4x400 Squad Sets New School Record at Don Kirby Invite

Friday, February 14

Seattle, WA

All Day

University of Utah

UW Husky Classic

Fuller, Blair, O'Banion, J. Martin 4x400m School Record

4x400 Squad Sets New School Record at Don Kirby Invite

2/14/2020 9:53 PM | Track & Field

Don Kirby Friday Results Husky Classic Friday Results

Oneillia Fuller, Skyler Blair, Lauren O'Banion and Jackie Martin make history during final event at Don Kirby.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. & SEATTLE — In the last event of the day at the Don Kirby Invite the Utah 4x400m-relay squad set a new school record in a tremendous effort, securing second in their heat and third-overall with a mark of 3:41.25 inside the Albuquerque Convention Center Friday. The relay squad included: Oneillia Fuller, Skyler Blair, Lauren O'Banion and Jackie Martin.

"That's a huge race for those gals...it was just awesome and I am so proud of them. They have been aiming for that all year and even from last year so I'm really excited and a great job by them," head coach Kyle Kepler said.

This topped the previous record clocked back in 2014 (3:43.93) by two seconds, set by Stephanie Jolley, Ali Eisenbeiss, Rosalie Waller and Grace Englund. UCLA won the event in 3.33.98 while Oregon finished in second-place — nudging the Utes in the same heat by four seconds.

Attention Please ?
?
School record 4x400 to wrap up the day. ?
?
*drips mic* ?#goutes #utahtfxc pic.twitter.com/oWihzFEZBl
— Utah T&F/XC (@Utah_trackfield) February 14, 2020

Martin also saw action in the 400m event and finished in 13th with a time of 55.41.

The Utes placed two of their three entries in the top-six of the 800m race. Caitlin Faust led Utah by running just off her PR pace to earn second (2:10.52). Whitney Hessler crossed the finish line in second for Utah with a mark of 2:11.56 and came in sixth. Jasie York capped off the runners for Utah recording a new personal-best of 2:18.97 for 31st.

"Overall, it was a solid day and that 4x400 was a terrific way to end the meet and hope it was something we can build on up here at the Husky Classic tonight." coach Kepler noted.

*Results have not been adjusted for altitude.

Utah opened up competition Friday afternoon in Seattle at the loaded Husky Classic with the 3k race. Sarah Feeny paced the Utes and ran it in 9:21.47 for 26th. Following Feeny was Cara Woolnough, who ran a strong race and finished in the top-10 of her heat by placing 52nd-overall with a PR time of 9:41.17. Kennedy Powell recorded a mark of 9:50.69 to earn 65th while Anna Busatto just missed a new PR by two-tenths of a second in 9:55.93.

Stepping on the track for the first time this season, Scarlet Dale represented Utah in her first 5k indoor race of her collegiate career. Running with the front of the pack for a majority of the race, Dale finished in 16:59.51 — which was good for eighth in her heat and 54th-overall.

"Scarlet ran a nice race. She ran near the front of her heat the entire way and took the lead with 700 to go," Kepler explained. "This is her first race in a while and she'll continue to finish better with more racing, but still a nice start for her."

The Utah track and field team will wrap of its weekend of competition tomorrow for the final day of the Husky Classic and at the Weber State Invite with more of the developing and emerging athletes running.

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