Upcoming Event: Cross Country versus Beehive Invitational on September 12, 2025 at W: 10:00 AM / M: 10:45 AM
W: 10:00 AM / M: 10:45 AM
Cross Country
vs Beehive Invitational
Saturday, November 1
San Diego, Calif.
All Day
University of Utah
vs
MWC Championships
Utah Runners Place Third in Conference Championships
11/1/2008 12:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 1, 2008
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - The University of Utah women's cross country team stood out in the league as a rising team to watch on Saturday at the 10th Anniversary Mountain West Conference Championships. The team rallied together to earn a third-place finish at Mission Bay Park. This is the highest finish the team has seen since 2004 when they placed fourth in the conference.
The race started at 10:00 a.m. PT on Saturday with perfect running conditions. Utah's Alyssa Abbott, a junior, finished first for the team for the second race in a row. Abbott earned fourth-place overall in the race out of 74 runners. The Ute, currently running with an injured IT band, finished in 21:37. This placement earned Abbott first team all-conference honors.
Coming in second for Utah was senior Chelsea DiGrazia. The Ute ran with a strong pace of 5:55 to finish the 6K in 22:01. DiGrazia placed 13th overall in the contest to be named second team all-conference. Senior Janett Ern ran another solid race on Saturday, finishing third for Utah and 18th overall in the championship race. Ern finished in 22:22 with a six minute pace.
Lauren Endersen, a senior and native to West Jordan, Utah, finished close behind earning 20th-place overall. Endersen improved her finish time from the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet (22:37) to 22:27 in Saturday's league meet. Finishing out the top-five finishes for Utah was senior Kellie Anderson. The Ute set a new personal best for herself after finishing in 22:33 and placing 22nd overall.
The Utes tallied 1:51:00 and 77 points to place them third in the league. New Mexico placed first with 31 points and BYU came in second-place with 33 points.
Samantha Gaffney raced on Saturday for a 37th-place overall finish after crossing the line in 23:11. Carly Selleck, a freshman, finished seventh in line for Utah and 53rd overall. Selleck crossed the line in 23:57.
Sophomore Alexis Davis sustained a sprained ankle during Saturday's race after stepping off a curb, however she pushed through the injury to finish the race. Coming in 69th overall, Davis finished in 25:26.
Head Coach Kyle Kepler's Thoughts
"We're ecstatic right now. This is a huge compliment to our seniors. I am proud of all of their efforts. In their freshman year we placed seventh. They have kept getting better each year and have believed in themselves and this program. They fought through injuries and have been fighters their entire careers."
"Our runners have done everything in their power to be all they can be this year. I couldn't be more proud of them. They all gave their best performances of the season and their careers. We ran a superb race and they weren't afraid to put the pressure on the other teams. They took a chance and got after it. They represented the school, team, and community better than any other team I've coached. It's a great day for cross country and its a great day to be a Ute! I'm just emotionally spent right now."
Highlights
- Utes ranked third in the league for the first time
- Abbott earns first team all-conference
- DiGrazia earns second team all-conference
- Anderson sets a new personal best
- Utes top-five runners finished in 56 seconds from each other
- Top-five runners all in the top 25 of the race
Players Mentioned
Distance/CC
/ Cross Country
Distance/CC
/ Cross Country
Distance/CC
/ Cross Country
Distance/CC
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