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#27 Utah Cross Country Heads to Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational
9/26/2017 4:52 PM | Cross Country
The Utes compete in their first big meet of the season.
SALT LAKE CITY – The 27th-ranked Utah cross country team heads to South Bend, Ind., to compete in its first big meet of the year at the Joe Piane Invitational on Friday Sept. 29th.
The Utes enter the week still ranked fifth in the Mountain Region and drop five spots (since last meet) to be ranked 27th in the USTFCCA national poll. This week's race will give Utah a chance to potentially move up spots in the national rankings.
"We took sixth there a year ago and it kind of jump started our season and got us headed in the right direction so we'll hope that will happen again," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "Another great field this year with several highly ranked teams that we will be competing against and I'm hopeful we hold our own. It should be a very interesting race and we will have to get out very hard and get into the race very quickly. There is not going to be a lot of playing around and will have to be ready to race every step of that race."
Utah will be competing as a team in the first race of the day which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EST. Competing for the Utes in that race will include senior Grayson Murphy, who was Utah's top runner last year at the NCAA Championships and a two-time track All-American. She is making her first cross-country appearance of the year. Sophomore Amanda Gehrich took second overall last meet at the Montana State Invite. Sophomore Poppy Tank also finished in the top five at Montana State.
Utah will also have several runners competing in the open race which is scheduled to being at 2:30 p.m. EST. Running for the Utes in the open race will include junior Hannah Allred, freshman Bella Williams and junior Jade Mulvey.
The Utes also received some good news that graduate transfer Louise Mercer will be in the lineup on Friday after being cleared by the NCAA last week. Mercer competed unattached this year at the Utah State Invite where finished in ninth place.
In a field of 47 teams, the Utes will be competing against six teams that are ranked in the top 30 nationally and three teams that received votes in the latest poll. Competing against Utah will be meet host No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 1 Colorado, No. 3 New Mexico, No. 7 NC State, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 26 Ohio State. The teams who have received votes in the latest poll include Baylor, Eastern Michigan, and Air Force.
"This has been a very enjoyable team to coach," Kepler said. "They are all on the same page, they are all in it for each other and they know there is competition for these spots but they also understand that it's even more important to be together in this and know that no matter who is out on the course representing us they are all a part of it and I think that's been something fun to watch take hold."
The Utes enter the week still ranked fifth in the Mountain Region and drop five spots (since last meet) to be ranked 27th in the USTFCCA national poll. This week's race will give Utah a chance to potentially move up spots in the national rankings.
"We took sixth there a year ago and it kind of jump started our season and got us headed in the right direction so we'll hope that will happen again," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "Another great field this year with several highly ranked teams that we will be competing against and I'm hopeful we hold our own. It should be a very interesting race and we will have to get out very hard and get into the race very quickly. There is not going to be a lot of playing around and will have to be ready to race every step of that race."
Utah will be competing as a team in the first race of the day which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. EST. Competing for the Utes in that race will include senior Grayson Murphy, who was Utah's top runner last year at the NCAA Championships and a two-time track All-American. She is making her first cross-country appearance of the year. Sophomore Amanda Gehrich took second overall last meet at the Montana State Invite. Sophomore Poppy Tank also finished in the top five at Montana State.
Utah will also have several runners competing in the open race which is scheduled to being at 2:30 p.m. EST. Running for the Utes in the open race will include junior Hannah Allred, freshman Bella Williams and junior Jade Mulvey.
The Utes also received some good news that graduate transfer Louise Mercer will be in the lineup on Friday after being cleared by the NCAA last week. Mercer competed unattached this year at the Utah State Invite where finished in ninth place.
In a field of 47 teams, the Utes will be competing against six teams that are ranked in the top 30 nationally and three teams that received votes in the latest poll. Competing against Utah will be meet host No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 1 Colorado, No. 3 New Mexico, No. 7 NC State, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 26 Ohio State. The teams who have received votes in the latest poll include Baylor, Eastern Michigan, and Air Force.
"This has been a very enjoyable team to coach," Kepler said. "They are all on the same page, they are all in it for each other and they know there is competition for these spots but they also understand that it's even more important to be together in this and know that no matter who is out on the course representing us they are all a part of it and I think that's been something fun to watch take hold."
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