Completed Event: Track & Field versus NCAA Championships on June 12, 2025 ,
Final Score
Track & Field
vs NCAA Championships
Friday, February 10
Albuquerque, NM
All Day
University of Utah
vs
Don Kirby Invitational
Photo by: Jamie Mitchell
Fruitful Day for Women of Utah Capped Off by New Records Set by Venters and Plourde
2/10/2023 10:19 PM | Track & Field
The fruitful day of competition for Utah track & field was highlighted with Emily Venters crushing the school 5k record and Simone Plourde setting a new 3k record.
SEATTLE – The senior season for Emily Venters continues to be one for the books as the Lawrence, Kan., native destroyed the school's 5k indoor record with a time of 15:20.37 Friday night inside Dempsey Indoor while teammate Simone Plourde overtook Venters for the top spot in the 3000m race with a run of 8:57.12.
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"What a day!" head coach Kyle Kepler described after the dust settled Friday night. "We competed well in three different locations. The gals at Weber State ran well and won some heats while our team in in New Mexico also had some PRs. It was nice to see Kelise return to form in the 200, plus the 400 gals ran great."
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Wildcat Invitational (Live Results)
Chloe Shewell got things going early on for the Utes, posting a 7.56 (aa) mark in the 55m dash prelims to qualify for the finals. However, Shewell would not run in the finals to compete in the 400m race where she ran a PR time of 1:01.37 (aa) to win her heat and finish seventh overall.
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The trio of distance runners for Utah competed in the mile – which was paced by Caroline Fischer's 10th-place finish time of 5:13.32 (aa) in her first indoor race of the season. Meanwhile, Claire Rusovick and Grace Burnett claimed the top-two spots in their section. Rusovick led the way with a PR mark of 5:15.05 (aa) while Burnett concluded her first indoor race since 2020.
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Maren Busath wrapped up the day of competition for Utah at the Stromberg Center Indoor Track posting a PR run of 2:25.57 (aa) in the 800m race.
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Don Kirby Invitational (Live Results)
Kelise Davis opened things up at the Albuquerque Convention Center, narrowly besting her previous PR by .01 after running 24.76 (aa) in the 200m dash event. Megan Rose nearly shaved two seconds off of her previous best time, checking in at 25.90 (aa) to win her section.
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Over in the jumps, Delaney Gates leaped a new PR mark of 5.31m (17-5.25) while Malia Overton recorded a jump of 5.05m (16-7).
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Harley Daniel and Bailey Kealamakia crossed the finish line in second and third in their respective section of the 400m dash races. In her first collegiate 400m race, Daniel's time of 56.12 (aa) was good for fifth-overall and saw her move into ninth spot in Utah's all-time record book. Meanwhile, Kealamakia bested her previous PR by two seconds after checking in at 56.74 (aa). All Gomm ran a new PR time for the second-straight week to win her section with a mark of 58.57 (aa).
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Emily Martin capped the evening off for Utah running the third-fastest time in school history in her first collegiate 200m race, posting a time of 24.46 (aa).
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Husky Classic (Live Results)
"All day and into the evening we had PRs from the distance crew in Seattle culminating with the school record runs from Emily and Simone," Kepler said. "Big PRs from Morgan and Lauren, plus Maddie and Kylie going under 10 minutes for the first time. Emily's time is the 16th fastest indoor 5000 in NCAA history while Simone ran just under 9 minutes in only her second time running the event. Em's time will certainly get her to the NCAA Championships meet and Simone will be in the hunt with her mark as well."
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The distance crew saw five Utes compete in the 3k with Lauren Peterson, Maddie Reed and Kylie Harnett all posting new PRs. Peterson crushed her previous PR by nearly seven seconds in the 3k with a time of 9:34.57 while Reed beat out her previous best mark by over four seconds (9:58.33). Harnett nearly beat her PR by four seconds but was just shy, checking in at 9:58.88.
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Rachel Whipple qualified for the finals of 60m hurdles after taking fourth in the prelims with a run of 9.13 before shaving four seconds off to take second in her heat of the finals (9.09) and fifth overall.
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In the second and final heat of the 5k race, Venters went toe-to-toe with New Mexico's Amelia Mazza-Downie as the two went stride for stride down to the final stretch with Venters crushing the school record behind a second-place time of 15:20.37. Barring other finishes around the country, her time should be top-10 in the country this season come Sunday morning and top-20 all-time in the NCAA.
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Keelah Barger also improved her hold on the fourth spot in the all-time record books with a final time of 16:08.51 Friday night. Meanwhile in her first-ever indoor 5k race, Morgan Jensen ran a 16:25.51 inside Dempsey Indoor – which was good for seventh-best at Utah.
