Women of Utah Headed to PNW for Dellinger Invitational
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah cross country team is headed to the Pacific Northwest this week to compete in the Dellinger Invitational hosted by Oregon at 7:40 p.m. (MT) for the women at the Pine Ridge Golf Club and streamed on RunnerSpace.com.
DELLINGER INVITATIONAL
Date: Thursday, Sept. 23
Time: 7:40 p.m. (MT)
Where: Pine Ridge Golf Club
Field: #24 Oregon, Air Force, #4 Arkansas, #17 Boise State, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, #25 Colorado State, Idaho, #RV Ohio State, #23 Oregon State, #RV Portland, #RV San Francisco, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, #RV Utah, Washington State
Course Map: View Map
Live Results: Results
Live Stream ($): RunnerSpace.com
THE LINE UP
Utah will send 14 runners to the Dellinger Invitational this Thursday, Sept. 23, to race against a field that includes five top-25 ranked teams as well as three other teams receiving votes in the latest USTFCCCA Poll. Of the 14 racing, six ran in the season-opening race at the UVU Invite where the Utes took second.
Meanwhile, Keelah Barger, Hannah Butler, Morgan Jensen, Lauren Peterson, Simone Plourde, Emily Venters, Bella Williams and Cara Woolnough will be making their season debuts. Of those eight making their season debuts, Barger, Butler, Peterson, Plourde and Venters will be making their debuts as part of the Women of Utah. Williams and Woolnough will also be running in their first cross country race since the 2019 NCAA Championships after sitting out last season.
LAST TIME OUT
Utah had a great start to the season after complete the COVID-19 impacted 2020 season just in late March. Karli Branch paced the Women of Utah to a second-place finish with a PR time of 18:21.2 (third overall) in the UVU Invite 5k. Meanwhile, newcomers Lisa van Onselen and Ariel Keklak went back-to-back to grab seventh and eighth, respectively, in their first race in the Red and White. Brooke Manson took 13th while Claire Ruosvick and Maren Busath checked in at 20th and 23rd overall in their collegiate debut. Natalie Platil and Emma Early wrapped up the finishers for Utah, checking in at 30th and 43rd respectively.
IN THE RANKINGS
Heading into this week, Utah remains steady at No. 6 in the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Poll. Meanwhile, the Utes move up a spot in the national poll, receiving 32 votes – which puts them at No. 32 in the country as well.
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS COME TO SLC
Utah is set to host its first Pac-12 Cross Country Championships since joining the league in 2011 this season on Thursday, Oct. 29, at the Regional Athletic Complex. The men's 8k race will kick things off at the RAC on Pac-12 Networks before the women close things off with the 6k race.
Stanford will look to defend its titles on both the men and women's side and become the first school to sweep the Pac-12 Cross Country Championships on both sides since Colorado did it in 2015 and 2016.
Since realignment, Washington is the only school to have an individual win on the same year it has hosted on the women's side with Haley Herberg winning the 2020 title while Stanford checks in as the only team on the men's side with an individual winner the same year it hosted in Grant Fisher back in 2018. The Cardinal men is also the only team to claim the team title the same year it hosted the championships.
UP NEXT
The Utes will once again get a couple weeks off to regroup and train before their next competition, which will take place just a couple hours north at the USU Invite on Friday, Oct. 8, at the Reeder Cross Country Course.
###