Venters, Plourde & Barger Garner USTFCCCA All-Region Honors

NEW ORLEANS – Emily Venters, Simone Plourde and Keelah Barger were officially recognized by the USTFCCCA with All-Region honors for their efforts this past Friday at the NCAA Mountain Regionals.
 
It marked the first time the Women of Utah had three student-athletes garner all-region honors since 2019 and fourth time overall (2015, 2016, 2019, 2022).
 
Venters, who was the first Ute to cross the finish line at this year's regional with a time of 20:10.8 for seventh, and collected her third-career all-region award. The Lawrence, Kan., native previously earned all-region honors during her time at Boise State in 2017 and 2018.
 
Plourde, who was the second Utah runner to finish, picked up the first all-region accolade of her career after posting a time of 20:17.4 for 10th. Barger also earned her first-career all-region award after finishing 17th overall at the mountain regional race with a mark of 20:35.3.
 
Venters, Plourde, Barger and the rest of the Utah squad finished second as a team at the NCAA Mountain Regional this past Friday – giving the program its first ever automatic bid to the NCAA Championships and highest finish ever at a regional.
 
Utah will head to Stillwater, Okla., this weekend to compete against the nation's best at the NCAA Championships – which is held at the OSU Cross Country Course on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 8:20 a.m. (MT) on ESPNU.
 
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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