2019-20 Indoor Track & Field Season Recap

Utah Track and Field / Cross Country Team

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

4/8/2020 10:18 AM | Track & Field

SALT LAKE CITY— The 2019-20 indoor track & field season can be best described by three words: fast, thrilling and exceptional. From its spectacular performances and truly inspiring efforts, the University of Utah track & field team didn't let up after completing one of its best cross country season's in school history. In totality, the Utes set five new school-records, moved or vaulted 15 athletes into the Utah all-time performance lists and recorded a plethora of personal-bests — showcasing the continuous hard work these athletes were dedicated to everyday.

Opening the indoor season up the road at the Weber State Winter Open, sophomore Maya Lebar got the excitement started tying the school-record (7.16) in the 55m dash preliminaries. Following Lebar was sophomore Taylor Watson, who one upped her and broke the school-record with a time of 7.13. But the fun didn't stop there. In the finals, Watson ran another stellar race by topping the record she had just set with a personal-best of 7.00 and took home the event title. It was quite the déjà vu moment for Watson, having broken the same school-record the season before at the very same meet.

Multi-event specialist, Kolbi Sims, contributed to the hot start, running a PR (8.06) in the 55m hurdles to finish second and move into third all-time.

The following week, both Watson and Sims continued their dominance at the Jacksons Open before heading into the holiday break. Competing in the 60m dash, Watson earned the top mark in her respective heat and backed that up with another record-setting performance (7.16) by topping her own school-record set the season before at the Ed Jacoby Invite. In the 60m hurdles, Sims captured the event title with a PR time of 8.73 and moved herself into fourth all-time. Also making a splash was sophomore Skyler Blair, who registered a 25.10 PR in the 200m race -- which moved her into sixth all-time.

Returning from the break, the Utes got right back to business at the Bronco Invite garnering four event titles. Utah shined in the mile placing all entries in the top-10 with Whitney Hessler taking the podium with a sub-five mile for the first time in her career. Kennedy Powell finished two-spots back in third while two freshmen, Grace Burnett and Ellie Lundgreen, made their collegiate indoor debuts placing ninth and 10th, respectively. The Utes dominated the 600m race, placing 6-of-11 entries in the top-10 and 9-of-11 inside the top-20. Sarah Newton paced the women of Utah in the 600m race, finishing in second with Brooke Manson right behind her in third as Brooklyn James started off the consecutive finishes earning fifth followed by Oneillia Fuller in sixth, Jasie York in seventh and Kaitlyn Mercer in eighth. Newton, Manson, James and Fuller all clocked times that moved them into the Utah all-time top-10 list.

After a weekend off, Utah split up for the first time and sent student-athletes to the Texas Tech Invite and the UW Invite in Seattle. Making their first trip to Lubbock, Texas, the Utes battled against eight teams that ranked in the top-25. Sims started the busy weekend competing in her first pentathlon of the season and didn't show any rust -- earning new pentathlon PR's in the 60m hurdles, shot put and fell just shy of a new pentathlon-best in the high jump. Finishing in the top-10 of every event, Sims racked up a total of 3,891 points to tie the school record that was set back in 2007 and topped her previous record by more than 200 points.

The next day, Blair and J. Martin were the highlights in Texas as both posted new 600m PR's that moved them into third and ninth all-time, respectively. Up in Seattle, Emma Christensen was the lone Ute to compete, racing in the 5k and earned a huge personal-best by chopping 15 seconds from her previous record.

On the final day of the weekend, Blair capped off her strong performances with a personal-best in the 200m race that moved her into second all-time. At the UW Invite, Hessler recorded a huge PR running a sub-five mile for the second time this season (4:55.00) while Anna Busatto joined the fun after avoiding two runners who went down around her, and bested her previous PR by 17 seconds (9:55.70).

Entering the latter half of the indoor season, Utah split up three different ways to compete at the elite Don Kirby Invite, UW Husky Classic and locally at the Weber State Invite. On day one at the Don Kirby Invite, Fuller set a new PR and moved into fifth all-time in the 600m while Lauren O'Banion won her heat with a new PR (25.18) that pushed her into eighth all-time in program history. Closing out the Don Kirby Invite the following day, the Utah 4x400m relay squad set a new school record in a tremendous effort during the last event of the weekend, securing second in their heat and third-overall with a mark of 3:41.25. The relay squad consisted of Fuller, Blair, O'Banion and J. Martin and 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.

Wrapping up the three-meet weekend, Newton and Sophie Ryan both ran the mile in under five minutes and recorded new personal records against a loaded field at the Husky Classic. Newton's time moved her into third all-time while Ryan jumped from ninth to seventh. Manson capped off the meet competing in the 800m run with an inspiring performance, earning a new PR and vaulted from ninth to fifth in school-history. At Weber State, the 800m event saw Mercer secure the win with a time of 2:17.46 while Nicole Griffiths captured the 1k title over teammate Natalie Platil - who competed unattached.

For many, that was the last weekend of competition as the MPSF Indoor Championships were looming. In preparation, coach Kypler opted to send Sims back to Seattle to compete at the UW Last Chance and gain familiarity of the Dempsey Indoor facility — where the MPSF Championships were going to be held — and took the DMR squad across the country in hopes of recording an NCAA qualifying mark in an event the Utes have fallen just short of over the years at the JDL DMR Invite.

Sims earned another all-time performance in the 60m hurdles at the UW Last Chance meet, running it in 8.58 to jump from fourth to second in the record books. Back east in North Carolina, the DMR team of Caitlin Faust, J. Martin, Manson and Newton ran a phenomenal relay and stepped on the track against a tough field that included three teams who owned a top-25 time nationally. The Utes secured fifth with a time of 11:17.81 and after the flat-track conversion was applied, it cut seven seconds off and moved the team into second all-time at Utah.

Back in Seattle for the MPSF Indoor Championships, Sims got the meet underway competing in her second pentathlon of the season. Finishing second in the 60m hurdles and sixth in both the high jump and shot put, Sims sat in fifth with two events to go. Not wasting any time, Sims leaped a season's best 5.54m (18'2.25") on her second attempt to secure third and ran a tremendous 800m race by posting a new career-best of 2:17.80 to give her the clutch win. The Eagle, Idaho, native placed fourth-overall totaling 3,889 points and to bookend her excellent collegiate career.

Utah closed out the first day of the MPSF Championships entering a squad into the DMR in hopes of earning a qualifying time for the NCAA Indoor Championships with it just on the outside looking in. Running a gutsy race, the DMR squad of Newton, Blair, Manson and Sarah Feeny finished second-overall with a time falling just short of a qualifying mark (11:15.68).

During the second and final day of the championships, the Utes saw great performances in the mile, 400m, 800m and the 3k where three out of five Utah runners finished inside the top-25. But, the fireworks came during the last event of the meet in the 4x400m relay. Just like the Utes started the season, the 4x400 squad of O'Banion, Blair, Fuller and J. Martin ended the season with a bang and inked their names into the school-record books by running the fastest time in Utah history (3:40.39) to finish fifth against a loaded field. A story-book ending to a season that showed the heart, dedication and true grit of a Utah track and field team that gave it their all every time they stepped foot on the track.

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