The Bowerman

The second annual Bowerman Award (Male and Female College Track & Field Athlete of the Year) was presented on Wednesday evening at the U.S. Track/Cross Country Association Convention. It was another amazing and well produced evening that was broadcast live on Flotrack.org. All of the finalists were deserving, however it was Queen Harrison (Virginia Tech) and Ashton Eaton (Oregon) who prevailed. Both were multiple time NCAA Champions. Harrison represented the US at the Beijing Olympics and Eaton is the current world record holder indoors in the heptathlon.

I have to pay homage to one of the other female finalists, Lisa Koll. No, not because is a distance runner!!! We grew up only 20 miles apart and I was the coach that came in second in the recruiting battle. (ISU had vet school and UNI does not. You'd think every school in Iowa would have a vet school with all of the agricultural enterprises here). The inaugural winner of this award, Jenny Barringer, was born and lived in my hometown for the first seven years of her life. She still has relatives in town. There is obviously some in the water that didn't quite drink enough of. We had a nice 15 minute conversation. Just listening to those two wonderful people chat and enjoy the unique bond that we all have was a lot of fun.

Another fellow Iowan (by birth anyway) was our MC. ESPN anchor (and former Mizzou high jumper), John Anderson, was amazing. His knowledge of track and field, the athletes, and his quick wit and humor made for an evening that will be hard to replace. Above that he was so gracious and spend two evenings in the foyer chatting with anyone who would say hello. He still has relatives in Iowa and even though he moved to Green Bay during his youth he also returns to the state to visit relatives. And like most people when he drives here he is looking for a barn or a silo to make the next turn rather than a street name.

Enjoy the pics. Sorry the picture of John and me is a little blurry. Blame Wichita St coach, Steve Rainbolt for that, ha ha. (Sorry to throw you under the bus, Bolt). And of course, the three little Iowans that could. There might be a debate about who the most talented runner in that picture is, but the debate for least talented won't last beyond a blink of the eye :)

With cross country season complete it is time to start thinking about track & field. Our track girls have been practicing hard all Fall and our first meet will be in January. Click HERE to check out our 2011 schedule.

Today's video is sophomore, Anneli Stahl, throwing the weight implement at our indoor practice facility. Enjoy!

She Did it Again!

Big meet often leads to big pressure. The answer is usually an experienced veteran who has steadily progressed through these opportunities and moments. However, Amanda Mergaert and usual have not been in the same sentence (or stratosphere for that matter) lately. Like a lot of young runners she has big expectations and dreams. She works hard physically and mentally to fulfill them. She has also taken on the wisdom of an older teammate who has "been there and done it before". Fortunately, that has been the equation for a major breakthrough this fall.

Amanda was 57th at the regional meet a year ago as a freshman. This year she was ninth and qualified for todays NCAA Championships. After celebrating that accomplishment for about 20 minutes she wasn't happy just getting to her first NCAA meet. She had more big goals to fulfill and achieve. I'd love to tell you she achieved them all. If it wasn't for two lousy seconds I would.

She finished 45th (out of 255) at her first NCAA cross country championship meet. The top 40 are named to the all America team and Amanda's time of 20:56 on a very windy day (25-30mph) came up a couple of seconds shy of that big goal. However, I can tell you that she ran an all American race. She had an outstanding race plan as was where she wanted to be at every checkpoint. She got out well at the start, used other runners to break the wind, used the long straightaways to build momentum, and finished strong. Only a sophomore, she ran the race of a much more experienced championship runner. That growth has come through trial and error, becoming a student of her sport, and listening intently to a great senior leader.

We will enjoy this one a little longer (30 minutes:) and then it's on to track where Amanda and her teammates have more unfulfilled goals and a few more dates with championship destiny.

Shopping at the NCAA's

We (Amanda, Alyssa, and I) arrived in Indianapolis late on Friday night on a non stop flight from SLC. Alyssa qualified and finished 76th in the NCAA championship meet in 2008. She missed this season after having to have her knee scoped. Her experience has been invaluable for Amanda and her development last spring and continuing this fall. Besides, if Alyssa didn't come Amanda would have had to hang with me all weekend. This was Amanda's only request (that Alyssa attend) after she qualified which I thought was pretty cool.

