Monday, June 27, 2011

Rebekah and Friends (Part 1)







As promised here are the pics of Rebekah and her new friends that she met at the US Championships this past weekend.

Molly Huddle: 5K Champ and American Record Holder
Lisa Koll: 4x NCAA Champion
Kara Goucher (and son Colt): 10K Runner up
Shalane Flanagan: 10K Champ and American Record Holder
Jen Rhines: 3rd in the 10K

These are the girls. The boy pics will be posted soon so check back.

Friday, June 24, 2011



Another terrific day for Utah Track & Field at Hayward Field in Eugene. Freshmen Rebekah Winterton entered the junior 5K seeded tenth based on season best times. However, she was focused and determined throughout the race. She went with the main pack early which was off the lead pace, but still very quick. She was patient, but made moves when she needed to maintain contact. That intelligent racing and a super last 600 meters rewarded her with a fifth place finish and a 41 second outdoor PR (17:19). The last two years we've had two top five finishes at the junior meet (A Mergaert-1500) to go along with A Kaplar's eighth place finish in the 100 hurdles a year ago as well.

We also were able to watch the senior women's and men's 5K finals tonight as well. Pictures coming soon with Rebekah and the medal winners. Another great season of Utah TF is complete. It was filled with a ton of development and some really special moments.

Up Next: The Utes move into the Pac-12 on July 1st. The initial Pac-12 cross country season will be here before we know it. Enjoy the summer and check back often for more updates about Utah TF and XC.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Paying the Rent


Evening one of this years produced some exciting, but expected results. Flanagan, Goucher, and Rhines went 1-2-3 in the women's 10K. Flanagan ran hard from the gun producing a sub 31 (30:59) winner. The men's race was anything but hard from the start. They dawdled through 5K at 14:39 (maybe a tempo run for a few). However, the last 1200 and particularly the last 800 (1:56 for Rupp) was entertaining. Rupp (28:38) won outkicking Tegenkamp (28:39) and Bauhs (28:40). That winning time is about 90 seconds slower than Rupps PR. Of course, this is a meet to make a team, so it's about beating people regardless of the time (so long as you have the World Qualifying Standard which Rupp does).

Coach Bockman helped Galen with a 400 repeat workout about 10 days ago so we'll even give him an assist with turning out an American Champion. We'll call the pictures with Rebekah part of the Rupp/Goucher training group's rent for using our track the last six weeks.

On a side note, our trip here today was very smooth. We were able to fly right into Eugene. Amazing how much nicer the 32 minute flight from Portland to Eugene is than the two hour drive. Good premeet, good dinner, and a great night to watch the 10K's. Rebekah made it worth it by getting pics will all of the 10K podium placers except Teg. She replaced him with Lisa Koll (4 time NCAA Champion, Shalane's training partner, and an Iowa product who grew up 25 minutes from yours truly) who is out with an injury right now. For now I just have the one pic. I'll get the others up when Rebekah sends them to me.

Friday, 10:10am, Junior Women's 5K....watch on line LIVE Here

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

It's Official!!!



The list of awards in our program grew again. Senior Alyssa Abbott has been awarded the prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarship. She is the first recipient from the University of Utah in several years. This award is only given by the NCAA to a select few graduating seniors annually who are among the most well rounded student athletes. Academic excellence, athletic performance, leadership skills, and community service are the primary areas used to determine award winners. Abbott finished the spring semester with a perfect 4.00 GPA. She graduated this past spring with a cumulative GPA of 3.89 in Exercise Sport Science. Abbott was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII Track and Field and Cross Country First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She received Academic All-District honors four consecutive years. The award includes a scholarship to help the student pursue a post graduate degree of their choice. She is an eight time NCAA qualifier between cross country and outdoor track. Abbott was the vice president of the U of U Student Athlete Advisory Council this past year as well as a team captain. She also participated in several community service activities over the last five years.

Congrats Alyssa!!!

Thursday, June 16, 2011



Freshman Rebekah Winterton is completing her final preparations on our track before she runs in the US Junior Championship meet in Eugene, OR next Friday. Winterton qualified for the junior 5,000 meter race at this years championships when she ran 17:33 at the Husky Classic in February.

Training has continued to progress well but we know that this is the longest period of time she's ever trained at this level. So our expectations will be realistic. While she won't be happy just to be there, the focus will be more on running an intelligent race rather than an exact place or time. The experience from meets like this are invaluable for the future.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Sometimes 2nd is Good



Click HERE to find out how!

Also...the pics above came from our visit to the Blank Park Zoo and Trainland USA during our down time at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last week in Des Moines.

Monday, June 13, 2011

First Timer


Sorry for the delay with this post. The internet connection at our hotel in Des Moines was not the best. Despite that and the less than ideal weather conditions for three days we were ending the season at the NCAA Championships. Amanda ran a very good semi final race and just missed the final by 1.4 seconds. She ran her last lap in 63 seconds, but finished sixth in her heat and only the top five advanced automatically. The other heat was slightly faster and took both time qualifying spots. After watching the final on Saturday she knows she can run with the best in the country on any given day.

We had a fun time during the off days visiting the Des Moines Zoo, Trainland USA in Colfax, the Iowa Hall of Pride, and Wells Fargo Arena. We also drove by the State capitol building and hung out at Grey's Lake when we weren't at the meet.

Special thanks goes to Don Paige (former US Olympian) for the picture.

We do have one more competition this season. Freshman, Rebekah Winterton, qualified for the US Junior Championships in the 5K. That race will take place on Friday June 24th at 10:10 (PT) in Eugene, OR.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Back to Des Moines


Mergaert wins the Region, qualifies for the Nationals
School record in the 1500 meters now 4:16.57


The Utah track team completed the West Region Championships by qualifying one person to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Amanda Mergaert ran the new school record in the 1500 Meter race finishing in a time of 4:16.57, which broke the previous record by three seconds and her previous personal record by more than five seconds. Mergaert's effort earned her first place in the event as well as the top qualifying time overall from both regionals for the NCAA Championships.
In her final race as a Ute, senior Alyssa Abbott competed in the 1500 Meter finals. She was betrayed by some bad luck as another runner fell in front of her as she was about to make a big move down the backstretch. Momentum was lost and she was unable to qualify for Des Moines with Amanda.

Brianna LeRoy led the way for the Utes in the High Jump with a jump of 5’7”, which earned her 16th place while Langley Iverson finished 24th overall clearing the mark of 5’5”. Two days earlier LeRoy had hit the second best mark of her career with a 19’4” in the Long Jump taking the 21st place.

Angela Kaplar was 42nd in the 100 Meter Hurdles with a time of 14.24. Anneli StÃ¥hl threw 175’0” in the hammer and placed 34th . In the 800m, Lucy Yates ran a in a slow, tactical race and posted a time of 2:09.39 which earned her 4th place in her heat, but only the top three advanced to the next round.

It was a week of near misses which was bittersweet, but all of our gals competed hard and learned a lot. Only one of them graduates so we look forward to our first year in the Pac-12 with the other six leading the charge.

Next up for the Utes is the NCAA Outdoor Championships at the Drake University in Iowa on June 8-11, where Amanda Mergaert represents the team in the 1500 Meter race. Look for more details in a future post.