Three...Two...One...

Three all-time Utah top five performances (including two by freshmen) two dominating event victories, and one meet and venue record!!! That was our day in Boise yesterday. There were also a ton of PR's and tough performances by many of our athletes.

Freshman Nikkie Rudder was the runner-up in the shot put (by seven inches) but had yet another lifetime best throw (45-10.5). That throw moves her to fifth on the all-time Utah list. She also Pr'd in the weight throw. Another freshman, Angie Kaplar (pictured above) ran a personal best time of 8.85 to finish fifth overall and move into fifth place on the all-time list. Junior Alyssa Abbott ran on an indoor track for the first time in three years and ran the third fastest mile in Utah history (4:55.08) and narrowly missing former teammate Chelsea DiGrazia's school record (4:53).

Abbott's time was also good enough for an easy win in the mile event. Sophomore Lucy Yates went to the front from the gun and dominated the 800m run in 2:11.32.

Finally, former Ute and current volunteer assistant Shayla Houlihan continued her post collegiate career by winning the 3K in a new venue and meet record time of 9:30.17. That time is only 3.17 seconds from the USA Indoor National meet qualifying standard. It was also a lifetime best by 20 seconds. Houlihan will attempt to achieve the qualifying mark again in two weeks in Seattle, WA.

Other notable performances:
Sophomore Langley Iverson was second (on misses) in the high jump clearing 5-6 3/4.
Freshman Amanda Mergaert was fifth in the mile in a lifetime best 5:06.54. In her first ever mile she won the second heat by a lot so that time is outstanding!
Freshman Delaney Fox ran a huge PR in the 60 hurdles (9.09) to place seventh.
Freshman Jenny McCune ran 10:39 in her first ever 3K.
Ashley Mosely FR, Alyssa Johnson FR, Chelsey Kaplar SR, and Lauren McKay FR finished 3-4-7-8 in the 400m dash

I thought we had a great meet in most events. Even the events we didn't place as high as hoped we saw great improvement. Look at the list above and notice how many of those great performances came from underclassmen...including two all time top five performances. We will compete at the Mountain States Games hosted by Idaho State next weekend. This is another quality meet that will help us continue to improve before our biggest regular season meets.

U Donates Shoes to Haiti

Last Friday night our women's team helped support the Athletic Department's effort to help the earthquake victims in Haiti. Our Student Athlete Advisory Council representative, Alyssa Abbott, organized our team around the entrances of the Huntsman Center before our home Gymnastics meet against Georgia (which drew an all-time Utah record of over 15,000 fans) to collect new or lightly used shoes to be sent to Haiti. The response was pretty amazing considering the limited announcement time of three days prior to the meet. Both SAAC and our marketing department got creative to get the word out to meet attendees in the days leading up to the event using radio, newspaper, facebook, twitter, and our athletics website. It was an outstanding collective effort by everyone. Congrats on another successful community service project!!!!

Saturday Night Fun

For the third time in less than three years Big Head Todd and the Monsters played at The Depot which is located at the Gateway Center across the street from Energy Solutions Arena (where the Jazz play basketball). This is one of those groups that you likely know a few of there songs and always wondered who sang them. They are a Colorado based group who recorded their first albumn in 1987 in a Denver studio. The songs you have probably heard include "Bittersweet", "Broken Hearted Savior", and "Circles". All of them made appearances in the Billboard Top 100 and received a lot of radio play upon there releases. While I'm probably among the younger fans to actually know this band, they certainly have a wide age range of following at their shows. College kid, retirees, and everyone one in between can be seen at BHTM's concerts. For the younger generation reading this think John Mayer/Jack Johnson type music. They have some really cool and unique mellow tunes, but can rock with the best of them as well.

The Depot is a cool location that probably holds 500 or so people. Whether you stand or are lucky enough to get a seat in the balcony section it makes for a fun show. This event and the other hundreds like it every year are what make this place so fun to live. This concert was actually held in conjunction with the annual Outdoor Sports Retailer Expo that is currently going on this weekend. That expo features all of the newest outdoor sports gear (skis, snowboards, clothing, boots, shoes, etc.) that retailers around the world have to offer in the upcoming year.

The best part of all of this.....it's located a 15-20min FREE lightrail or bus ride from the University of Utah campus!!!

Saturday Practice

We took this weekend off from racing, however we had an excellent Saturday morning practice. Some groups did race simulation while others were able to string together three great workouts this week. Starting next Saturday at Boise State we will have meets every weekend until the end of the indoor season. It was nice to get a meet in last week to find out where everyone was with their training and then be able to make the necessary adjustments during this "bye" weekend. I'm excited to see everyone compete again next weekend. We've practiced enough...it's time to get into racing on a regular basis again!!!

Utes Win Three Events, Compete Hard

I thought our first full team meet of the season was a successful one overall. We won three events with two of those victories coming in dramatic fashion. Freshman shot putter Nikkie Rudder PR'd on her opening toss and was the leader going into the finals, however was passed during the final round of throws. So on the final attempt of the competition, Rudder PR'd again (45-6) and win the event. I believe the term "gamer" has become associated with that type of performance in that situation. It was awesome. Most of Nikkie's family was there to see it which I know made it all the better for her. We named her the Utah Hard Hat Performer of the Week which is given to an athlete who competes hard on every attempt or in every race. It's not an award about winning as much as it is about consistently giving a great effort from start to finish.

Senior Sarah Grimm won her second weight throw competition of the season with another PR (60-0.3/4). It's fun to watch her go about her business with confidence and appreciation.

