Do You Have a Dish?

If the television set up in your home is through DirecTV or Dish Network we need your help.  They need to know you want the new Pac-12 Networks as part of your plan.  The Pac-12 already has signed agreements with their primary competitors (Comcast, TimeWarner, Brighthouse, etc).  You need to call/email and demand that they pick up the Pac-12 Network when it goes live later this summer.  The Pac-12 Network will include a National feed along with six regional feeds that will provide over 850 live events in the first year alone.  Call now!  

Cross Country Camp

The annual Middle/High School (grades 7-12) Utah Cross Country Camp will be held July 10-13.  Registration deadline is July 1st.  To ensure the best athlete/coach ratio in the country this camp is limited to the first 24 runners who sign up.  The cost is ONLY $250 for resident campers (includes all meals) and $150 for commuters (includes lunch).  

Click HERE to learn more and sign up today!!! 

Senior Bree LeRoy ended her career on a high note at her first NCAA Finals appearance by clearing two bars and finishing 22nd overall.  Her first attempt at the third bar (5-10.75) was her best and would have been a new lifetime best.  However, the bar would not stay up and she failed on her other two attempts.  To come to the NCAA Finals for the first time is always the most difficult, but as she has all year, she handled the pressure well and gave herself a chance to go out with a new PR.

Watching Bree's development over the last four years has been very enjoyable.  Her last two years were by far her best as she led us in points scored at the outdoor conference meet in both seasons.  She was also our first ever all Pac-12 track and field athlete.  She worked hard for all of her success and she was fun to be around everyday.  You can't ask for much more as a coach.  She will be greatly missed by all of us associated with Utah TF.

Up next....yes the season still is not completed....is the US Junior National Championships where we will have two competitors.  Freshmen Kaitlin Urmston (javelin) and Susannah Hurst (5K) will compete next weekend (June 15-16).  After that junior Amanda Mergaert may have earned a spot in the US Olympic Trials with her 4:13 clocking in the 1500m at the NCAA meet.  That time is just shy of the 'A' Standard for the Trials so we won't know for sure that she is in for about another week.  Stay tuned!

In the Blink of an Eye...

A human blinks in .14 seconds.  Junior Amanda Mergaert ran a huge lifetime best in the biggest race of the year, but came up the blink of an eye short of making the 1500 final at the NCAA Championships.  Last year she finished 14th and missed the final by .24.  This she ran five seconds faster than a year ago, but the result in regards to final placing and advancement are the same.  Fourteenth, Second Team All American, missed final by .15 seconds.

It was one of the performances in Utah school history.  Amanda ran with the lead pack of nine throughout the race making effortless moves, while allowing the pack to do the work.  After a quick, but fair pace of 2:18 through 800m it was a charge to the finish.  Amanda ran the next 400m in 67.7 and then finished the final 300m in a blistering 48 seconds.  With about 350m to go the lead pack was able to get a couple steps on Amanda, however she responded with 250m to go and caught back up to the group coming down the homestretch passing two runners to finish seventh in the heat only .33 seconds behind the sixth place runner.  However, when all the results were compiled she came up just shy of making the top 12 and advancing to Saturday's final.

It was a finish filled with mixed emotions.  A huge life time PR and school record by three seconds, but to come up just shy of advancing for the second straight year will sting a bit.  Her time was also only .7 seconds from the Olympic Trials A standard.  So imagine half your face smiling and the other half a mixture of disappointment/madness.

As a coach I can't really ask for anything more than running the fastest you've ever run in the most important race of the year.  However, I can appreciate the disappointment my athletes feel when they want and expect more and just miss it.  It was another huge day of learning and growing for Amanda.  She has enjoyed a ton of success especially in the bigger meets.  I have no doubt she'll do what she has done for three years and use this experience to further her ability and fuel her desire.

Don't forget that today we have senior Bree LeRoy closing out her outstanding career as she takes part in the women's high jump final at 4:30 local time.  This is her first appearance at this meet.  Bree was our first ever outdoor track and field All Pac-12 performer a month ago after finishing third in this event.

Click HERE to watch Amanda talk about going from ninth to fourth in the final 350m of her race to qualify for the NCAA Finals again.  We head to Des Moines, IA for the Final Rounds next Tuesday.  Amanda races on Thurs and Saturday.  Bree will high jump on Friday afternoon.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It.

Thanks to a late scratch true freshman, Susannah Hurst, has been added to the 5K field at the NCAA West Prelims here in Austin.  She missed the original cutoff by only .4 seconds.  It is very warm here in Austin with daytime temps in the mid 90s and high humidity.  Lots of fluids being consumed by athletes, coaches, and spectators.

Todays Utah Schedule of Events:

4:30pm-Javelin, FR Kaitlin Urmston (Flight 2 of 3)
5:30pm-Long Jump, SR Bree LeRoy (Flight 2 of 4)
5:00pm-400m hurdles, JR Steph Jolley (Heat 6 of 6)
5:30pm-1500m, JR Amanda Mergaert (Heat 3 of 4)
8:35pm-800m, SO Rosalie Griffin (Heat 1 of 6) and FR Andrea Chavez (Heat 5 of 6)

Click HERE for live video streaming of the action

Click HERE for live results

Austin City Limits

Click HERE to read more about our NCAA Championship Qualifiers and the upcoming meet.