The first request after sleeping in on Saturday was.....A.) a premeet run at the course? B.) a great breakfast? C.) a tour of Terre Haute? Nope. Shopping at the mall in downtown Indianapolis was the winning request. Go figure. With the championship banquet later that evening, the girls wanted to search for outfits/shoes. They had packed suitable outfits, but wanted to attempt to find the perfect dress if it existed. After about 90 minutes of exploring the stores a pair of pants and shoes were purchased by Amanda and I coincidentally picked up a sport coat. Again...go figure! They were done shopping before me in the last store so, of course, they had me PAGED! This was after they had asked me about two dresses that were less than suitable for the event we were attending. Of course, I tried to play it off as their choice despite how skimpy and hideous both dresses were:) Fortunately, they were kidding and their taste is a little more appropriate than some women their age.

Today was pretty low key....a premeet run at the course. Amanda has an excellent race plan. She just has to do what she does best and compete. Lunch at Panera was solid. Then they dropped me off at packet pick up and the coaches technical meeting. From there it was dinner with Amanda's parents who drove down from Michigan.

Amanda will start in Box 32 tomorrow. If your watching on the web she will be on the left. The boxes are numbered 1-42 from L to R as the runners look out onto the course.

Go Utes!

The Perfect Storm!!!

On an idyllic crisp fall morning the Utes shined on their home course in every way as we hosted the NCAA Mountain Region meet. Great efforts all around, several lifetime best performances, and an individual qualifier to the NCAA Championships were the result of some Utah "home cookin'." Sophomore Amanda Mergaert (who finishied 58th at this meet as a freshman) ran smooth for the first half of the race and then moved into the top 12 with 2K to go. In the last 400 meters she continued to move and wound up ninth to secure one of the four individual qualifying spots Her time of 20:45 was a new lifetime and school record for the 6K distance. The NCAA championships are on November 22nd and can be viewed at www.ncaa.com from 10a-11:30a (MST).

The rest of our youthful team also ran well and included several new personal best performances. Sophomore Jenny McCune (22:03/52nd), and freshmen Alexis Laws (77th/22:31) and Nikki Dotter (92nd/22:55) all set new lifetime marks to lead the Utes to a 12th place finish in the team standings.

We had a very positive day for our program. To get a sophomore individual qualifier to the NCAA championships, several PR's, and host a nearly perfect meet was a lot of fun. We just missed our goal being in the top 10 as a team by 20 points. However, it wasn't a lack of effort or will. These girls ran terrific and have something to build on going into the track season.

See you all at the NCAA meet in Terre Haute next Monday!!!

GameDay Came To Our Ci-ty!

If only the outcome of the game had been better. Regardless, it was a really fun day. The GameDay crew was outstanding, nice, cordial, and very genuine to everyone! They are stars even when the cameras and lights are turned off which was very refreshing. They sign autographs and took pictures after the show for about 45 minutes.

I am now the proud owner of autographs from Herbie and EA as well as some great photos of the event. I included a few of my favs.

Tees and Tanks

November 4, 2010....66 degrees and nothing but perfect blue skies in Salt Lake City, UT today. We had a little speed workout at the track today. I can't decide if the weather or the view was better!!!

Mergaert Leads Utes with 1st Team All MWC Performance

Sophomore Amanda Mergaert improved on her 28th place performance at the conference championship meet a year ago by running herself onto the Mountain West Conference First Team All Conference team with her seventh place finish at this years meet. She was followed by true freshman, Alexis Laws, who was 28th. Jenny McCune (31st), Rebekah Winterton (35th), and Megan Combe (46th) rounded out our scoring five. As a team we were fifth, but only seven points from fourth. The meet was hosted by Wyoming at 7220 ft above sea level. The runners were also greeted by 30-40 mph sustained winds.

I thought our first two runners ran particularly well. Everyone gave great physical effort, but I think we still have some work to do mentally. That comes with experience and doing a better job of working together during the race.

The pics are of Amanda receiving her All Confererence award.

