Completed Event: Track & Field versus NCAA Championships on June 12, 2025 ,
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Track & Field
vs NCAA Championships
Saturday, March 24
San Diego, CA
All Day
University of Utah
at
Aztec Invitational
Five Top-10 Finishes Highlight Aztec Invitational
3/24/2018 10:51 PM | Track & Field
SAN DIEGO – Led by a fourth-place finish in the 800 meters by Grace Englund, the Utah track and field team had five top-10 finishes at the Aztec Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
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"It was a strong day two," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "Coach [Chad] Colwell's done a great job with this group in his first year. It's been a solid day and a solid weekend and we look forward to getting back and enjoying the rest of spring break before getting back after it on Monday."
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Englund finished fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:10.67, the second-straight week she has run a 2.10 time in the race. In her first track meet since last year's Pac-12 Championships, Sadie Wassum finished eighth with a time of 2:14.42. Whitney Hessler finished 11th in 2:15.34.
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"I thought Sadie performed at a really high level in her first race in 10 and a half months and Whitney was aggressive and led most of her heat. She just got beat out at the end but I thought she did a nice job of being aggressive and learning from her mistakes last race," Kepler said.
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Alissa Atisme paced Utah in the 200 with a sixth-place time of 24:04. Jackie Martin moved into ninth all-time at Utah with a time of 25.06 for 19th place. Raynee Helm Wheelock finished 24th in a personal-best time of 25.59 while Mesa Weidle was 25th with a time of 25.84. Atisme also paced Utah in the 100, finishing 14th in 11.96. Helm Wheelock also ran a personal-best time in the 100 of 12.17 for a 17th-place finish, moving her into fifth all-time at Utah. Martin moved into eighth all-time at Utah with a 21st-place finish in the 100 12.29. Weidle also ran the 400 in 58.32 for 12th place.
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"It's great to see Alissa run this fast this early, that says a lot about her fitness level. I thought everyone ran particularly well in the 200," Kepler said.
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In the 400 hurdles, Rachel Whipple ran a time of 1:03.39 for ninth overall. Madison Lanford won the third heat and finished 16th in 1:05.08. Ruby Jane Mathewson finished 17th in 1:05.31 in her first collegiate 400 hurdles. Brooke Martin finished 19th in 1:06.62. Whipple and Lanford also ran the event yesterday.
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"I thought for Rachel to run 63 seconds again was pretty impressive," Kepler said. "Maddie looked good and did a lot of good things although she certainly wanted to run a little faster time, but anytime you win your heat it's a good thing. I thought Ruby Jane did a real nice job in her first 400 hurdle race, she faded a little in the last 100 which is expected for freshman since they only run the 300 hurdles in high school. I thought those guys looked really good."
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Eliza Hansen finished ninth in the high jump with a mark of 5'3 ¼" (1.61m). Regan Crofts finished 12th in the javelin with a best throw of 87'1" (26.55m).
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"Eliza looked as good as she has in three years," Kepler said. "She had some good looks at the height she missed and there is definitely more there."
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Utah has competitors at three different meets next week: the Stanford Invitational, San Francisco State Invitational and Utah Valley Invitational.
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"It was a strong day two," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "Coach [Chad] Colwell's done a great job with this group in his first year. It's been a solid day and a solid weekend and we look forward to getting back and enjoying the rest of spring break before getting back after it on Monday."
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Englund finished fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:10.67, the second-straight week she has run a 2.10 time in the race. In her first track meet since last year's Pac-12 Championships, Sadie Wassum finished eighth with a time of 2:14.42. Whitney Hessler finished 11th in 2:15.34.
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"I thought Sadie performed at a really high level in her first race in 10 and a half months and Whitney was aggressive and led most of her heat. She just got beat out at the end but I thought she did a nice job of being aggressive and learning from her mistakes last race," Kepler said.
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Alissa Atisme paced Utah in the 200 with a sixth-place time of 24:04. Jackie Martin moved into ninth all-time at Utah with a time of 25.06 for 19th place. Raynee Helm Wheelock finished 24th in a personal-best time of 25.59 while Mesa Weidle was 25th with a time of 25.84. Atisme also paced Utah in the 100, finishing 14th in 11.96. Helm Wheelock also ran a personal-best time in the 100 of 12.17 for a 17th-place finish, moving her into fifth all-time at Utah. Martin moved into eighth all-time at Utah with a 21st-place finish in the 100 12.29. Weidle also ran the 400 in 58.32 for 12th place.
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"It's great to see Alissa run this fast this early, that says a lot about her fitness level. I thought everyone ran particularly well in the 200," Kepler said.
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In the 400 hurdles, Rachel Whipple ran a time of 1:03.39 for ninth overall. Madison Lanford won the third heat and finished 16th in 1:05.08. Ruby Jane Mathewson finished 17th in 1:05.31 in her first collegiate 400 hurdles. Brooke Martin finished 19th in 1:06.62. Whipple and Lanford also ran the event yesterday.
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"I thought for Rachel to run 63 seconds again was pretty impressive," Kepler said. "Maddie looked good and did a lot of good things although she certainly wanted to run a little faster time, but anytime you win your heat it's a good thing. I thought Ruby Jane did a real nice job in her first 400 hurdle race, she faded a little in the last 100 which is expected for freshman since they only run the 300 hurdles in high school. I thought those guys looked really good."
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Eliza Hansen finished ninth in the high jump with a mark of 5'3 ¼" (1.61m). Regan Crofts finished 12th in the javelin with a best throw of 87'1" (26.55m).
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"Eliza looked as good as she has in three years," Kepler said. "She had some good looks at the height she missed and there is definitely more there."
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Utah has competitors at three different meets next week: the Stanford Invitational, San Francisco State Invitational and Utah Valley Invitational.
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Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Javelin
/ Track & Field
400m/800m
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
400m/800m
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Combined Events
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Hurdles
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