What to do in SLC???

So...besides attending one of the premier academic institutions in the U.S., running and training in one of the most beautiful areas in the country, being part of one of the Top 20 Division I college athletic programs in the nation, having 11 of the best ski resorts in the world within 45 minutes of campus, and living in a family oriented city...what else is there to do you ask.

Sports.....

Basketball--Home of the NBA's Utah Jazz (see picture above from a recent home game)

Baseball--Home of the Triple A Salt Lake Bees (Anaheim Angels affiliate)

Speed Skating--Home of ISU World Cup Speed Skating events

Dew Tour--Pro Skateboard Tour event held in the summer

Professional Skiing/Snowboarding events held in Park City

Professional Ski Jumping events held at Olympic Ski Jump Park near Park City

Rodeo--Days of '47 Professional Rodeo Event

University of Utah Athletics

   -'09 Sugar Bowl Champion and undefeated (13-0) Football

   -Conference leading men's and women's Basketball teams

    -#1 Ranked Gymnastics team

    -Sweet 16 and conference champion volleyball team

   -Nationally ranked men's and women's ski teams

    -National level track & field, cross country, soccer, softball, baseball, swim & diving teams

Shopping....

Gateway Shopping Center (built for Olympics) outdoor shopping and dining

Outlet Mall at Kimball Junction (72 stores including Nike, Adidas, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Abercrombie, etc.)

7 other shopping malls within 10 mile radius of campus

Sugarhouse--Several locally owned shops and boutiques located 10 minutes from campus

Entertainment....

Concerts of all sizes (see picture from recent Big Head Todd & the Monsters concert at local venue)

Recent concerts:  Rascal Flatts, Hannah Montana, MC Hammer & Vanilla Ice, Tracy Lawrence, Metallica, Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Maroon 5, Kenny Chesney, etc.

Summer concert series with a variety of superstars and local talent

Lagoon-Amusement Park

Raging Waters-Water Park

Hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, and running trails

Any questions???  

Most points at conference meet ever

Pic 1:  Coach Kepler holds a team meeting to passionately speak about the weekend performances

Pic 2:  The 4x400m relay team accepts their runner-up medals.  They ran a season best time of 3:49.

Pic 3  Grad Assistant Shayla Houlihan, Lucy Yates, and Coach Kepler discuss the upcoming 800 meter prelims.

 I am very proud of the effort this past weekend at our indoor conference championships.  Our team put up it's highest point total in the ten year history of the MWC indoor meet to finish fourth.   We ended up only two points from third place in the team standings.   

Freshman Bree Leroy got us rolling by placing seventh in the pentathlon on Thursday.  We were able to carry that momentum into Friday and scored 30 more points with runner up finishes in the 5K (Lauren Endersen) and 20lb weight throw (Josefin Berg) leading the way.  

Saturday was far from perfect as we had four runners trip, get cut off, or fall during their races. However, our group continued to be resilient all day and fight for every point.  That focus and determination is what ultimately allowed us to finish as high as we did.  

This program has grown by leaps and bounds (pardon the pun) in my four years as the head coach.  They now embrace tough competition.  They can now persevere through less than ideal circumstances.  They now have confidence and believe in themselves and each other.  I am ultimately proud of everyone associated with our program (student athletes, assistant coaches, administrators, alumni, and family supporters) because together we have made this happen. 

2008-2009 MWC Championship finishes:

Cross Country-3rd (highest in school history)

Indoor T/F-4th (ties highest in school history and most points ever at championship meet)

Outdoor T/F-?????  

Be sure to follow us throughout the outdoor season for more fun and great performances!

Conference Week

It's almost unbelievable to think it's already the end of the indoor schedule and we are off to the conference championships this weekend at the Air Force Academy.  The majority of our team flies out on Thursday morning.  Coach Bockman, Coach Levin, and our multi eventer Bree LeRoy leave tomorrow morning.  We all fly into Denver and then drive about an hour up to Colorado Springs.  

The Academy is always an interesting place for a variety of reasons.  The most obvious being the mission of the school and students to protect our nation.  For that we are all grateful.  They have responsibilities most of us could not fathom.  The campus is north of Colorado Springs and is nestled into the side of a mountain range.  The security is a little tighter than your average college campus to say the least:)  The facility is also very unique with a 6 lane 273 meter track. The races start in all different places so you really have to be aware of laps and where you are on the track.  In some respects this makes coaching pretty fun.  Every race already has different strategy.  Then you throw in an odd sized track with tight turns and start lines on straight aways, in the middle of turns, and everywhere in between.  Oh yeah...then you also have a conference championship atmosphere and it becomes very easy to get excited to compete.  