Student Athlete Halloween Party

The Annual Student Athlete Halloween Party took place this past Sunday night at the student union. Bowling, pumpkin painting, a canned food drive, and good food were the order of the evening. Each team had a theme for their costumes. Our team decided to be "geeks" and the results were pretty funny.

This is just another fun event to help our student athletes have some fun together and forget about the stresses of their studies for a few hours. It also helps out our local food pantry as a requirement to get into the event is providing canned goods. This event sponsored by our Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) which keeps our teams involved in community service projects and discusses issues that are important to the student athlete experience and overall success.

October 23, 2010...A New Era

A "monumental" day in he history of the University of Utah Track & Field program took place today. The Athletics department held an Opening Celebration Ceremony for the brand new McCarthey Family Outdoor Track & Field that was recently completed on campus. Other than dealing with some rain (for the first time in weeks) the day was a huge success. Thanks to everyone who allowed this day to finally happen. A special thanks to the McCarthey Family for their generous support of this facility and the University of Utah Athletics over the years. Their generosity will be felt for generations to come with this new facility.

Thanks to everyone (especially the alums and former coaches) who attended the event. It had been 28 years since the University of Utah last had a track facility on campus. To our current athletes I say "Welcome Home" and thanks for your patience of this arduous process. There is no doubt that it will be worth it!

It's now time to continue moving this program forward and setting even higher goals than we already had. We have the support and now we have a world class facility to allow us to dream big and achieve great things. It's a great day to be a Ute.

Go Utes!

Pre Nats

We had hoped to perform a little better in the team standings, however the experience our young group gained will be valuable in the future. We needed a "do over" for the first 400 meters. We didn't respond well to being in the very last starting box and with 40 teams on the starting line we didn't gauge the field very well and ended up near the back at the first turn. However, I give our group a ton of credit for not panicking and running tough over the last two miles. Amanda led us again with an outstanding effort finishing 32nd overall with a new 6K PR of 21:05. To get that far up in the field considering where she was at the mile was excellent. Between her, Jenny, and Rebekah they made up about 30 points in the final 1K of the race.

Our final conference championship as a member of the Mountain West Conference is next Friday at Wyoming. That will be a completely different race with only about 1/4 of the total number of runners as Pre Nats. However, it will require our best effort to finish where we believe we should.

The pictures are from the starting line at Pre Nats, the canal walk in downtown Indianapolis, and the monument in downtown Indy which recognizes the War with Mexico, the Indian and British War, and the capture of Vincennes. We had some time to explore Indy before our flight back to SLC on Saturday after the race.

Workout Wednesday

Today we headed up to Park City to do some 1K threshold intervals. It's Fall Break here so we took advantage and used the morning hours for our final workout before heading out to Terre Haute, IN tomorrow for this weekends Pre National meet. It was a perfect morning as you will see in the videos below. For those of you who want a good laugh...after hearing me cheer on the girls and yell instructions a couple walking their dog asked me if I was from the south or maybe east coast?

Practice...we're talkin' about practice

Monday workout before Pre Nationals. 3-4 minute intervals with 75% recovery to run time. It's Fall Break for us so we did these at 10am at Sunnyside Park which is about a mile from campus. It was a little overcast and 62 degrees...perfect!

V = Tahoe??

Usually, V stands for victory...and I'm happy to say that this weekend it did stand for a dominate victory. We traveled to the University of Nevada to compete in a 5k Chase Race against UNR and Sacramento State. This race format is very unique with coaches setting their line ups based on four starting groups. Group 1 starts and then Groups 2-4 have :30 handicap starting times after the group in front of them begins. I set our line up based on our previous race results. We had two runners in the first group, three in the second, two in the third, and our number one runner in the final group. You never really know how it's going to actually turn out, but this time it was about perfect. We swept the first four spots and easily won the meet 19-47-58 over UNR and Sac St. As usual the course at UNR was not conducive to fast times, however it forced us to compete in an intelligent manner. it also had a couple of areas that required a hop over a small creek that runs through the park. I think the different style of race and the type of course allowed us to just focus on running our race and competing against other people rather than worry about times. We did that well as the girls really came focused and put forth a great effort.

