Kaplar Sisters and 4x400 Shine in Arkansas

Senior Chelsey Kaplar ran 1:00.56 to finish 6th in the long hurdles and freshman sister Angie ran 14.06 for a 3rd place showing in the sprint hurdles amid stormy weather at the Arkansas Twilight. The 4x400 meter relay (Lauryn McKay, Ashley Mosley, Whitney Wellington, and C Kaplar) combined to run 3:42.55 (3rd fastest time in school history) to finish fourth overall.

This is a great start to our weekend. We have athletes competing at Stanford and Oregon on Saturday as well as high jumper Langley Iverson jumping against a solid field in Irvine, CA on Sunday. Check back for more results.

Grimm is AOW!

The fifth best hammer throw in the nation this year has lead to Athlete of the Week honors from our conference office for senior Sarah Grimm. This is our programs first AOW honor, so another big step forward. She was also honored by http://www.runnerspace.com/CollegeHammer

Finally!!!

Sorry for the delay in the final posting from this past weekend. However, it will be well worth the read as Saturday was an outstanding day at both meets. Senior Sarah Grimm picked up from where she left off last week. Last week she moved to #2 on the all-time school list in the hammer and broke the 200 ft barrier for the first time. This week...she is now the school record holder! Sarah threw 207-1.75 to break the old school record mark of 205-0 set by Vanessa Mortensen (2006) and win the event. During the competition she had two other throws over the 200 ft mark as well. That throw ranks her first in the MWC, second in the West region, and fifth in the country.

Freshman Nikkie Rudder continued her successful season by winning the shot put in a new PR of 45-9 which ranks fifth on the school list and sixth in the MWC. Two other freshman also had very success meets. Megan Combe set a lifetime best in the 1500 meter of 4:39.82 which qualifies her for the U.S Junior National championships in June. Natalie Young ran the third fastest time in Utah school history (24.97) for 200 meters.

The Drake Relays ended how it began for the Utes...with a victory!!! Former Ute and volunteer coach, Shayla Houlihan won the steeplechase on Thursday afternoon. On Saturday evening the University of Utah picked up it's first ever victory in a university division event at the 101 year old event when junior Alyssa Abbott won the 1500 meter race. Her time of 4:23.48 is a PR, ranks second in the Utah school record books, first in the MWC, and 21st in the West region. Teammate Amanda Mergaert finished fourth in the same race in a new personal best time of 4:26.56 which is fourth in Utah school history, fifth in the MWC, and 48th in the region. The sprint medley quartet of Whitney Wellington, Lauryn McKay, Ashley Mosely, and Lucy Yates finished eighth overall (3:55.51).

Below is the link to the 1500m race and Alyssa's post race interview from Drake.

www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236860/329702


www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/236860-2010-drake-relays/329606-alyssa-abbott-utah-university-1500-champ-2010-drake-relays

This was without question our most successful weekend of the outdoor season thus far. Hopefully, it's a sign of more good things to come as we prepare for the championship portion of our schedule.

Drake Day 3, Robison Postponed

Our events at BYU today were moved to Saturday due to very poor weather conditions. Check back tomorrow for an update.

Today at Drake brought mixed results. Freshman Angie Kaplar (14.49) finished sixth in her heat and 15th overall in her first Drake Relays. She will get better with more exposure to meets of this caliber. The distance medley relay was seventh in the 19 team field (11:32.85). A dropped baton on the first exchange cost us some time and a place or two. Langley Iverson followed that up with a runner up finish in the high jump. She cleared 5-7 and was second based on misses. The jumping conditions were less than ideal with a wet surface and a breeze in the jumpers faces. Langley cleared the first two heights on her first attempts and had three solid attempts at what was the winning height (5-8.75), but was unable to get the clearance and keep the contest going. Our final event of the day was the 4x400 meter relay prelims. We were fourth in our heat and 15th overall. Freshman Ashley Mosley split 54.7 on the second leg to keep us in the mix.

Five years ago these are results we would have been thrilled with. Today, because of the growth and progression of our program those results left several of our girls with a sour taste in their mouths. The good news is that most of them get to run again tomorrow with a little redemption in mind. For those that don't it will give them some extra motivation to have some great practice sessions leading up to the conference championships. We'll get a good dinner and some rest and come back tomorrow with a renewed energy level and be ready to compete hard.

