Trio of Utes Advance to Quarterfinals at West Regionals

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Simone Plourde, Skyler Blair and Josefine Eriksen of the Utah track & field team advanced to the quarterfinals Thursday night inside John McDonald Field to close out the first day of competition on the women's side at NCAA West Regionals.
 
Plourde was the first Ute to take the track in the 1500m race and earned automatic qualifying spot into Saturday's quarterfinal when she won her heat with a mark of 4:20.76 – which was a top-20 finish overall.
 
Eriksen ran a new personal best time on Thursday to also win her heat and earn an automatic spot in Saturday's quarters for the 800m run with a mark of 2:04.63. That time also moved the sophomore into second all-time in the Utah record books. Manson saw her season come to an end on Thursday after posting a time of a 2:07.87 to just miss the qualifying mark.
 
Blair made it 3-for-3 for the Women of Utah in the 400m hurdles after securing a spot in the next round of races with a time of 58.66 – which was just off her previous PR of 58.54 that was set at Pac-12 Championships.
 
Bella Williams closed out the night for Utah in the 10000m, running what would've been a top-10 record time for the Utes with a mark of 35:02.73.
 
Saturday's action for Utah will kick off at 4:15 p.m. (MT) / 5:15 p.m. (CT) local with the 1500m quarterfinals featuring Plourde and conclude at 7:45 p.m. (MT) / 8:45 p.m. (CT) local with the 4x400m relay. Fans can catch the final day competition via live stream on the ESPN.com/watch or on the ESPN App.
 
For the latest news and information on the Utah cross country and track & field programs, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 
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