The reward for their efforts was a trip up to Lake Tahoe for lunch following the meet. Our flight back to SLC wasn't until later in the day, so we took advantage of the great weather. We enjoyed lunch at a lakeside grill/cafe and then Jenny made friends with a local paddle boarder who let some of the girls try it out. Check it out in the video and picture.

AOW!!!

Check this link out....Pretty awesome for a sophomore!

Click HERE for details

Build it....

Progress at the track. The base mat is almost finished. The polyurethane top coat (the red layer) should start later this week.

"I love it when a plan comes together"
~Lieutenant -Colonel/Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith

Stanford 2010

Overall, I thought we ran pretty well considering it was all of our runners first time on the Stanford course. It's not an overly challenging course, but it has a lot of turns and they were competing against 23 other teams for running space. It was a very warm day (mid 80's), and the course was very hard which led to some very fast times.

I like where we are right now as a group. We still have a lot of work to do including getting out harder and in better position at the start. However, with a young group that takes experience which is why I thought 10th out of 24 teams was a solid performance. To have Amanda finish in the top 20 in her season debut against a very good field was a great sign of her overall fitness and recovery from a tonsilectomy this summer. Our 2-5 runners had :40 between them which is solid for a 6K. If we can get that group a little closer to Amanda we'll be able to score a bit better as a team.

French Toast

The annual trip to Bozeman, MT for the Montana State Invite has always been fun for a variety of reasons. The meet serves as a great opportunity to improve against teams we know (many of whom we ran against two weeks ago) from our region and state. The weather is usually cooler and more Fall like (45 degrees/ptly cloudy/breezy at race time)...true cross country weather so to speak. The trip up and back includes some of the most beautiful scenery in the country as we drive through Yellowstone Park and along the Gallatin River. It's our own live version of "Field and Stream" magazine. Another one of my personal favorite pieces of this trip is stopping at Ernie's, a local eatery in West Yellowstone, MT. Donna serves up some of the best french toast anywhere. However, they only serve it until 11am each day. So if your going to arrive later in the day call ahead and have them make you an order to eat upon your afternoon arrival.

Once again we ran all freshmen and sophomores against a field including teams with a great deal more experience than us. However, I thought our top four runners (three freshmen and a sophomore) ran extremely well. They had only a 20 second spread between them. We ran into a bit of bad luck as another one our freshmen suffered a calf strain and could not finish. She was running with our 3-4 runners (Rebekah Winterton and Alexis Laws) who were 18th and 23rd, respectively. Our top two (Nikki Dotter and Jenny McCune) were just outside the top ten in 13th and 15th. Our fifth (Chantel Hunt) and sixth (Brooke Casagranda) runners did everything they could to fill that final scoring position as best they could after AuraLea went down.

We're off to our first real big (30+ teams) invitational next weekend at Stanford. We will add sophomores Amanda Mergaert and Megan Combe back into the lineup. Our fifth year senior and top runner, Alyssa Abbott, also hopes to see action. She was nursing an IT Band this week so her status is still a little iffy. Hopefully, AuraLea's calf will cooperate and we can be at full strength.

Off to Montana

The annual voyage to Bozeman, MT for the Montana State Bobcat Invitational occurs this weekend. Our three mile women's race is on Saturday morning at Bridger Creek Golf Course. Race time is 9am. Check back here and on our main athletic website for results. We are again primarily running a young group as a few of our more experienced runners continue to train themselves into shape. The trip will take us through eastern Idaho and then into western Wyoming and Yellowstone Park. That is some of the most beautiful land in the country. Check out some of the pictures from years past to on the right side of this page. We'll have a few more after this weekend as well.

A solid week of workouts. We do have a few nicks and dings that we need to be careful with. Our athletic training staff is excellent and will keep them on the course. More after the meet.

...and they're off!!

