#27 Utah Cross Country Takes fifth at Notre Dame Invitational

Friday, September 29

South Bend, Ind.

All Day

University of Utah

Notre Dame Invitational

#27 Utah Cross Country Takes fifth at Notre Dame Invitational

9/29/2017 6:18 PM | Cross Country

Women's Blue results Women's Open results

Grayson Murphy led the Utes with a fourth place finish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The 27th-ranked Utah cross country team finished fifth in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Friday afternoon, led by a fourth-place finish from Grayson Murphy.

"We beat some other nationally ranked teams and teams that are right behind us," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "I thought we did a good job and our front three were awesome and ran a real solid race."

Utah had three runners in the top 30. Behind Murphy, who finished the 5-km course in a time of 16:17.9 in her first race of the season, was sophomores Amanda Gehrich and Poppy Tank. Gehrich finished in 29th with a time of 16:59.5 and Tank finished in 30th with a time of 17:00.0.

Rounding out the top-five scorers for the Utes were seniors Jessica Sams and Louise Mercer. Sams finished the race in 59th with a time of 17:28.3 and Mercer finished in 71st with a time of 17:43.6.

Also running in the premier race this afternoon for the Utes included senior Hannah McInturff, who placed 79th with a time of 17:46.9. Senior Dakota Grossman finished 98th in a time of 17:56.5. Junior Caitlin Faust finished in 126th with a time of 18:25.8, and freshman Aubrey Argyle placed 132nd in a time of 18:32.6

"Jess, Louise, and Hannah, we know there is more there," Kepler said. "Those guys ran solid races. Jess, who is coming back after a two-year layoff in terms of cross country, we know there is more there for her. Louise, in her first race collegiately, I think she learned a lot. Hannah was about the same last year and this was probably her worst race of the season and then she got better and better throughout the season, so we know these girls are solid."

Utah finished behind four top 10 teams for its fifth-place finish. No. 1-ranked Colorado took home the team title with 47 points. No. 3 New Mexico finished in second place with 51 points, followed by No. 7 NC State in third with 118 points and No. 9 Arkansas in fourth with 171. The Utes finished ahead of 12th-ranked Notre Dame, which finished 13th.

The Utes also competed in an open race later Friday afternoon and all of Utah's runners finished in the top 15. Freshman Trina Moreno finished third overall with a time of 18:03.9 in her first collegiate cross country race. Sophomore Nicole Griffiths finished in fifth place with a time of 18:16.6 and freshman Bella Williams finished in sixth place in a time of 18:17.3.

Sophomore Shaylen Crook placed eighth (18:19.7), junior Jade Mulvey finished in 10th (18:35.2), and junior Hannah Allred finished in 13th (18:42.2) to round out the runners for Utah.

"I am really proud of those girls, they ran their guts outs, they got up to the front of the race and really made it go and certainly competed at a really high level," Kepler said. "Overall it was a really solid day here in South Bend between both races and we certainly have some things to work on but a lot to look forward to and we are starting to gain some momentum."

Utah will be back in action in two weeks on Oct. 13 at the Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wisc.