The other comeback victory was courtesy of the 4x400 meter relay. Seniors Whitney Wellington and Chelsey Kaplar combined with true freshmen Ashley Mosley and Alyssa Johnson to run 3:53.63 to win an exciting race by .30 seconds. Whitney will be the first to tell you she didn't have a great leadoff leg, but the two freshmen got us back in the race and then Kaplar had a tremendous finishing leg to grab the victory. They will all only get better.

Another trio of freshmen also ran and thres well. Angie Kaplar ran a lifetime best 8.92 in the 60 meter hurdles to place fifth overall. Amanda Mergaert ran a personal record 2:15.37 to finish fourth in the 800 meter run. Mergaert also came back to anchor the 4x400 meter 'B' relay to a heat victory. Anneli Stahl finished fifth in the weight throw with a new personal best toss of 52-8.

I thought all of those kids competed their guts out. More impressively, the freshmen ran with a lot of poise and never panicked when it looked like things might get away from them. That is very difficult to teach. They relaxed and kept competing and good things happened. This was a really nice way to get the season started. I was also impressed with how much our team supported each other. Our team camp in the stands was bare because everyone was around the arena supporting each other. That's when you know they are working for each other.

Check www.utahutes.com for full results.

Running on the boards

Our first full team meet is tomorrow at Idaho State. The track is a 200 meter banked wood track....yes, I just wrote wood!!! There are still a few that exist in the world, but not many. It runs very similar to other 200 meter banked synthetic tracks although it has a little more bounce/forgiveness to it and it makes A LOT more noise. It's always interesting to watch how first time athletes respond to running on the boards. This is a dual scored meet between six teams. This is also the first indoor meet of the season for many of the athletes so most coaches (us included) will set their line ups according to individual athlete needs first and team scoring second. While we all would like to win the duals, the most important goal is to get some competition while maintaining good health. This meet does not make or break anyones season, but it is a fun way to get started and provide added incentive to fight for every spot. Check back this weekend for my analysis. Also go to www.utahutes.com for a final report and results.

Freshman Johnson Opens with Win

True freshman Alyssa Johnson won her first collegiate race and teammate Chelsey Kaplar finished fifth in the 300 meter event at the BYU Invite on Saturday. Johnson's winning time was 41.67 while Kaplar clocked 42.09. Kaplar's younger sister Angie (another of our 19 freshmen) finished fifth in the 60 meter hurdle final. A Kaplar was sixth after the preliminary round.

I thought our limited group competed well. The freshmen who competed all had a positive initial collegiate experience and they will only become more comfortable with each time the step on the track. We only entered six events, but won two of them at this meet. Next weeks meet on Friday evening at Idaho State will be the opening meet for the remainder of our team. It will also be a much tougher test, but we'll have our team as ready as they can be after a week of practice and classes beginning.

For full results of the BYU meet please go to www.utahutes.com

The picture above features three true freshmen. Alyssa Johnson and Lauryn McKay reflect on their first collegiate races while Theresa Waybright texts the results to a few teammates.

Grimm Wins Weight Throw

Our throwers (veterans and newcomers alike) got the 2010 Track & Field season off to a great start at the BYU Cougar Invite on Friday night. Senior Sarah Grimm dominated the 20lb weight throw with a great series of throws. Her winning toss of 59-9.25 is a new life time best and was two feet better than the second place effort. Freshman Nikkie Rudder finished 8th with a personal best effort on her final throw of 46-9.5

In the shot put Rudder finished third overall and had three throws that were further than her life time best. Her best of those was 43-10.5 which was a whole foot further than her previous personal best.

I thought all of our throwers performed very well. We had several personal bests so it's hard to ask for much more. Sarah threw with great confidence and Nikkie certainly didn't look like a freshman in terms of her poise and competitiveness. It was a fun evening.

Video of Sarah and Nikkie are below. For full results of this meet go to www.utahutes.com following the meet on Saturday evening.

Resolutions

I've never been a big resolution guy other than I know I need to eat more fruits and veggies than I do. The next line will earn me disdain and dirty looks from some, but...I'm usually trying to gain weight rather than lose it despite the fact I can out eat everyone in my family during the holidays. I only run about half or less the miles I ran when I was in college so I'm trying :) I actually run less at this time of the year (due to weather and work demands), have more stress (work), and don't eat as well (traveling) so go figure. One of these years my metabolism will catch up with me I'm sure.

I still have a few more goals that I want to reach including obtaining a doctorate degree, owning property in Park City, and of course leading the Utes to a conference championship. Hopefully, I can continue to work towards these goals as well as find more ways (other than V8 and juice) to incorporate fruits/veggies into my life. Good luck with your goals and happy new year.

...and the season begins!

The 2010 indoor track and field season begins for the Utes this afternoon at BYU. Since we haven't started school yet this meet is optional for our athletes. Indoor and Outdoor track seasons last the entire semester and beyond for most of our athletes. Rushing athletes back, especially those from out of state, for a low key opening meet like this one can do more harm than good. So we only have 10 athletes (throwers, sprinters, and hurdlers) scheduled to compete. Check back for updates throughout the weekend.

Congrats Lauren & Matt!

The New Year has started off well for one of our former runners (and conference champion), Lauren Endersen. Lauren was married to Matt Madigan today (Jan 2nd) at Red Butte Garden here in SLC. It was a very eloquent event and I was glad I was able to attend. I always enjoy watching my former athletes continue to grow and hear about their lives after they have moved on from our team. These events also bring back teammates which in turn leads to other great memories during their time in our program. I can't tell you how much it means to me as their coach to see all these wonderful young women support each other long beyond their running/college days together.

The pictures include Lauren and Matt cutting the wedding cake, a few of Lauren's teammates (including Kellie and Chelsea who served as brides' maids) and Lauren and me.

In case your wondering....Lauren recently finished her first semester in medical school at The Ohio State University and is ranked #1 in the class....geeee, what a surprise?!?!?! :)