Upcoming Event: Softball versus Utah Valley on October 2, 2025 at 4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Softball
vs Utah Valley
Utah Athletics | 2019-20 Accomplishments
COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS
- Football won the Pac-12 South Championship for the second year in a row and earned a berth in the 2019 Valero Alamo Bowl
- Skiing led the competition after day two of the NCAA Championships before the event was canceled due to COVID-19. Utes were halfway to defending their 2019 NCAA ChampionshipÂ
- Gymnastics finished the season ranked 4th in the nation, Volleyball 9th, Football 16th and Women’s Cross-Country 16th. In addition, Men’s Swimming was ranked 25th at the end of the regular season and Softball was ranked 21st when the season was halted.
- Gymnastics won the Pac-12 regular season championship.
- The Utes’ No. 18 position nationally in the Learfield IMG College Director’s Cup for Fall 2019 was the highest ever achieved for the fall period by the Utah athletics program since the inception of the program in 1993-94, and ranked third among Pac-12 institutions.
- The Utes’ previous best ranking for the fall period was No. 20 in 2016-17, and prior to that two No. 30 finishes (2006-07 and 2008-09).
- Utah was one of just nine athletics programs in the nation—and one of two in the Pac-12—to have teams in all four of those sports reach the NCAA postseason or a bowl game.
- The Utes joined Washington as the only two Pac-12 schools in the group, along with Notre Dame, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Penn State, Florida State and BYU.
- Academically, Utah’s student-athletes performed spectacularly in the classroom in 2019-20
- 94 percent NCAA Graduate Success Rate
- 983 Departmental APR when combining all sport programs
- 3.232 Fall Departmental GPA … 3.573 Spring Departmental GPA (highest in school history) … 3.386 Academic Year Departmental GPA (highest in school history)
- 35 percent of all student-athletes earned Deans List honors for the academic year
- 76 percent of all student-athletes earned Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for the academic year (best in school history)
- 149 Utah student-athletes were named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll
National Player/Athlete of the Year:
- Guro Jordheim, skiing, USCSCA Female Nordic Skier of the Year
- Joachim Lien, skiing, USCSCA Male Alpine Skier of the Year
- Bradlee Anae, football (consensus; 1st team AFCA, FWAA, Sporting News, Walter Camp, USA Today, SI.com, ESPN; 3rd team AP)
- Julian Blackmon, football (1st team SI.com, The Athletic; 2nd team AP, AFCA, USA Today)
- Jaylon Johnson, football (2nd team AP, SI.com, USA Today, Walter Camp)
- Leki Fotu, football (2nd team FWAA, Walter Camp; 3rd team AP)
- Zack Moss, football (2nd team FWAA; 3rd team AP)
- Kim Tessen, gymnastics
- Cristal Isa, gymnastics
- Abby Paulson, gymnastics
- Maile O'Keefe, gymnastics
- Sydney Soloski, gymnastics
- Mariah Bredel, skiing
- Samuel Hendry, skiing
- Guro Jordheim, skiing
- Joachim Lien, skiing
- Sona Moravcikova, skiing
- Tony Chen, men’s swimming & diving
- Rahiti De Vos, men’s swimming & diving
- Luke McDivitt, men’s swimming & diving
- Liam O’Haimhirgin, men’s swimming & diving
- Audrey Reimer, women’s swimming & diving
- Dani Drews, volleyball (1st team AVCA)
- Kenzie Koerber, volleyball (2nd team AVCA)
- Berkeley Olbad, volleyball (2nd team AVCA)
- Bradlee Anae, football (Ted Hendricks Award)
- Tyler Huntley, football (Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Manning Award)
- Morgan Scalley, football def. coord. (Broyles Award)
- Gymnastics, Pac-12 regular season title
- Kyle Whittingham, football (Dodd Trophy)
- Kyle Whittingham, football (AFCA, Bear Bryant Award)
- Tom Farden, gymnastics (WCGA)
- Beth Launiere, volleyball (AFCA)
- Kyle Whittingham, football (AFCA)Â Â
- Beth Launiere, volleyball (Pac-12)
- Kyle Whittingham, football (Pac-12)
- Tom Farden, gymnastics (Pac-12)
- JJ Johnson, skiing, (RMISA Alpine Coach of the Year)
- Zack Moss, football, Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year
- Kim Tessen, gymnastics, Pac-12 Specialist of the Year
- Guro Jordheim, skiing, RMISA Female Nordic Athlete of the Year
- Joachim Lien, skiing, RMISA Male Alpine Athlete of the YearÂ
- Football, Alamo Bowl … sixth consecutive season in a bowl game, 15th in last 17 (12-3)
- Skiing, NCAA Championships leader through two days (canceled)
- Cross Country … highest finish in school history (16th)
- Volleyball, NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen … 16th tournament appearance in Beth Launiere’s tenure
SPORT-BY-SPORT
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Baseball
- Seventeenth-year head coach Bill Kinneberg guided his Utah team through a challenging early-season schedule, all on the road, and was 6-7 when the season was cut short.
