Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Monday, January 30, 2012

Three More Titles on Day Two

Several impressive finishes highlighted day two at our opening meet of the season at Boise this past weekend. Senior Bree LeRoy won the high jump title (5-6), senior Lucy Yates led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 800 meter run in 2:10.98, and the 4x400 came from behind for a victory in 3:46.

Two newcomers to the 800m, freshman Ali Eisenbeiss and sophomore Rose Griffin, ran right behind Yates to finish in 2:12.04 and 2:12.06. The Utes also went 2-3-4-6 in the shot put as Alanna Nulph, Destanae Howerton-Davis, Candus Aiello, and Nikkie Rudder all performed well. In the mile a pair of freshmen combined for a 2-5 finish. Andrea Chavez ran the second fastest time in Utah school history of 4:52.55 which amounted to a 23 second personal best from high school. Chavez trails only junior team mate Amanda Mergaert (4:44) on the all time list. After winning the 3K on day one, freshman Susannah Hurst ran 5:02.09 for fifth in the mile to complete a solid double.

Junior Lauryn McKay led a group of 400 meter performances by finishing fifth overall in 56.99 which is just off of her indoor PR. Alyssa Johnson, McKay, Eisenbeiss, and Yates then teamed to win the 4x400m relay in comeback style. Yates trailed by nearly two seconds after getting the stick, but was able to close on Cal State Northridge's anchor runner on the first lap and then made a great move off the final turn to pass her and complete the comeback. Utah ran 3:46.76 which ranks fifth on the all-time Utah list.

Next weekend we will be at the Mountain States Games in Pocatello, ID. Also, a post meet press conference will be uploaded here tomorrow for your viewing pleasure.
Susannah Hurst winning the 3K at Boise State

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Up, Up, and Away We Go!

The indoor season started in full last night here in Nampa, ID at the Jackson's/New Balance Invite hosted by Boise State. The throwers competed three weeks ago at BYU, but this is the opener for everyone else. We had two event winners as senior Klaudia Rokossa won the pole vault by clearing 12-7 and freshman Susannah Hurst dominated the 3K (9:59.51). We also went 4-6 in the weight throw with Anneli Stahl and Nikkie Rudder. Senior Bree Leroy led a 3-4 finish in the pentathlon. Overall, it was a very solid day...especially for the first meet. This meet is about competing hard and bringing the necessary intensity to perform at a high level. We've tried to simulate that in practice with time trials, but there is nothing quite like being at a meet.

The remainder of the meet is today and we have several athletes competing. Young and veteran we need them all to come ready to perform and have some fun. If they can do that then the performances we are all looking for will come. As coaches we know they are ready physically, so we will have to spend more time making sure they are prepared mentally and have a good plan of attack for there events. After that...it's up to them to follow the plan as best they can so that we can work together to make adjustments for the next event.

Looking forward to a great day. Check back for more later.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Welcome Back!!!


UTES DOMINATE THROWING EVENTS AT BYU

The 2012 season started with a big bang as our veteran throws group had an outstanding day at the BYU Invitational.

In the shot put, Utah claimed the top four spots. Sophomore Destanae Howerton-Davis set a new personal record with a first-place mark of 47-1.25. Nikkie Rudder finished second with a throw of 46-3.50. Candus Aiello (44-5.75) and Alanna Nulph (44-5.75) finished third and fourth, respectively for the Utes.

Rudder won the weight throw competition with a new personal-best mark of 54-11.75. Cynthia Sanchez claimed second overall with a throw of 53-05. Howerton-Davis rounded out the top-three finishers with a mark of 52-10.75.

The opening indoor meet for the rest of our team will be on Jan 27-28 at Boise State. This will give us two weeks out of the holiday break to prepare which is something we've never done before. Hopefully, we will respond well and have everyone healthy by then. I will check in with some practice updates and pictures between now and then. Go Utes!