Day 2...Drake Relays

Day two was a solid day for our sophomore heptathlete, Bree Leroy. We were hoping for a little better long jump, but her run looked great and was consistent. She had a PR in the javelin so it's nice to see that progressing. The 800 is always her toughest event as her strengths are the speed and power events rather than this endurance event. She finished 12th overall and only missed her PR by 100 points. Associate head coach, Burke Bockman, figures she lost about 500 points when she fell in the hurdles on day one. If you add those points in, she PR's by 400 points and finishes 6th....not too bad for her second hep ever!!! I'm really proud of her for bouncing back and refocusing after that fall.

The day ended about as well as a coach could hope for. Volunteer coach and former Ute, Shayla Houlihan became a Drake Relays Champion. This is every Iowa kids' dream growing up and she finally realized that goal today. Her time of 10:03.00 was a PR by about .3 seconds. However, there is no doubt she can still run a lot faster based on her last two laps where she pulled away from the gal she ran with for the first five laps.

The final group of distance runners traveling from SLC today got hung up in Denver for an extended period of time this morning due to poor weather conditions. They finally made it to DM at 3pm. So the whole group is here now and day three will feature freshman Angie Kaplar in the 100m hurdle prelims, sophomore high jumper, Langley Iverson, as well as the distance medley and 4x400m relays. Go to www.drakerelays.org for live results.

Our group at the BYU Robison Invitational will start competing tomorrow as well. Friday will feature the Javelin, Pole Vault, and Shot Put in the field events. Several running events will also take place. Go to www.runnercard.com for updated results.

....and of course, check back here for my personal take on each day. Go Utes!

Drake Relays Update...

Our lone competitor on day one of the Drake Relays is heptathlete, Bree Leroy. She was one hurdle away from a great day. Unfortunately, Bree hit the final hurdle in the first event (100m hurdles) and fell. She was able to get back up and finish which is a credit to her perseverance. That fall led to an early hole in terms of total points. Her other three events (HJ, SP, and 200m) were very solid which shows her toughness to shake off one bad event and not allow it to affect the remaining events. That is critical to being an outstanding muliteventer. Without the fall Bree would likely be in sixth place going into the final three events today. As it is she is 13th and she will aim for a top ten finish in her first ever Drake Relays.

Senior Banquet

This past Monday evening we celebrated the contributions and the careers of our seniors (Laryssa Simpson, Whitney Wellington, Chelsey Kaplar, Sydney Osmun, and Sarah Grimm). All of them have contributed in various ways to the continuing growth of our program. It has been fun to watch them grow and learn throughout their time on our team. We wish them the best as they move forward with their lives.

Throwers Lead the Way....

While a few of the distance runners were competing at Mt SAC this past weekend, the remainder of the team was competing at the Mark Faldmo Invite hosted by Utah State. We've competed very well at this meet in previous years and this year was no different.

Leading the way were the throwers. Assistant Coach Tapio Kuusela had his group on top of their game. Returning NCAA qualifier and conference champion, Sarah Grimm (senior) set a new life time best of 202-06 (second on the all-time Utah school list) to win the hammer throw. This mark is currently ranked eighth in the country, fourth in the West region, and first in the conference (MWC).

True freshmen Anneli Stahl (hammer) and Nikkie Rudder (shot put) also had very successful days. Stahl recorded a new lifetime best of 182-01 to finish third in the hammer. This throw has her ranked 33rd in the West region and fifth in the MWC. Rudder just missed her PR and finished fourth in the shot with a mark of 45-3.5. Her current best of 45-7 ranks her sixth in the MWC. Red shirt junior Candus Aiello continues to improve in both the shot put and discus. She was fourth in the discus (144-8) and fifth in the shot (44-6). Both marks were lifetime bests. Aiello is also a 4.00 student majoring in Physical Education.

Other outstanding results included PR's by true freshmen Natalie Young (56.19-400m) and Megan Combe (2:13.39-800m). Both won their respective events. Another freshmen, Angie Kaplar, followed up her school record performance (13.90) of a week ago with a second place finish at this meet in 14.15. Older sister, Chelsey Kaplar won the long hurdle event in 61.01. A Kaplar is currently ranked 44th in the West region and fifth in the MWC. C Kaplar is ranked 18th in the West region and first in the MWC.

Former Utah standout Chelsea Shapard finished second to Combe in the 800 (2:14.62).