- Utah saw its best play in its final series, taking two-of-three from Minnesota at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
- A very youthful Utah men’s basketball team flashed a bright future with a 16-15 record that included a neutral-court win over No. 6 Kentucky in December.
- The Utes also claimed wins over Nevada on the road, the Big Ten’s Minnesota and BYU in a thrilling overtime game inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
- Utah went 12-2 at home and Forward Timmy Allen became the 12th Runnin' Ute player named to the USBWA (United States Basketball Writers Association) All-District Team for District VIII.
- Allen was also named Second-Team All-Pac-12.
- Fifth-year head coach Lynne Roberts led a young squad to a 14-17 overall record.
- Brynna Maxwell was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention squad along with earning first-team All-Freshman.
- Lola Pendande made the Pac-12 All-Freshman team and earned honorable mention All-Pac-12.
- Coach Kyle Kepler’s team qualified for the NCAA championship meet and placed 16th, its highest finish in program history after placing fifth at the NCAA Mountain Regional.
- The team had several stellar performances along the way, including a first-place finish over a number of top-ranked programs at the Joe Piane Invitational at Notre Dame in October, in one of the most significant victories in program history.
- During the season achieved its highest ranking in school history, No. 6, by the USFTCCCA.
- Pac-12 Coach of the Year and Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Kyle Whittingham’s team won the Pac-12 South for the second year in a row
- Finished 11th in the final College Football Playoff ranking and earned an invitation to the Valero Alamo Bowl.
- The Utes’ final AP ranking of 16th was the team’s highest since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, and their 11 wins (11-3; 8-1 Pac-12) were third-most in school history.
- Five players earned All-America honors from major organizations
- Running back Zack Moss was Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year and Whittingham was a Regional Coach of the Year by the AFCA.
- Senior Jordan Costello and sophomore Axel Einarsson were named to the 2019-20 Srixon/Cleveland Golf Division I All-America Scholars team, announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
- Head Coach Garrett Clegg’s team had a strong fall season with Mitchell Schow notching three top-20 finishes while shooting even across five tournaments.
- Schow finished the season with a career-high 71.6 strokes per round to tie the program’s single-season record.
- The Utes had their best showing with a fifth-place finish at the Bandon Dunes Championship before the season was halted early in mid-March.
- Under head coach Tom Farden, Utah finished the season undefeated—including a win at No. 3 UCLA—with a No. 4 national ranking and claimed the Pac-12 regular season championship.
- Five Ute gymnasts were named regular season All-Americans by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA): Kim Tessen, Cristal Isa, Abby Paulson. Maile O'Keefe and Sydney Soloski.
- Coach Farden was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year, while senior Kim Tessen was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year.
- The Red Rocks landed eight gymnasts on the All-Pac-12 teams, totaling 10 awards.
- Receiving first-team honors along with Tessen were Isa (bars and beam), Alexia Burch (vault), Paulson (beam), O'Keefe (beam) and Soloski (floor).
- Earning a spot as honorable mention selections on the All-Pac-12 teams were Missy Reinstadtler (bars) and Adrienne Randall (beam).
- Head Coach Brian Holman’s team finished 3-3 in the shortened season.
