second-year assistant coach Pete Herber. The Utes will look to juniors Alissa Atisme and Rhianna Williams to lead the sprinters. Atisme holds school records in the outdoor 100 (11.78) and 200 (24.06) meters as well as the indoor 55 (7.18) and 200 (24.56) meters. A dual-sport athlete who is also on the swim team, Williams is the school record holder in the indoor 400 (54.46) and was a member of the 4x100 relay team that holds the school record (46.33). Returning to action is senior Ali Eisenbeiss, who redshirted the 2015 season due to a heavy school load. Eisenbeiss ranks third all-time at Utah in the outdoor 800 and is in the top-10 all-time at Utah in the indoor 400 and 800 races.

"We have two school record holders and two kids that have been right on the cusp of scoring in the Pac-12," Kepler said of Atisme and Williams. "I think that that is the next step. They need to break through and be able to score at the Pac-12 level. We also want to get our relays qualified. We know we are right there, but we have to be able to put it all together. We have all the pieces we need and they need to continue to develop. We have got the talent and we need to maintain our health. We need to get the stick around the track and have everyone have their best race on the same day.

"[Ali] is just another quality performer," Kepler continued. "Everybody knows who she is and where she is. She is typically very consistent, but is looking to improve. She is not satisfied coming off of last year's season where she redshirted. She is a biomedical engineering major and is just really incredible in the classroom, but won't be quite as busy academically this spring. She adds more depth in the 4x4 and is just another consistent big-time performer for us. I think that the group that trains with her knows that if they can stay with her and compete at the same level as she does, they will do pretty well.

Leading the way in the hurdling events for Utah will be junior Christine Van Brocklin. Van Brocklin enters the 2016 season ranking in the top 10 all-time at Utah in the 100 hurdles (outdoor) and 60 hurdles (indoor).

"Christine focused a little bit more on the long hurdle events last year, but she is still pretty darn good at the sprint hurdles. She does a lot of work to get better everyday and works out with Madi [Lanford] and some of our other multi-event kids. From a hurdling standpoint, it is kind of Christine's show. It is on her to improve and get better as she gets older. She is more than willing to take on that role and compete as well as she can for us."

The jumps group is young, with only one returner, but the Utes are excited about a pair of freshman with a lot of promise. The Utes will rely on junior Courtney Jost to step up and lead by example for this young group. Redshirting the 2015 season, Jost recorded a 10th-place performance in the triple jump the last time she competed at the Pac-12 Championships in 2014 with a jump measuring 37 feet, 11.25 inches. Freshmen Ann Wingeleth and Mackenzie Arnold will be making their debuts for the Utes. Wingeleth was a 10-time Wyoming state champion, including winning the state long jump title four-straight years. Arnold was a two-time state qualifier in the long jump in California and won two conference titles in the event.

"We have a lot of potential with our jumpers," Kepler explained. "We have two really good recruits, between Ann Wingeleth from Wyoming and Mackenzie Arnold from California. We are counting on them to come in and shoulder the load in a bunch of those jumping events. They are freshmen and we have to keep that in mind, however. It is a huge transition and a huge jump, but Courtney Jost is a great leader for that group. She is like having another coach on the track. She is really observant and just an outstanding individual. We are hoping that Courtney can help the new girls feel as comfortable as possible early in their careers."

The Glasmann sisters, Megan and Christine, will represent the Utes in the javelin. Megan is Utah's top returning finisher from the 2015 Pac-12 Championships, finishing second in the event. Christine was the 2014 3A Utah high school state champion and holds the Utah high school state record.

"Megan was tenth at the U.S. Championships last year and had a really solid season," Kepler said. "With Chrissy, we know that there is a ton of talent there and we are working feverishly to develop it. Megan is a little banged up right now, but obviously they don't compete until the outdoor season. We feel good about where they are at and they seem to be doing all of the right things to be ready for the outdoor season."

The Utah track and field team traveled to an early meet in December in Boise, Idaho, and will continue the indoor season on Jan. 22 at the Bronco Invitational in Boise.

On April 8, 2016 the Utes will hold their annual Utah Spring Classic at the McCarthey Family Track and Field.