Track & Field Records Seven New PR's to Wrap Up the Weekend

Saturday, February 9

Boise, ID

All Day

University of Utah

New Balance/Boise Team Invitational

Track & Field Records Seven New PR's to Wrap Up the Weekend

2/9/2019 8:11 PM | Track & Field

BSU Team Challenge Results Don Kirby Complete Results

The Utes have solid outings in Boise and Albuquerque.

BOISE, Idaho and ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Utes wrapped up competition at the New Balance/Boise Team Invite and Don Kirby Invite on Saturday with seven runners earning new personal records.

"Just a heck of a meet and our kids really stepped up here and performed at a really high level and I couldn't be more proud of them," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "The highlight for us is probably the 3,000-meter run. We had a bunch of PR's, we had some kids just miss PR's and I have to mention Astrid Lindgren. She's been a kid that's been with our program for a couple of years, works her tail off every day and she got a big result today running a huge lifetime best."

At the New Balance/Boise Team Invite, Utah captured its one and only event title of the day in the 3,000-meter race where true freshman Scarlet Dale finished with a time of 9:37.46 to take home the event title. Following in Dale was redshirt sophomore's Trina Moreno and Emma Christensen. Moreno finished in fifth place with a time of 10:03.63 while Christensen earned sixth place with a personal best time of 10:05.38. This mark tops Christensen's previous record by 17 seconds. Rounding out the top five finishers for the Utes was freshman Sara Leonard and sophomore Lindgren. Leonard captured 12th place with a time of 10:19.46, just beating her previous record time of 10:19.49. Lindgren ran a great race as she finished in 17th place in a personal best time of 10:29.67. This beats her previous record time by 18 seconds.

Utah had another strong showing in the mile run where freshman Kennedy Powell finished in third place in a personal best time of 5:02.39, topping her previous record by seven seconds. Senior Megan Killian and sophomore Natalie Platil also competed finishing in eighth and 18th place, respectively. Killian finished with a time of 5:08.48 while Platil topped her previous record by three seconds, finishing with a time of 5:18.39.

In the 400-meter race, Utah placed all six of their competitors inside the top-20 finishers with freshman Brooke Manson leading the way. Manson finished the 400-meter race in a time of 57.82. Junior Sarah Newton, senior Sadie Wassum and freshman Kayla Rees crossed the finish line together earning eighth, ninth, and 10th place, respectively. Newton finished with a time of 58.06, Wassum finished with a time of 58.11 and Rees finished with a time of 58.49. Manson, Newton and Wassum's times were the third, fourth and fifth fastest times recorded this season in the 400.

Rees also competed in the 200-meter dash event where she earned a 13th place finish with a time of 26.16. Junior Brooke Martin also competed and captured 29th place in a time of 26.79. B. Martin's time is the fourth fastest time recorded on the season in the 200.

Freshman Cara Woolnough had a strong outing in the 800-meter race as she captured a second-place finish in a time of 2:12.19. Freshman Sophie Ryan and junior Anna Busatto also competed finishing in third and 13th place, respectively. Ryan recorded a time of 2:12.56 while Busatto recorded a new personal best time of 2:21.11, topping her previous record by four seconds.

In the 4x400-meter race, the Utah 'A' squad finished in second place in a time of 3:53.80. Competing in squad 'A' was Newton, Manson, Griffiths and Wassum.

Moving to the Don Kirby Invite, Utah competed in only three events with the women's 4x400-meter race being the highlight of the meet. In the 4x400 race, Utah squad 'A' finished in 10th place with a season best time of 3:47.35. Running for squad 'A' was freshmen Lauren O'Banion, Maya Lebar, senior Mesa Weidle and sophomore Jackie Martin.

Sophomore Whitney Hessler and freshman Brooklyn James were the lone Utes competing in their events today. Hessler competed in the mile race where she earned a fifth-place finish in a time of 5:10.05. James competed in the 800-meter race and finished in eighth place with a time of 2:17.63.

"Our program took a huge step forward today and there's no doubt about that and I am so impressed with the kid's efforts," Kepler explained. "Not the times, not the outcome, just how they did it. The overall effort and the looks on their faces and how much it meant to them and just the way they support each other is just a joy to watch from a coaching stand point."

Utah will have the next week off as they prepare for the MPSF Indoor Championships taking place Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23, in Seattle, Wash.

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