Friday, September 30
South Bend, Ind.
All Day
University of Utah
at
Notre Dame Invitational
#28 Utah Cross Country Heads to Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
9/27/2016 1:37 PM | Cross Country
The Utes prepare for first big test of the season.
SALT LAKE CITY- The 28th-ranked Utah women's cross country team heads to South Bend, Ind., for its first big meet of the season. Utah will be competing in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Friday, Sept. 30.
"This is a chance for us to do what we did a year ago," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "We surprised ourselves a year ago how well we ran and how well we finished. I think it was what propelled us to realize how good we were and how good we can be, so we are hoping for the same result."
THE RACE
Utah will be competing as a team in the first race of the day scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EST. Running for the Utes in the first race will include freshmen Amanda Gehrich, Ashley Licata, and Poppy Tank, sophomore Sadie Wassum, juniors Grayson Murphy and Becky Sarmiento, and seniors Hannah McInturff, Giselle Slotboom, and Kate Stringfellow.
The Utes will also have a group of runners competing in an open race scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. EST. This race will include freshmen Anna Busatto, Nicole Griffiths, and Jade Mulvey, juniors Shaylen Crook and Dakota Grossman, and senior Dana Snell.
Results will be posted at deltatiming.com at the conclusion of each race. Results and a full recap will also be posted on UtahUtes.com on Friday following the meet.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
In a field of 24 teams, Utah will be competing against five teams ranked in the top-30 nationally and six teams who received votes in the latest poll. Along with meet-host No. 16 Notre Dame, Utah will race against Providence, who is currently ranked No. 1 overall. New Mexico, who is tied for No. 2 nationally, No. 5 NC State, and No. 24 Vanderbilt round out Utah's ranked opponents for this meet.
The teams who received votes in the latest poll competing in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational include California, Eastern Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Weber State, and Wisconsin.
Rounding out the rest of the field will be Air Force, Alabama, Baylor, Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon State, Purdue, Texas, and Texas A&M.
UTES RANKED NATIONALLY
Utah is ranked 28th nationally in the latest poll released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Utes moved down two places from last week but this week's race will give the chance to move up and potentially earn at large points.
"We dropped a few spots only because a few teams ran really well this past weekend and jumped into the polls above us. Not that we did anything wrong to drop, it was just where some of the teams landed and where it pushed us in the poll," Kepler stated.
The Utes remain ranked fourth in the Mountain region, where they were ranked last week as well. New Mexico holds the top ranking in the Mountain region, giving Utah a taste of regional competition going against New Mexico on Friday.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah sent a small group to compete in the Nevada Chase Race last Friday in Reno, Nev., where they finished in second place. Freshman Poppy Tank finished in a time of 22:06.1 to claim first place in her first collegiate race. Along with Tank, fellow freshmen Jade Mulvey and Nicole Griffiths finished in 7th and 12th place, respectively.
"This is a chance for us to do what we did a year ago," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "We surprised ourselves a year ago how well we ran and how well we finished. I think it was what propelled us to realize how good we were and how good we can be, so we are hoping for the same result."
THE RACE
Utah will be competing as a team in the first race of the day scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EST. Running for the Utes in the first race will include freshmen Amanda Gehrich, Ashley Licata, and Poppy Tank, sophomore Sadie Wassum, juniors Grayson Murphy and Becky Sarmiento, and seniors Hannah McInturff, Giselle Slotboom, and Kate Stringfellow.
The Utes will also have a group of runners competing in an open race scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. EST. This race will include freshmen Anna Busatto, Nicole Griffiths, and Jade Mulvey, juniors Shaylen Crook and Dakota Grossman, and senior Dana Snell.
Results will be posted at deltatiming.com at the conclusion of each race. Results and a full recap will also be posted on UtahUtes.com on Friday following the meet.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
In a field of 24 teams, Utah will be competing against five teams ranked in the top-30 nationally and six teams who received votes in the latest poll. Along with meet-host No. 16 Notre Dame, Utah will race against Providence, who is currently ranked No. 1 overall. New Mexico, who is tied for No. 2 nationally, No. 5 NC State, and No. 24 Vanderbilt round out Utah's ranked opponents for this meet.
The teams who received votes in the latest poll competing in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational include California, Eastern Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Weber State, and Wisconsin.
Rounding out the rest of the field will be Air Force, Alabama, Baylor, Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon State, Purdue, Texas, and Texas A&M.
UTES RANKED NATIONALLY
Utah is ranked 28th nationally in the latest poll released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The Utes moved down two places from last week but this week's race will give the chance to move up and potentially earn at large points.
"We dropped a few spots only because a few teams ran really well this past weekend and jumped into the polls above us. Not that we did anything wrong to drop, it was just where some of the teams landed and where it pushed us in the poll," Kepler stated.
The Utes remain ranked fourth in the Mountain region, where they were ranked last week as well. New Mexico holds the top ranking in the Mountain region, giving Utah a taste of regional competition going against New Mexico on Friday.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah sent a small group to compete in the Nevada Chase Race last Friday in Reno, Nev., where they finished in second place. Freshman Poppy Tank finished in a time of 22:06.1 to claim first place in her first collegiate race. Along with Tank, fellow freshmen Jade Mulvey and Nicole Griffiths finished in 7th and 12th place, respectively.
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