Utes 6th, Abbott to NCAA Championships

If this cross country season was a concert then our team played a lot of the right notes and left their supporters calling for an encore.  The early meets featured some great individual efforts and a variety of line ups that always seemed to keep everyone around us guessing about how could we really were or could be.  

After a 6th place finish at the Stanford Invite and an even better team effort at the Pre National meet all the pieces were falling into place for a great championship run.  

Insert short Utah history lesson:

Mountain West Conference team finishes:  2005-7th; 2006-6th; 2007-5th

NCAA Mountain Region team finishes: 2005-15th; 2006-11th, 2007-11th (tie) with one All-Region runner

Insert 2008 Utah Team Goals:

Conference: Top 3

NCAA Region: Top 7

As everyone who reads this blogs knows well by now...we had a phenomenal race at conference and finished third.  After that meet we were moved to fifth in the Mountain Region rankings tying the highest ranking in our program history). I wasn't quite sure how we were going to find a way to run any better than we did that day in San Diego.  So as a coach I decided to do what I had done since the Stanford meet....nothing!  I gave them workouts, set up the course for the workouts, gave them water, carried their wet shoes and shirts back to the locker room in my car, and then stayed out of the way!!!  

Coaching isn't always a bunch of magical words, tricks, or motivational ploys.  Sometimes it's simply providing a little guidance and self confidence and then letting the athletes make the magic themselves.  This group did that all year because it was always about the team and doing what they needed to do as individuals to help the team be successful.  It short...they figured out their individual roles on this team.  They gave a great effort every day, picked up others when they were down, and allowed their teammates to pick them up when they were not at their best on a given day.  

The Outcome and Encore:  All seven runners run lifetime bests for 6K, we have three finishers in the top 32, two All Region selections (top 25), and an individual NCAA championships qualifier.  Junior Alyssa Abbott ran 21 second PR to finish 9th and become Utah's first NCAA qualifier in over a decade.  Seniors Chelsea DiGrazia (who didn't run xc in high school---soccer player) and Lauren Endersen (who was told by college coach that she wouldn't be good enough to run at the DI level) were 21st and 32nd overall.  Endersen PR'd by 58 seconds.  Abbott and DiGrazia were both honored as All Mountain Region selections.  Our other two seniors Kellie Anderson (62nd) and Janett Ern (64th) also ran huge lifetime bests.  The two youngsters (So-Sam Gaffney and Fr-Carly Selleck) also ran big PR's to end the season.  

The Second Encore:  Abbott competes in her first NCAA championship meet after her status for the Regional meet was very much in doubt due to an IT band injury which continues to plague her.  Before we left on Thursday it was about 95% that she would not compete at the Regional meet.  By Friday she felt better and didn't want to give up hope of qualifying without trying. It's an injury that she really can't make any worse and running is a matter of pain tolerance.  Don't ever question Alyssa Abbott's toughness or tolerance!!!

The NCAA championship women's 6K will held in Terre Haute, IN and begin at noon (EDT). CBS College Sports Network will televise the race live.   

All Conference Teams

Junior Alyssa Abbott (4th overall)  First Team All-MWC

Senior Chelsea DiGrazia (13th overall)  Second Team All-MWC

Utes Finish 3rd at Conference Championships

To say this team has been a pleasure to work with would be a complete understatement.  With four seniors the leadership has been outstanding.  Together we have all made each other better.  I have helped them become better runners and outstanding people.  They have helped me become a better coach and program leader.  All of our hard work culminated on a perfect day in San Diego this past Saturday morning.  It was 75 degrees, sunny, and just the slightest breeze blowing in off of Mission Bay where we ran this years Mountain West Conference Championship meet.  

The course was a 2K loop that the women ran three times.  Our team executed the early stages of our race plan to perfection.  With 4K to go we started our move and ran our best team race of the year.  With our top five runners finishing in the top 22 we finished third in the team standings--the highest placing for Utah in the 10 year history of the Mountain West.  

Junior Alyssa Abbott led the way finishing fourth overall and was named MWC First Team All-Conference.  Senior Chelsea DiGrazia finished 13th landing her on the MWC All-Conference Second team.  Seniors Janett Ern, Lauren Endersen, and Kellie Anderson placed 18th, 20th, and 22nd to round out the scoring five.  Sophmore Samantha Gaffney (37th), freshman Carly Selleck (53rd), and sophomore Alexis Davis (69th) also ran for the Utes.  

Every gal on our team (even those who did not run this meet) has played a huge role in our improvement.  It's great to see all of their hard work pay off in one of our most important meets of the year.  Next is the NCAA Regional meet on November 15th in Ft Collins, CO.