Sims Headed to UW Last Chance While DMR Squad Heads Back East for JDL DMR Invite

Friday, February 21

Seattle, WA

All Day

University of Utah

UW Last Chance

Sims Headed to UW Last Chance While DMR Squad Heads Back East for JDL DMR Invite

2/20/2020 11:20 AM | Track & Field

JDL DMR Schedule JDL DMR Live Results UW Last Chance Schedule UW Last Chance Live Results

The Utes look to improve their chances for qualifying times the weekend before indoor championship meets begin.

Date: Friday, February 21, 2020
Location: Dempsey Indoor (UW) & JDL Fast Track (N.C.)
Host: University of Washington & JDL Fast Track
Time: UW Last Chance: Friday - 2:00 p.m. (MT) | JDL DMR: Friday - 4:00 p.m. (MT)

Starting Block
Entering the final weekend of the regular indoor track & field season, the Utes will send senior Kolbi Sims back to Seattle for the UW Last Chance meet while head coach Kyle Kepler takes the DMR squad back east to compete on the "Fastest 200m Flat Track in the Country" at the JDL DMR Invite in Winston-Salem, N.C. Both meets are scheduled to begin on Friday, Feb. 21.

In Seattle, Sims will have a chance to compete in more events and gain familiarity with the venue with the team traveling back to Seattle the following weekend for the MPSF Indoor Championships (Feb. 28-29).

At the JDL DMR Invite, coach Kepler looks to get over the hump in an event the Utes have come up just short in over the years. Currently, Utah owns the 11th ranked time in the country with the mark they posted at the UW Invite (11:19.13) earlier this season.

Utah Athletes

UW Last Chance
Kolbi Sims

JDL DMR Invite
Squad — Jackie Martin, Sarah Newton, Brooke Manson & Sarah Feeny

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
Utah owns four times that rank inside the top 50 of the NCAA after the completion of last weekend's meets. Brooke Manson sits in 37th (2:07.31) in the 800m event with the time she posted at the Husky Classic while Sarah Feeny jumped to No. 48 with a time of 9:21.47 in the 3k. The DMR squad of Sarah Newton, Caitlin Faust, Brooke Manson and Sarah Feeny rank 11th (11:19.13) for the second consecutive week with the mark they earned at the UW Invite. After Sims' historic performance in the pentathlon at the Texas Tech Invite (3,891), she now ranks 24th in the NCAA.

In the MPSF (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), the women of Utah own 17 different marks that rank inside the top-30 as well.

MPSF Top Marks
Event	Rank	Name	Time/Distance/Points
60m	15th	Taylor Watson	7.56
400m	18th	Jackie Martin	55.52
	24th	Skyler Blair	56.09
	27th	Lauren O'Banion	56.24
800m	10th	Brooke Manson	2:07.31
	14th	Caitlin Faust	2:08.06
	24th 28th	Whitney Hessler Brooklyn James	2:10.83 2:12.39
Mile	11th 23rd	Sarah Newton Sophie Ryan	4:42.24 4:49.63
3k	13th	Sarah Feeny	9:21.47
5k	27th	Scarlet Dale	16:59.51
60m Hurdles	21st	Kolbi Sims	8.69
4x400m Relay	7th	Lauren O'Banion Skyler Blair Oneillia Fuller Jackie Martin	3:41.69
DMR	5th	Sarah Newton Caitlin Faust Brooke Manson Sarah Feeny	11:19.13
High Jump	15th	Kolbi Sims	1.68m
Pentathlon	5th	Kolbi Sims	3,891

LAST TIME OUT
Utah split up to compete in three different meets at the Don Kirby Invite, Husky Classic and Weber State Invite. During the last event of the Don Kirby, the 4x400m relay squad comprised of Oneillia Fuller, Skyler Blair, Lauren O'Banion and Jackie Martin made school history in a tremendous effort setting a new school-record with a mark of 3:41.25.

The day before, Whitney Hessler and Fuller ran in the 600m race where the three top-finishers all ran in the same heat. Hessler finished in second while Fuller finished on her heels in third — posting a PR mark of 1:32.56, which topped her previous by two seconds.

In the 200m dash, Blair led the Utes placing 38th (24.95) while O'Banion won her heat in a PR performance of 25.18 for 49th and jumped into eighth all-time.

At the Husky Classic, Sarah Newton moved herself into third all-time in the mile after posting a huge PR of 4:42.24 while Sophie Ryan followed suite by winning her heat and jumped from ninth to seventh in school history with a new PR of her own (4:49.63). Brooke Manson capped off the Husky Classic competing in the 800m run with an inspiring performance, earning a new PR (2:07.31) and vaulted from ninth to fifth all-time.

Utah capped off the weekend at the Weber State Invite on Saturday with freshman Kaitlyn Mercer securing the win in the 800m when she crossed the finish line at 2:17.46. Meanwhile, Aniya Bob ran a strong race earning 14th (2:32.47). Nicole Griffiths was the lone Ute in the 1k event and captured the title (3:03.38) in a close one against teammate Natalie Platil (3:04.95) - who was competing unattached.

Freshman Karli Branch made her indoor season debut running in the mile race unattached and notched a time of 5:27.13 for 13th. The Utes had four entries in the 3k event and saw three finishing in the top-10. Ellie Lundgreen paced Utah, recording a time of 10:20.00 flat for fifth while Emma Christensen finished two spots back in 7th (10:24.04). Grace Burnett and Sara Leonard rounded out the Utah entries placing ninth and 10th, respectively.

UP NEXT
Capping off the indoor regular season at the last chance meets, the Utes will travel to Seattle to compete at the MPSF Championships Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-29. The meet is hosted by the University of Washington and will be held at the Dempsey Indoor.

LOOKING FORWARD
With great performances at the MPSF Championships, Utah will look to send athletes back to Albuquerque, N.M., to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday, March 13-14. The championships will be held at the Albuquerque Convention Center, which has hosted five USTAF Indoor National Championships and the first NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships in NCAA history at altitude.

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

PODCAST
Tune in to listen to head coach Kyler Kepler in his weekly Track Chat podcast. In this edition, coach Kepler breaks down the final weekend of the regular indoor season.