The season has officially begun. We ran this morning at our "usual" season opening meet hosted by Utah State. The race distance was just short of 5K. Holding out four of our top runners (due to long track seasons) I gave some of our younger runners an opportunity to "prove" themselves and carry the banner for our team against some very good local competition. Fully loaded teams from Weber State and BYU joined Utah State as our competition. As a team we were third in the standings, which I thought was very good performance from our young group. Sophomore Jenny McCune ran 20 seconds faster than she ran a year ago to capture 9th place overall. Then it was four true freshmen who finished out our scoring runners. Nikki Dotter (19th) running her first ever cross country race was only 13 seconds behind McCune. Then it was AuraLea Fain (18:09), Alexis Laws (18:13), and Rebekah Winterton (18:13) finishing 33rd, 34th, and 35th respectively. Chantel Hunt (66th, 20:11) and Brooke Casagranda (69th, 21:22) rounded out our seven runners. Alexis Davis (60th, 19:40) and Hilary Troutner (65th, 20:09) also ran unattached.

I really liked the way we competed. Our freshmen hung tough and ran hard for every position. Jenny continues her steady improvement in her second year. Nikki's performance was excellent considering it was her first race ever. Once she figures out what she's doing she could really be dynamite.

We run again in two weeks at Montana State. We will continue to work on improving in our weak areas and build on the strengths we have developed thus far.

Long Run

Tomorrow is our opening race of the season at Utah State. We will be running primarily freshmen and sophomores so that I can find out where they are in their development. Four of our top runners will not race due to having extended track seasons that went into late June and July. They will open their xc season in a few weeks.

Today I went on a long run with two of our returning NCAA qualifiers and Conference Champions. Senior Alyssa Abbott, sophomore Amanda Mergaert, and I went to a popular local trail located in Millcreek Canyon. Pipeline Trail is a nine mile out and back single track trail at just over 6,000 ft. Come along with us and experience our run courtesy of the amateur video I took on the run this morning.

Turf Monsters!

The artificial turf that will be the infield of our new outdoor track and field complex started to go down today. Check back for updates as the field progresses. The track surface will follow!.

Fan Fest!

This morning the U Athletics Department hosted Fan Fest at the football stadium. This annual event allows our huge fan base to meet and greet all the different athletes and coaches at the U. It's always fun gathering of fans young and old. Each team has an activity for the kids and adults to participate in. Our kids also signed autographs and handed out team posters. This year we ran an inflatable obstacle course that proved to be a huge hit. Our team provided instruction and helped kids into and out of the course. The smiles on the kids' faces was priceless. Yet, another successful event and opportunity to reach out to all of those who support us for our team. Check out some of the pics of the kids having fun.

BMOC??

What does BMOC stand for? Check out the picture in the following link and see if you can figure it out.

http://tweetphoto.com/41368969

I attended a very nice Scholarship Dinner at the President's House with four of our student athletes. The President holds this dinner annually to allow some of our athletes to meet and speak with the very people who provide their scholarships. It's always a very special event for everyone involved.

What Should We Wear?

Today was equipment and gear day for our team. Check out the video and see all the cool stuff we get.

What a day!

Although camp came to a close this morning, it did so under perfect running conditions. We ran at the Deer Creek Reservoir trail near Soldier Hollow on a cool morning with blue skies mixed with fog in the low lying areas around us. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

I attempted to put the finishing touches on a great camp by making the girls blueberry pancakes following the run and I have to say they turned out pretty well.

Catching Up with the Freshmen

AuraLea Fain (Billings, MT) and Rebekah Winterton (Salt Lake City, UT)

Down and Dirty

The Thursday afternoon workout included doing some hill repeats on a dirt road about an hour after it had rained for 90 minutes. This hill was located in an area north of Midway that had a very rural feel to it with the horses, fields, tractors, and birds nearby. Overall, the footing was decent and the gals did a great job of pushing each other. At 8,000+ feet this was a fairly tough workout.

Moooooooo!!!

Our morning run took us to a trail near the Strawberry River in a very remote area south of Heber Valley just over the Daniel's Summit area. As we ran ranchers were herding cows along the trail and roads we were on. The rain from yesterday made the trail a little mucky, but overall it was a great run. We also packed breakfast and hung out and enjoyed the area.

