It's About That Time

Only nine (9) more days until the cross team reports for preseason camp!  Where did the summer go?  We are all looking forward to another successful year.  Summer training has gone well from the reports I have received.  We will hold camp in Eden, UT again this year.  Be sure to check back for more updates.

Off to the NCAA Championships

We officially have eight qualifiers for this years NCAA Outdoor Championships.  The qualifiers are listed below with their current ranking out of the 48 competitors in their event.  The top 12 at the Prelim round move on to the NCAA Finals:

400H:  Alyssa Johnson (46)
800m:  Rosalie Waller (10) and Ali Eisenbeiss (13)
5K:  Rebekah Winterton (19) and Susannah Hurst (18)
10K:  Rebekah Winterton (6) and Susannah Hurst (13)
Hammer:  Aoife Hickey (16) and Ilse Kaaja (26)
Shot Put:  Nikkie Rudder (43)

Congrats to these women for their outstanding achievement and good luck as they look to move into the Finals.  The meet starts on Thursday in Fayetteville, AR.

Conference Week

It's conference week for the cross country team and neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor darkness will keep us from our preparation!  Susannah, AuraLea, and Rebekah had to go early this morning (7am) due to some academic conflicts this afternoon.  They had a terrific workout despite the constantly changing weather that happened to roll through this morning.  (Of course as soon as they finished the weather lightened up considerably).

Be sure to go to the cross country page at www.utahutes.com (select media tab) to check out my weekly press conference.

We are off to Colorado on Friday and race on Saturday morning at 11:40am. 

Three is Our Number

While our streak of finishing third in three straight meets came to an end the number three is still going strong.  At the Stanford Invite we finished fourth for the third straight year.  Junior Susannah Hurst finished fourth in her.....I'll give you one guess....yep....third straight meet.  And now we have three weeks until our next meet.

We are still searching for more consistency in regard to our scoring five and top seven runners.  Our top  three (Rebekah, Susannah, and Andrea) all seemed to have found a grove.  However, our 4-7 are still fighting not only to improve, but when they do improve hang on or even build upon that increased output.  Most of that can be related directly to the fact that we are very young in those positions with three freshmen among the five.

If we want to achieve our preseason goals we have to continue to stay healthy/get healthy and find consistency in all of our running.

We are off for the next two weekends and return to action on October 19th at the Pre National meet on the NCAA Championship course in Terre Haute, IN.

Be sure to check out my weekly press conference at http://utahutes.cstv.com/sports/c-xc/utah-c-xc-body.html  Click on the Multi Media tab in the center of the page.

and The Award Goes Too?

Five time University of Utah All American Amanda Mergaert. 

As usual the Utah/Southern Idaho Chapter of the M.S. Society Dinner of Champions was a gala event.  This dinner brings "champions" from all parts of life together in a celebration of achievement and awareness.  Multiple Sclerosis affects 1 in 300 people.  It can affect anyone but typically is diagnosed between ages 20-50.  This years event celebrated athletic champions who along with there commitment to their sport also volunteer in the community in various ways.  The event also highlighted careers of people who are supporting those with MS, individuals living with MS, and the  continued research of a cure for MS. 

Mergaert was honored as the College Female Athlete of the Year by this great organization.  She is the second University of Utah Track & Field/Cross Country athlete earn this award in the 35 year history of the event (Alyssa Abbott, 2011). 

Pictured is Dinner of Champions host Philip G McCarthey, Amanda, and myself. 

To have two award winners in the past three years speaks volumes about the type of people we have in our program.  They spend countless hours between school work, running, and volunteering in the community...giving back.  We have many other student athletes who are on a similar path and I know both Amanda and Alyssa would say this honor is something they can share with all of their teammates.  An awesome night with some truly inspiring people.

Stuck in 3rd Gear

We've ran two meets and we've finished third as a team twice.  Like most teams we have work to do, but know we will be better later in the season.  Practices have gone well thus far, but we simply need more time to learn how to run together and be able to finish better.

To hear more about our recent home meet and learn more about our upcoming meet at Montana State go to the cross country page at www.utahutes.com and listen to my press conference.

Camping Utah Style

With preseason camp complete we are now looking forward to school starting and our first competition at Utah State on August 31st.  We had lots of fun running at camp, discussing goals, making homemade pasta, and making a few new animal friends.