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!!!
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