- Ranked second nationally in average attendance (2,450) behind only traditional lacrosse power Syracuse.
- Senior Jimmy Perkins led the team with 18 goals.
- Senior Colin Burke was the third overall selection in the Major League Lacrosse Draft in May.
- The defending national champions were leading the 2020 NCAA Championship meet at the halfway point when competition was halted after Day 2 because of the coronavirus.
- The Utes, under the leadership of Director of Skiing Fredrik Landstedt, were closing in on back-to-back titles with a commanding lead in the competition.
- Guro Jordheim was named women’s Nordic Skier of the Year and Joachim Lien was named men’s alpine Skier of the Year by the U.S. Collegiate Ski Coaches Association—among five All-Americans for the Utes.
- Jordheim and Liem were RMISA Athletes of the Year and J.J. Johnson was RMISA Alpine Coach of the Year
- Coach Rich Manning’s squad qualified for the NCAA Division I Soccer Championships and played at 12th-ranked Duke in a first-round matchup.
- Two Utes—Tavia Leachman and Carly Nelson—earned All-Pacific Region honors from the United Soccer Coaches.
- The team finished the season 8-9-4 (3-5-3 Pac-12) playing its first season in the brand-new Ute Field on campus.
- The Utes, under head coach Amy Hogue, put together one of the fastest starts in recent history, compiling a 14-4 record against stout competition in early-season tournaments before the season was halted in mid-March.
- Opened the season with a win over No. 14 Northwestern and was ranked No. 21 in the nation at the conclusion of the season.
- Alyssa Barrera was named CoSIDA Academic All-District
- Head Coach Joe Dykstra’s team featured five All-Americans, the squad’s most since 1970.
- 19 swimmers met NCAA consideration standard while eight divers qualified for NCAA Zones before competition was halted because of the coronavirus.
- The Utes earned four Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week honors in 2019-20, three Diver of the Week honors and one Diver of the Month Award.
- The men’s team, ranked 25th at the time, closed the regular season with a home win over No. 21 USC. Utah reached as high as No. 21 in the rankings during the season.
- Franco Capalbo earned the ITA Mountain Region Rookie of the Year Award and the team earned the Community Service Award under Head Coach Roeland Brateanu.
- Capalbo finished with an 8-5 overall record, which included a 7-3 record on court one.
- The team finished with a 12-5 overall record, including a win over 25th-ranked Iowa.
- The doubles tandem of Russell Benkaim and Randy Cory ranked 37th in the country when the season was halted early.
- Whitney Hekking was named the ITA Mountain Region Most Improved Senior, while the program earned the region's honorable mention Community Service Award under first-year head coach Ric Mortera.
- The Utes began the season 5-0 for the first time since the 1983-84 season.
- Hekking and doubles partner Madison Tattini finished the shortened season ranked No. 12 in the nation with a 12-1 record.
- Under head coach Kyle Kepler, Utah continued to break school records during the indoor season with Oneillia Fuller, Skyler Blair, Lauren O’Banion and Jackie Martin setting a new 4x400 relay record at the Don Kirby Invitational with a time of 3:41.25, breaking the record from 2014 (3:43.93).
- In addition to the school records toppled, sophomore Taylor Watson got out of the blocks in the indoor season with a blazing time of 7.00 in the 55m at the December’s Weber State Winter Open – which stood as the fastest time in Division I for the season in that event.
- In its third season as a program, head coach Brenda Whicker’s team managed its first win of the year just before the season was halted in March.
- Pac-12 and AVCA Regional Coach of the Year Beth Launiere’s team reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and finished 9th in the final AVCA rankings, the highest finish in program history.
- The team finished 24-10 (14-6 Pac-12) and had four players earn All-America honors—Dani Drews (1st team), Kenzie Koerber (2nd team), Berkeley Oblad (2nd team) and Saige Ka’aha’aina-Torres (honorable mention).
- The quartet also was named AVCA All-Region and Drews was Region Player of the Year.
- Utah advanced to the Sweet Sixteen with a commanding 3-0 victory over BYU in the second round of the NCAA tournament on the Cougars’ home floor.
2018-19 Accomplishments
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