Track & Field Moves Six into All-time Lists While Feeny Sets New School Record

Friday, February 8

Albuquerque, NM

All Day

University of Utah

Don Kirby Collegiate Elite Invitational

Track & Field Moves Six into All-time Lists While Feeny Sets New School Record

2/8/2019 11:00 PM | Track & Field

2019 Husky Classic Compiled Results Friday Results Don Kirby Invite

The Utes have a big day in Albuquerque and Seattle.

SEATTLE and ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Utah women's track and field team opened up its busy weekend at the Husky Classic and the Don Kirby Invite on Friday by moving six athletes into the all-time top-10 lists while junior Sarah Feeny set a new school record.

"Awesome day and we are improving all across the board in a lot of events with a lot of different kids so I was really impressed," head coach Kyle Kepler. "There were some last-minute changes to the schedule so our gals ran at different times than originally scheduled and I was just really proud of how mentally tough they were and the effort they gave today."

At the Husky Classic, Utah competed in only one event, the 3,000-meter race, where Feeny, sophomore Poppy Tank and sophomore Bella Williams all recorded new personal records. Feeny led all Utes finishing in 14th place in a time of 9:11.46. With this time, Feeny set a new school record and topped her previous record by two seconds. Tank and Williams finished in 31st and 54th recording times of 9:24.42 and 9:38.51, respectively. Tanks time beats her previous personal best by two seconds and moves her into fourth place all-time while Williams topped her previous best by four seconds and keeps her placed 10th all-time in the event.

At the Don Kirby Invite, the Utes added three more runners to the all-time lists at Utah. Sophomore Jackie Martin and freshman Maya Lebar highlighted the meet for the Utes as they competed in the 200-meter dash where they finished in 40th and 48th place, respectively. Martin finished the race in a personal best time of 24.81 and moved herself into second place all-time in the indoor 200. Lebar also finished in a personal best time of 24.96 to move herself into fourth place all-time. Also competing for Utah was freshman Taylor Watson, senior Raynee Helm-Wheelock and freshman Lauren O'Banion. Watson captured 56th in a time of 25.06, just missing out on beating her personal-record time of 25.05. Helm-Wheelock finished in 88th with a time of 25.77 and O'Banion earned 102nd with a time of 26.05.

Sophomore Whitney Hessler joined in on the fun and finished in third place with a time personal best time of 1:31.90 in the 600-meter race. This time moves Hessler into second place all-time at Utah in the event.

Moving to the unseeded 400-meter race, J. Martin led the Utes winning her heat and finishing in sixth place overall with a time of 56.67. Freshman Brooklyn James and senior Mesa Weidle also competed in the 400. James captured 20th with a time of 57.41 while Weidle earned 31st with a time of 58.24.

Senior Eliza Hansen posted a solid mark in the women's high jump event. Hansen finished in sixth place with a jumping height of 5'3.75" (1.62 meters).

"We had some schedule changes that our kids handled amazingly well and it didn't bother them one bit. Our kids are adapting and handling it and I wouldn't expect anything less of this group. They have done a terrific job all season and I know they are ready for the challenge that tomorrow brings," Kepler said.

The Utes will be back in action tomorrow at the Don Kirby Invite and the New Balance/Boise Team Invite. Competition for the Don Kirby Invite is slated to begin at 9:30 a.m. (MST), while competition at the Boise Team Invite is set to being at 9:00 a.m. (MST).