Murphy Second in Steeplechase to Lead Utah Track and Field at Pac-12 Championships

Saturday, May 12

Stanford, CA

6:30 PM

University of Utah

Pac-12 Championships

Photo by: Pac-12 Photo

Murphy Second in Steeplechase to Lead Utah Track and Field at Pac-12 Championships

5/12/2018 10:15 PM | Track & Field

Results

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Grayson Murphy finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to lead the Utah track and field team on the first day of the Pac-12 Championships, hosted by Stanford. Utah is tied for 11^th after the first day of competition with eight points.

Murphy finished the steeplechase with a time of 10:00.02, just behind Colorado's Sage Hurta (9:57.28), scoring all eight of Utah's points at the meet.

"Awesome, awesome effort by Grayson," Kepler said. "We knew it was going to be a battle. Sage was second a year ago and Grayson was third, so we knew she was going to have her hands full. She spent the entire race trying to get away from Sage and we have to give Sage a lot of credit, she covered all the moves that Grayson made or tried to make and was able to outkick her in the final 150 meters. We still have a lot of work to do but good refresher going into regionals and nationals. Her eight points put us on the board, so that was nice."

The 800 was also a strong race for the Utes with Caitie Faust and Sarah Newton both qualifying for Sunday's finals. Faust finished the preliminaries sixth in 2:07.94 with Newton placing ninth in 2:08.88.

"Caitie right to the front in her race and drove a pretty quick pace," Kepler said. "She was very aggressive and able to hang on and get a time qualifier. Sarah was third in the first section got third and another qualifier. It's more scoring chances tomorrow for us."

The Utes had six total competitors in the 800. Senior Grace Englund placed 17^th in 2:11.71, freshman Whitney Hessler finished 23^rd in 2:13.71, sophomore Nicole Griffiths was 26^th in 2:15.29 and junior Sadie Wassum finished 27^th in 2:15.32.

Griffiths also competed in the 1,500, finishing 23^rd with a time of 4:42.70. Senior Hannah McInturff led the Utes in the race with a 17^th-place finish in a time of 4:32.95 while senior Dakota Grossman was 21^st with a season-best time of 4:42.10. Senior Megan Perkins-Killian placed 22^nd in 4:42.38.

"Hannah put herself out there and gave herself a great chance, she just couldn't hold on over the last 200 meters," Kepler said. "A fifth-year senior, she put everything out there on the track she could."

Senior Alissa Atisme finished 18^th in the 200 with a time of 24.33. Junior Raynee Helm Wheelock competed in two events for the Utes, placing 19^th in the 100 (12:26) and 24^th in the 200 (25.78).

In the 400 meter dash, senior Mesa Weidle placed 20^th with a personal-best time of 56.58 while freshman Jackie Martin finished 21^st in 56.67. Senior Madison Lanford led Utah in the 400 hurdles, finishing 20^th in a season-best time of 1:03.13, followed by freshman Rachel Whipple in 21^st (1:03.84) and freshman Ruby Jane Mathewson in 22^nd (1:04.32).

Eliza Hansen placed 17^th in the high jump with a clearance of 5'2.25" (1.58m).

The meet continues on Sunday, May 13, highlighted by the 4x400 meter relay team and 5,000 meter run.

"I'm excited for what's to come," Kepler said. "We had some young student-athletes do some really good things today. We've got a lot of these women coming back. I thought our seniors really stepped up today and did a great job."