Mt Sac Wrap Up

After two solid day time races it was Shayla and Alyssa's turn in their evening races. Shayla was part of the Puma Mile, a special event that featured a group of unsigned professional men and women battling for a one year contract from Puma. The women were given a 29.4 second (difference between the women's and men's world records over a mile) head start over the men. Shayla and two other women went to the front and pushed the pace completing laps of 68-69-70. Shayla ran the final lap in 72 and ran a lifetime best (by 17 seconds) of 4:41 to finish third among the women. Several men caught the women with about 180 meters to go. It was a fun race with a great atmosphere as fans were encouraged to line the track in the outside two lanes. (See the video).

The final race of our trip was Alyssa's debut in the 5K. After overcoming nearly falling in the first 500 meters she pushed her way back towards the lead pack and found a great rhythm completing the first mile in 5:08 and the second in 5:12. Her final mile was covered in 5:24. Her final time was 16:29 which is the third fastest time in school history. Truly an outstanding effort. She was very gritty and tough in the last mile to maintain a steady pace. As a 1500 meter runner she is not used to this endured pain that the 5K brings over the last mile.

It thought the weekend was very successful. You can't run a lifetime best every time out. We had two PR's and two efforts that were just off all time bests. We still have a lot of season left.

Mt SAC

Two races in the books thus far and two to go this evening. Amanda ran 4:32 this morning in the 1500 (2 seconds from her PR). Felt good about the effort, but she is still learning this race. She was ill a week ago and is still not all the way back. However, she finished hard and that is important.

Lucy improved her seasons best time in the 800 by .1 seconds and ran 2:08. She didn't feel very good and still improved, so that is a good sign. She is becoming more consistent and resilient with every race. We still have a lot of season left.

Tonight Shayla will run the Puma Mile. Our focus is the Steeplechase, but this race will be fun and give her some good publicity regardless of the outcome. Alyssa will follow in her debut 5K on the track. We are simply hoping to run a time that will qualify for regionals. Anything beyond that will be a bonus. The first one on the track is never easy, but we all know she is tough.

Watch tonight's races live on www.flotrack.org

"An Honorable Run"

We were fortunate to have a guest speaker for our team meeting yesterday. The author of "An Honorable Run", Matt McCue stopped by to speak to our team. Matt (who like Coach Bockman and myself) is an Iowa native. Matt attended Regina High School in Iowa City (late 1990s) and then went on to run for the University of Colorado where he graduated in 2005. Matt is a young author who recently published his book about some of his running experiences and the lessons he learned from his coaches and teammates. He currently resides in New York City. The book has received great reviews from some of the most well known runners in American history including Jim Ryun and Bill Rodgers. However, his most important critic was his mother who thought it was the best book she had ever read:)

To learn more about this book or purchase a copy check out his website: www.anhonorablerun.com It was an outstanding read for me personally as it reminded me of my fortune of learning from great high school and college coaches. Most of my best high school and college memories revolve around track and cross country.

We thank Matt for stopping through Salt Lake City and speaking to our team.

Staying Home...

This past weekend we hosted our "home" meet at the facility we share with a local high school for the final time. Our new on campus facility will be ready in July (thank goodness!!!)

Freshman Angie Kaplar provided the most impressive performance of the meet as she broke a 10 year old school record in the 100 meter hurdles (13.90) to win the event. Older sister Chelsey won the 400 meter hurdle event in a season best time of 60.25.

We picked up five other event victories (High Jump, Long Jump, 800m, Hammer, and 4x400 meter relay). This weekend we are off to the Mt Sac Relays with a few distance runners. The remainder of the team will travel to Utah State.

Utah Runner Ranked #1 in the World

Former Ute and current Utah volunteer assistant, Shayla Houlihan, ran a 26 second lifetime best enroute to her steeplechase victory at the Stanford Invite last weekend. Her time of 10:03.26 also gives her the top spot in this weeks world rankings!

The outdoor season has just begun and several of the world's best runners are yet to run, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy a little success and use that momentum to build confidence and keep improving. Shay's time also gave her that automatic qualifying standard for the US Championships in June. The next goal is to run the World Championships qualifying standard time of 9:40. Yes, that is another big jump and yes, there are no World Championships or Olympics this year. However, training is going well and having a goal of that magnitude is fun for her. We'll take the same approach we always do...one step at a time, one race at a time.