Friday, October 28
Tucson, Ariz.
TBD
University of Utah
vs
Pac-12 Cross Country Championships
#17 Utah Cross Country Finishes Fifth at Pac-12 Championships
10/28/2016 12:30 PM | Cross Country
Junior Grayson Murphy earns second-team all-Pac-12.
TUCSON, Ariz. – Junior Grayson Murphy finished in 12th place at the Pac-12 Championships and led the No.17-ranked Utah women's cross country team to a fifth place finish Friday morning in Tucson, Ariz. Murphy finished the six-kilometer race in a time of 20.55.2. Utah finished the meet with 169 team points.
"It wasn't the prettiest of days. I thought our kids were really gritty and battled particularly hard in the middle of the race when our race plan didn't go as we planned but our kids ran tough and hung on," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "Grayson Murphy finished 12th which earned her second team All-Pac-12. I'm certainly proud of her effort. I thought she ran well and finished great."
Senior Giselle Slotboom earned a 33rd place finish with a time of 21:34.2. Finishing behind Slotboom for Utah were true freshmen Amanda Gehrich and Poppy Tank. Gehrich finished the race in a time of 21:39.2 earning a 39th place finish, while Tank placed 40th with a time of 21:39.5.
Rounding out Utah's team score was junior Hannah McInturff, who recorded a 54th place finish behind a time of 22:06.6 at the Randolph North Golf Course.
"Even though it was a tough day and difficult for some kids, I am definitely excited for this group. Fifth place again is the two highest place finishes ever in the last couple of years. I thought we showed a lot of toughness today and fought extremely hard," Kepler said.
No. 1-ranked Colorado came away with the conference championship after the Buffs had four runners place in the top-10 to finish with a team score of 33 points. No. 2-ranked Washington finished second with 74 points, No.11-ranked Stanford placed third with 83 points, and No. 5-ranked Oregon finished ahead of the Utes in fourth place with 88 points.
Senior Dana Snell ran a time of 22:37.3 to finish in 71st place, freshman Ashley Licata finished in 73rd place in a time of 22:43.0, junior Becky Sarmiento placed 79th with a time of 22:55.7, junior Shaylen Crook ran a time of 23:27.8 to record an 86th place finish, and senior Kate Stringfellow rounded out the Utah runners finishing in 91st place in a time of 23:55.1.
"It wasn't necessarily pretty, but it was gritty and we will need that grit moving on to regionals. Sometimes that is what it takes depending on the day. We will come home, recover, and start putting together what we need to do well at regionals in order to advance to nationals," Kepler said.
The Utes will be back in action at the NCAA Regional Championships in two weeks on Friday, Nov. 11. The meet will be held in Logan, Utah.
"It wasn't the prettiest of days. I thought our kids were really gritty and battled particularly hard in the middle of the race when our race plan didn't go as we planned but our kids ran tough and hung on," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "Grayson Murphy finished 12th which earned her second team All-Pac-12. I'm certainly proud of her effort. I thought she ran well and finished great."
Senior Giselle Slotboom earned a 33rd place finish with a time of 21:34.2. Finishing behind Slotboom for Utah were true freshmen Amanda Gehrich and Poppy Tank. Gehrich finished the race in a time of 21:39.2 earning a 39th place finish, while Tank placed 40th with a time of 21:39.5.
Rounding out Utah's team score was junior Hannah McInturff, who recorded a 54th place finish behind a time of 22:06.6 at the Randolph North Golf Course.
"Even though it was a tough day and difficult for some kids, I am definitely excited for this group. Fifth place again is the two highest place finishes ever in the last couple of years. I thought we showed a lot of toughness today and fought extremely hard," Kepler said.
No. 1-ranked Colorado came away with the conference championship after the Buffs had four runners place in the top-10 to finish with a team score of 33 points. No. 2-ranked Washington finished second with 74 points, No.11-ranked Stanford placed third with 83 points, and No. 5-ranked Oregon finished ahead of the Utes in fourth place with 88 points.
Senior Dana Snell ran a time of 22:37.3 to finish in 71st place, freshman Ashley Licata finished in 73rd place in a time of 22:43.0, junior Becky Sarmiento placed 79th with a time of 22:55.7, junior Shaylen Crook ran a time of 23:27.8 to record an 86th place finish, and senior Kate Stringfellow rounded out the Utah runners finishing in 91st place in a time of 23:55.1.
"It wasn't necessarily pretty, but it was gritty and we will need that grit moving on to regionals. Sometimes that is what it takes depending on the day. We will come home, recover, and start putting together what we need to do well at regionals in order to advance to nationals," Kepler said.
The Utes will be back in action at the NCAA Regional Championships in two weeks on Friday, Nov. 11. The meet will be held in Logan, Utah.
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