Track & Field Opens Indoor Season Friday at Weber State Winter Open

Friday, December 6

Ogden, UT

All Day

University of Utah

Weber State

Track & Field Opens Indoor Season Friday at Weber State Winter Open

12/5/2019 1:02 PM | Track & Field

Winter Open Info

The Utes kick off the indoor season in Ogden.

Utah Track & Field Opens Indoor Season Friday at Weber State Winter Open

Date: Friday and Saturday, December 6-7, 2019
Location: Stromberg Center Indoor Track | Ogden, Utah
Host: Weber State University
Time: Friday - 5:00 p.m. (MT) | Saturday - 9:50 a.m. (MT)

Starting Block
With a historic cross country season coming to an end, the focus now turns to the track as the Utah track and field team will open its 2019-20 indoor season this Friday and Saturday at the Weber State Winter Open. Competition is slated to begin on Friday at 5:30 p.m. (MT) with the field events at the Marquardt Field House and on Saturday at 9:50 a.m. featuring the track events at the Stromberg Arena.

Utah Athletes
Friday:
Kolbi Sims - High Jump

Saturday:
Kolbi Sims - 55m hurdles
Ruby Jane Mathewson - 600m
Brooke Martin - 600m
Kayla Rees - 600m
Maya LeBar - 55m
Taylor Watson - 55m
Jackie Martin - 55m
Lauren O'Banion - 55m
Skyler Blair - 55m
Aniya Bobo - 400m
Ally Gomm - 400m

Fresh Faces
The Utah track and field team brings in a small freshman class with a total of eight newcomers five of which have already seen action during this last cross country season. The eight freshmen include: Aniya Bobo, Karli Branch, Grace Burnett, Ally Gomm, Ellie Lundgreen, Kaitlyn Mercer, Abby Rasmussen and Jasie York.

Bobo hails from North Ogden, Utah, where she attended Weber High School. While there, Bobo notched five top-three finishes in the 400-meters and took 10th-place overall in the 400 at the UHSAA State Championship meet. From Provo, Gomm attended Provo High School where she was a two-time Utah State Champion in the 300-meter hurdles. In 2017, Gomm captured the title in the 300-meter hurdles along with finishing second in the 400 and fourth in the 200 at the state championship meet. Another Utah product, Jasie York, joins the program from Cedar City High School where she was a three-time state champion. In 2018, York was the state champion in both the 200 and 400-meter events along with earning a fourth-place finish in the 800.

Utah received one transfer in Oneillia Fuller who joins the Utes from Savannah State where she was a two-sport athlete (volleyball and track & field). Prior to Utah, Fuller finished in seventh in the 400 at the MEAC Indoor Championships and finished 10th overall in the 400 at the MEAC Outdoor Championships.

Welcome Back
In total, the Utah track and field program welcomes back 33 athletes as experience will be the name of the game this season. For the sprinters, Maya LeBar, Jackie Martin and Taylor Watson look to lead this group. Last season, Lebar competed in five indoor events and finished 20th overall in the 200 at the MPSF Championships. For Martin, she competed in five indoor meets last season and clocked a new team and personal-best time of 55.06 while placing eighth in the 400 at the MPSF Championships. Watson completed an impressive freshman campaign last year seeing action in five meets and set two new school records in the 55 and 60-meter dashes.

Looking at the middle distance, senior Caitlin Faust, junior Whitney Hessler and sophomore Brooklyn James will lead the charge. Having not competed last year, Faust has been an integral part of the track and field program. Faust ranks fourth all-time in school history in the indoor 600 and ninth and seventh all-time in the indoor and outdoor 800. Faust was also a member of two 4x400 squads that rank third and fourth all-time at Utah. Hessler competed in five indoor meets last season and finished 16th overall in the 800 at the MPSF Championships. Hessler is also in the school history books being ranked second in the indoor 600 and 10th in the indoor 800. For James, she looks to back up a solid freshman season where she competed in four indoor meets and set a new PR and finished 21st overall in the 400 at the MPSF Championships.

Utah's strongest and deepest group comes from the distance side of the track. Being led by the standout trio of Poppy Tank, Sarah Feeny and Bella Williams, the distance squad is balanced with seasoned runners that bring experience. In school history, Tank ranks third in the indoor 3,000 while Feeny owns the school record in the indoor 3k and is second all-time in the indoor mile. Runners such as Sarah Newton, Nicole Griffiths, Cara Woolnough, Natalie Platil, Trina Moreno and more will all see action in many meets this upcoming season and will play pivotal parts to the Utes' success.

The program is happy to welcome back senior Kolbi Simms and junior Ruby Jane Mathewson who competed in multiple events for Utah, including the heptathlon and pentathlon. During the last outdoor season, Sims became the school's all-time point-leader in the heptathlon with 5,477 points while finishing fifth at the Pac-12 Championships. Senior Brooke Martin, junior Kayla Rees and sophomore Skyler Blair return for the hurdlers. As a freshman, Blair moved herself into school history ranking sixth all-time in the outdoor 400 and fifth in the outdoor 400 hurdles.

Up Next
The Utah track and field team will make the trip up to Boise, Idaho to compete at the Jackson Open before heading into the Christman break. The meet will take place on Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Jacksons Indoor Track.

Fans can follow the Utah cross country program on Twitter (@Utah_trackfield), Facebook (UtahTrackXC) and on Instagram (@UtahTrackXC).

Podcast
Click below to listen to head coach Kyle Kepler in his weekly TrackChat podcast. In this edition, coach Kepler gives a preview of the Weber State Winter Open.