Track & Field Wraps Up Split Squad Weekend

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Utah track & field team continued to set new PRs to wrap up the split squad weekend on Saturday at the Drake Relays and Robison Invitational.
 
"We had a productive weekend, particularly in a variety of relay events," said head coach Kyle Kepler. "I thought we competed well and handled a multitude of competitive situations well such as running in traffic, prelim/final racing and multiple race distances – which we will all face at the conference meet. A lot to build off of and learn from."
 
Over at the Blue Oval, the Women of Utah ran the first distance medley relay race of the season to start the day and crossed the finish line at 11:41.17. In the 800m run, Brooke Manson clocked in at 2:07.61 for fifth. Lauren O'Banion, Jackie Martin, Maya LeBar and Kelise Davis recorded a time of 46.70 in the 4x100m relay with Davis' taking the fastest split among the Utes at 11.29.
 
The 4x400 squad finished in sixth, clocking in with a mark of 3:42.83 – which is the second-fastest time this season for the Utes. At the end of the day, Utah finished fifth amongst competitors in the Drake Relay Cup standings despite not running in all the relay events.
 
Back in Provo, freshman Annie Murdock took fourth overall and was the first Ute to cross the finish line in the 800m with a new PR time of 2:13.20. Emma Earl narrowly missed her PR time and clocked in at 2:15.77 for eighth while Claire Rusovick was right on her tails with a time of 2:16.88. Running in her first outdoor 5k, Natalie Platil placed third with a mark of 18:30.71.
 
The Utes will have some short weeks ahead of them as they send a group to the West Coast Relays (April 30) while others compete at the Weber State Twilight (May 3-4). Utah will then head to the State of Oregon for the Oregon Twilight (May 7) and Portland Twilight (May 8).
 
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