Utah Track and Field Heads to MPSF Championships

Friday, February 24

Seattle, Wash.

All Day

University of Utah

MPSF Championship

Utah Track and Field Heads to MPSF Championships

2/22/2017 12:05 PM | Track & Field

SALT LAKE CITY- The Utah track and field team is set to compete at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Seattle, Wash. Utah will begin the MPSF Championships Friday, Feb. 24, at the Dempsey Indoor Facility and close out competition on Saturday, Feb. 25.

"This is a challenging meet. It is all of the Pac-12 plus several schools along the west coast that don't have an indoor conference championship meet," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "It should be another great meet. We feel really good about the way our practices have gone in the last couple weeks. Our kids are excited to compete at this meet and then start to look forward to outdoor season as well."

The MPSF consists of 20 track and field programs comprising from the Pac-12, West Coast, and Big West Conferences. All 12 indoor Pac-12 programs will compete this weekend, including No. 1 Oregon, No. 5 USC, No. 20 Arizona, No. 22 Colorado and No. 23 Stanford coming from the Pac-12 Conference.

"We are taking a limited bunch. We are really trying to make this a championship experience for those kids who have earned the marks to be there and be competitive. That is how we are looking at this meet and the direction we want our program to be. We want to give them a sense of what being great is and just being average or good," Kepler said.

A few Utah distance runners that will be featured this weekend include senior Becky Sarmiento, along with juniors Grayson Murphy, and Hannah McInturff. Two weeks ago at the Husky Classic, all three athletes broke into the top-10 all-time record list.

Murphy broke the 35-year old school record in the 5000-meter run after recording a time of 16:16.62, becoming the fastest time since February of 1982 when Jill Molen posted a time of 16:18.52. In the 3000-meter run, McInturff and Sarmiento both posted top-10 all-time performances. McInturff moved into fourth all-time, while Sarmiento's race ranked ninth all-time.

Freshman sprinter Holly Stallman will also head to Seattle to compete in the championship meet. In her first collegiate indoor track season, Stallman has been excellent for the Utes in the 60-meter dash where she currently holds the fifth fastest time in school history. Stallman had a stretch of races where she recorded three personal records in a row in the 60-meter dash.

Leading the jumps group at the MPSF Championships will be freshman Ann Wingeleth. Wingeleth has competed in the long jump at four meets, finishing in the top-five in three meets, top-10 in all four meets, and claimed two long jump event victories. Wingeleth holds the second highest mark in school history in the long jump and the fifth highest mark in the triple jump.

"This is could be our final indoor meet barring we can get a qualifier to jump into the NCAA Championship meet, which is the hardest championship of any to qualify for. They only take the top-16 from each event from all the teams in the country. If we can get somebody into the national meet, we will be excited about that and if we don't, then we will start our preparations for the outdoor season," Kepler said.

Listen below to Kyle Kepler's weekly Utah Track Chat where he previews the MPSF Championships.