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Simone Plourde closed out the day for the Women of Utah in the 3000m invitational race, taking the reigns of the Utah 3000m indoor record and passed Venters with a run of 8:57.12 Friday night.
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UP NEXT
Day two action of the Don Kirby Invitational and Husky Classic resumes on Saturday, Feb. 11, for Utah as the Utes look to set more qualifying times for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
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For the latest news and information on the Utah cross country and track & field programs, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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"What a day!" head coach Kyle Kepler described after the dust settled Friday night. "We competed well in three different locations. The gals at Weber State ran well and won some heats while our team in in New Mexico also had some PRs. It was nice to see Kelise return to form in the 200, plus the 400 gals ran great."
Â
Wildcat Invitational (Live Results)
Chloe Shewell got things going early on for the Utes, posting a 7.56 (aa) mark in the 55m dash prelims to qualify for the finals. However, Shewell would not run in the finals to compete in the 400m race where she ran a PR time of 1:01.37 (aa) to win her heat and finish seventh overall.
Â
The trio of distance runners for Utah competed in the mile – which was paced by Caroline Fischer's 10th-place finish time of 5:13.32 (aa) in her first indoor race of the season. Meanwhile, Claire Rusovick and Grace Burnett claimed the top-two spots in their section. Rusovick led the way with a PR mark of 5:15.05 (aa) while Burnett concluded her first indoor race since 2020.
Â
Maren Busath wrapped up the day of competition for Utah at the Stromberg Center Indoor Track posting a PR run of 2:25.57 (aa) in the 800m race.
Â
Don Kirby Invitational (Live Results)
Kelise Davis opened things up at the Albuquerque Convention Center, narrowly besting her previous PR by .01 after running 24.76 (aa) in the 200m dash event. Megan Rose nearly shaved two seconds off of her previous best time, checking in at 25.90 (aa) to win her section.
Â
Over in the jumps, Delaney Gates leaped a new PR mark of 5.31m (17-5.25) while Malia Overton recorded a jump of 5.05m (16-7).
Â
Harley Daniel and Bailey Kealamakia crossed the finish line in second and third in their respective section of the 400m dash races. In her first collegiate 400m race, Daniel's time of 56.12 (aa) was good for fifth-overall and saw her move into ninth spot in Utah's all-time record book. Meanwhile, Kealamakia bested her previous PR by two seconds after checking in at 56.74 (aa). All Gomm ran a new PR time for the second-straight week to win her section with a mark of 58.57 (aa).
Â
Emily Martin capped the evening off for Utah running the third-fastest time in school history in her first collegiate 200m race, posting a time of 24.46 (aa).
Â
Husky Classic (Live Results)
"All day and into the evening we had PRs from the distance crew in Seattle culminating with the school record runs from Emily and Simone," Kepler said. "Big PRs from Morgan and Lauren, plus Maddie and Kylie going under 10 minutes for the first time. Emily's time is the 16th fastest indoor 5000 in NCAA history while Simone ran just under 9 minutes in only her second time running the event. Em's time will certainly get her to the NCAA Championships meet and Simone will be in the hunt with her mark as well."
Â
The distance crew saw five Utes compete in the 3k with Lauren Peterson, Maddie Reed and Kylie Harnett all posting new PRs. Peterson crushed her previous PR by nearly seven seconds in the 3k with a time of 9:34.57 while Reed beat out her previous best mark by over four seconds (9:58.33). Harnett nearly beat her PR by four seconds but was just shy, checking in at 9:58.88.
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Rachel Whipple qualified for the finals of 60m hurdles after taking fourth in the prelims with a run of 9.13 before shaving four seconds off to take second in her heat of the finals (9.09) and fifth overall.
Â
In the second and final heat of the 5k race, Venters went toe-to-toe with New Mexico's Amelia Mazza-Downie as the two went stride for stride down to the final stretch with Venters crushing the school record behind a second-place time of 15:20.37. Barring other finishes around the country, her time should be top-10 in the country this season come Sunday morning and top-20 all-time in the NCAA.
Â
Keelah Barger also improved her hold on the fourth spot in the all-time record books with a final time of 16:08.51 Friday night. Meanwhile in her first-ever indoor 5k race, Morgan Jensen ran a 16:25.51 inside Dempsey Indoor – which was good for seventh-best at Utah.
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Simone Plourde closed out the day for the Women of Utah in the 3000m invitational race, taking the reigns of the Utah 3000m indoor record and passed Venters with a run of 8:57.12 Friday night.
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UP NEXT
Day two action of the Don Kirby Invitational and Husky Classic resumes on Saturday, Feb. 11, for Utah as the Utes look to set more qualifying times for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Â
For the latest news and information on the Utah cross country and track & field programs, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distance
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Jumps
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
400M/800M
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Hurdles
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