I invite you to follow our team on our website (www.utahutes.com).  Meet results will also be posted live at www.themwc.com, click on championships, click on indoor track and field.   Wish us luck!  Have a great week.

Coach Kep

PR PR PR and more PR's

Wow!  What a weekend.  We had ten personal records set by nine different athletes.  Even our Graduate Assistant was pr'ing.  I felt like I should have entered an event because the momentum we had at two different meets was definitely contagious.  

We split our team and took some to the Iowa State Classic and the rest to the Husky Invitational (Univ. of Washington).  We do this to take advantage of the venues (both have 300m ovals) and the national caliber competition that is available.  

Between the two venues our gals set lifetime bests in the pole vault, high jump, weight throw, 800, Mile, 3K, and 5K.  We had several other athletes just miss out on PR's.  I felt we made our biggest steps forward of the season thus far.  With the conference meet looming in two weeks it is time to be at our best.  

Congratulations to Laryssa Simpson, Langley Iverson, Sarah Grimm, Chelsea Shapard, Lucy Yates, Janett Ern, Carly Selleck, Kellie Anderson, and G.A. Shayla Houlihan for all setting personal bests.  Kellie actually knocked of 20 seconds in the 5K and 15 more in the 3K.  I don't think I've ever seen her enjoy her training and racing as much as I have this indoor season.  

Both trips included flawless travel and allowed the athletes to focus on their events.  This weekend we will compete a limited number of athletes at the Weber State Tune up Meet as we prepare them for the conference championships.  The remainder of our team will rest from competition as their preparation.  

Mountain States Games

This weekend we were in Pocatello, ID (Idaho State University) for the Mountain States Games.  The competition was very good in every event and certainly helped us prepare for an even more difficult fields in our meets at Iowa State and Washington next weekend.  

We crowned four event champions:

Senior Haley McAllister--Long Jump (18-3)

Senior Chelsea Shapard--800 (2:10.67)

Freshman Langley Iverson--High Jump (5-6)

4x400m Relay (3:52)

*Shapard's mark in the 800 ranks second all-time in school history

We also had several other high place finishes and life time bests in several other events.  

This coming weekend the distance runners and vertical jumpers will go to Iowa State University  for the ISU Classic.  Meanwhile, the sprinters, hurdlers, horizontal jumpers and throwers will go to the University of Washington for the Husky Invitational.  

We split the team to take advantage of some national level competition and excellent competition venues.  Both ISU and UW have 300 meter tracks which are much easier to produce faster times on.  

Above Coach Bockman, senior Ashley Patterson, junior Chelsey Kaplar, and senior Adrienne Coburn enjoy a relaxing moment trackside during the meet.

Junior Laryssa Simpson prepares to initiate her attempt at 11-6 in the pole vault.  

New Outdoor Track!

A new outdoor track and field complex is coming to the University of Utah!!!  The project is scheduled to be completed in the late Fall of 2009 with construction beginning later this spring.  I met with the architect earlier today to talk about the track design and layout.  We seem to all be on the same page and are excited to keep the project moving forward.   Today's meeting with the architect also produced some exciting drawings.  Minus a few minor changes the project will be sent out to bid very shortly.  Keep checking back for updates and progress.

Two Champions Crowned at Boise

We had two individual event champions as well as a number of top three finishes at the Bronco Invitational this past weekend.  Freshman Langley Iverson won the high jump with a clearance of 5' 5.5" and senior Lauren Endersen set a new lifetime best (10:03.26) to win the 3,000. Endersen's mark is also an all-time Utah top ten performance in that event.  

After a week off I thought we looked pretty good in most events.  We went 1-2 in the high jump with two freshman, 1-2-4 in the 3K, and 2-3-4 in the weight throw.  Haley McAllister (long jump) and the 4x400m relay were second.   We also had 3rd in the shot put, 400, mile, and pole vault. 

This weekend we will compete in the Mountain States Games hosted by Idaho State.  It is a Friday/Saturday meet.  

Below is a short interview with freshman Langley Iverson (Reno, NV) talking about her victory in the high jump.