Utah Track and Field Travels to Pac-12 Championships

5/9/2016 12:00 AM | Track & Field

May 9, 2016

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SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah track and field team travels to the Pac-12 Championships this weekend, hosted in Seattle by Washington, May 14-15, 2016.

"It's going to be a battle as always," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "People ask me what's it like, and it's the Olympics. It's probably one of the best collegiate track meets in the country. The competition in every event will be outstanding. Every event has 7-8-9 regional qualifiers in it. It takes a really special effort to score some points there. We'll have several kids who will be in the fight of their lives just to get through the qualifying round. The mid-distance runners will have a fight because they're only going to take eight to the final in the 800 and 12 in the 1,500. Sarah Feeny made the final last year in the 1,500 and is not ranked in the top 25 this year, and we have to get her a regional qualifying mark. There's a lot on the line this weekend. Like every team, there is a lot of pressure, but we're going to focus on the process and running our races and doing the things we can do. If we can focus on that I think the results will be very positive for us, and it will be another step forward."

Several athletes will be looking to earn NCAA regional qualifying times in addition to scoring points at the Pac-12 Championships.

Utah is strong in the 800 meter run between seniors Andrea Chavez and Ali Eisenbeiss. Chavez has the 13th-best time in the Pac-12 this year (2:07.48) and was seventh at the Pac-12 Championships in the event in 2013. Eisenbeiss has the 14th-best mark in the conference with a season-best time of 2:07.58. Her career-best time of 2:05.84 in the event ranks third all-time at Utah. She was sixth in the 800 at the 2014 Pac-12 Championships.

Chavez also has the 15th-best mark in the conference this year in the 1,500, which ranks fourth all-time at Utah. Sarah Feeny ranks second all-time in the 1,500 at Utah, and her personal-best time of 4:18.24 would rank in the top 10 in the Pac-12 this year.

Freshman Chrissy Glasmann has the second-best mark in the javelin in the Pac-12 this year with a throw of 158'10". Her sister Megan, who is redshirting this year, finished second in the event last season.

The Utes also have a pair of strong runners in the 10,000. Shaylen Crook has the ninth-best time in the league (35:34.89) while Katelyn Stringfellow's personal-best time of 35:45.50 ranks 11th.

Christine Van Brocklin's personal-best time in the 400 hurdles of 1:00.54 is 12th-best in the Pac-12.

Hannah McInturff will be competing in the 5,000 and has a season-best time of 16:38.05. Alissa Atisme lowered her school-record time in the 200 earlier this year. She also holds the school record in the 100 and ranks third all-time at Utah in the 400.