This year's camp has featured special guests as well. Our sport administrator, Zack Lassiter, also made it up for this run and held his own. He left his house at 6:15am to make it up so kudos for that effort. Former Ute runner and current professional, Shayla Houlihan who now runs for Brooks and just returned from her summer season in Europe also made it up to visit with the team and hang out last night and during the morning run today.

Pictures from this trip will be available shortly so be sure to check back.

What's for Dinner? Chicken or Chicken?

Camp-Day 2

Today's activity began with a early morning recovery run, breakfast, goal setting session and lunch. After lunch naps were followed by an afternoon workout that consisted of running some 1200 meter threshold repeats. A nearby neighborhood park featured an easy rolling loop that was perfect for these repeats. Tonight's dinner includes baked chicken, vegetables, and bread. We have predetermined groups of six to cook each of the meals. The remainder of the women are relaxing by playing table games, getting to know each other, stretching, icing, or working on goal sheets.

...and they're off!!!

The 2010 cross country season has officially begun. Preseason camp in Heber Valley (50 minutes southeast of campus) is underway. I was very fortunate to find a great vacation rental home that was available to host the largest team we've had at Utah in my sixth year as the head coach. It has everything (minus a hot tub so I was reminded) that a team could want. Board games, ping pong, pool table, Wii, and great living space allow our team to spread out, have fun, and get to know each other. Yes, I know...sounds more like a country club than a "camp". However, we also have great access to running trails, parks, and other space for the reason that we are truly here for---to train and prepare for the upcoming season. The summer stories have been outstanding so far. A game of Scategories broke out with eight girls playing. The baton pass ice breaker we did as a team introduction was entertaining. The girls also make their own meals. Tonight a group of five girls and myself drove and bought all the groceries for the week. Another group then made an excellent spaghetti dinner. Buying and cooking for nineteen people is probably the biggest challenge of the entire camp. However, it allows the girls to work as a team and provide the energy we need after our runs and workouts.

Check back tomorrow for pictures of our sweet home base as well as some from the daily running and team time.

Progress!

More evidence that our outdoor track facility continues to move forward. We now have sod on the entire east side (homestretch) where crowds will gather. We will not put stands on this area, but rather leave it as a natural bermed hillside that will welcome camping chairs, blankets, and picnic tables. Work on the artificial infield surface has began this week. The track surface will be installed before the end of the month.

Dream Big!

Cowabunga!!!!

What do you do on a hot day (98*) in Salt Lake City? You go cool off, of course. Some friends and I went to the newest water park (Cowabunga Bay) on Sunday and enjoyed the slides, lazy river, and world's largest splash bucket. We had a blast! Try it out if you get a chance.

When Will it Be Done?

August 19th is the new projected finish date for our new outdoor track....just before the new academic year begins! Wheww!! It took a while for the normal summer weather to kick in, but now that it has our new facility will finally get finished. The asphalt foundation has been placed. Artificial turf infield and the actual running surface and field event stations will be in place soon. Keep checking back for details.

New Track Pics!!!

Click below to view the new pictures from our outdoor track facility. The asphalt was layed last week and is now curing. Only a couple of weeks away from the running surface! The artificial infield surface is scheduled to be installed late next week. It's all finally coming together!!!!

Click here to see the pics.

Saturday in the Park

This is our team blog so I try not to get overly personal with my posts, but I'll take a little liberty with this one. Occasionally coaches take a day or two and just get away from the team and the job. Here is one such example. This past Saturday was slightly different than the typical blue skied, hot July weekend day in that it was my birthday. No more early 30's for this guy.

I started with a morning run and followed that up with a stroll around the Farmer's Market (see picture). That place was packed with people, great food, and lots of unique items from local vendors. From there it was up to Utah Olympic Park and a ride on the Alpine Slide with Hannah (girlfriend). We went from there to Main Street Park City and past the new ski resort being built in Deer Valley. We hosted friends for dinner at my place and then ended up downtown SLC with more friends. Overall, it was a really great summer day in Utah. It's amazing all of the great things we have to do and see in a day here in the Salt Lake City area.

PS...the birthday ice cream cake was chosen for it's flavor and not for the slightly more feminine colors and decorations :)