SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Utah track & field team opened the first day of the NCAA West Preliminary Championships with three student-athletes advancing to the quarterfinal round, Thursday evening at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif. Sarah Feeny (1500m), Brooke Manson (800m) and Sarah Newton (800m) each qualified for the next round in their respective events.

"What an outstanding opening day for us," said Utah head coach Kyle Kepler. "We had three advance to the quarterfinals. We just talked about running our races, being aggressive, survive and advance, and not to worry about style points."

Skyler Blair opened the day running a 1:00.62 in the 400-meter hurdles. She finished seventh in her heat, but her time was not fast enough to move onto the next round, finishing 33rd overall in the event.

"Skyler ran terrific through eight hurdles," said Kepler. "She gained some big time experience as a true freshman." 

Up next was Feeny and Cara Woolnough, competing in the 1500-meters. Feeny advanced to Saturday's quarterfinals after finishing third overall in her heat with a time of 4:18.32, which ranks ninth overall among the 24 qualifiers. Woolnough finished 10th in her heat with a time of 4:28.60.

"Cara got a taste of being near the front of an NCAA field as a freshman," said Kepler. "Both her and Sarah were not afraid and that is what you have to do here. You cannot be afraid to compete and they stayed aggressive."

Both Manson and Newton qualified for Friday's quarterfinals in the 800-meter event. Manson finished fifth in her heat, but qualified onto the next round with a time of 2:07.75, which ranks 21st overall. Despite finishing third in her heat, Newton was the last athlete to qualify for the quarterfinals with a time of 2:08.56. 

"Brooke and Sarah did just enough to move on and that is what is all about," said Kepler. "We will talk about a few adjustments, but ultimately, they need to keep things simple and run to their strengths if they want to move onto Austin." 

Poppy Tank rounded out Utah's evening, just missing out on moving to the finals in the 10,000-meter run, finishing 13th overall with a new personal-best time of 34:08.80. Tank came into the event ranked No. 38 out of the field of 48 runners. Despite it being just the second 10K she has competed in collegiately, she would better her previous PR by a little more than 13 full seconds (34.21.21).

"Poppy just missed out in what turned out to be an amazing race," said Kepler. "Heartbreaking for sure, but the effort was there and unbelievable for a PR. I am very proud of her." 

Both Manson and Newton will compete in the 800-meter quarterfinals tomorrow. The event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. PT. Feeny will compete in Saturday's quarterfinals of the 1500-meters, which will get underway at 6:30 p.m. PT. Feeny will also compete in the 5000-meters on Saturday, as will Bella Williams. The 5K event is scheduled to start at 8:05 p.m. PT.