Utah Finishes Strong at UC Riverside Invitational

Saturday, March 25

Riverside, Calif.

All Day

University of Utah

UC Riverside Invitational

Utah Finishes Strong at UC Riverside Invitational

3/25/2017 8:13 PM | Track & Field

UCR Final Results

Poppy Tank wins 3000-meter run and breaks meet record.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Utah track and field team wrapped up the UC Riverside Invitational after posting 11 top-5 performances, including an event win in the 3000-meter run, on Saturday in Riverside, Calif.

In one of the final events of the day, freshman Poppy Tank and junior Hannah McInturff took the top two places in the 3000-meter run. Tank won the event with a time of 9:51.52, which broke the meet record set by Nikki Regalado from UNLV in the 2016 season. McInturff followed behind in second place with a personal best time of 9:53.97. Sophomore Hannah Allred placed fifth overall with a personal best time of 10:24.58.

"Our 3K event isn't a regular event we do in the outdoor season, but it is a good transition getting ready for the 5K event next weekend. Poppy and Hannah ran a really nice and controlled race. It came down to the last lap and it looked like Poppy had a little more left to give," Kepler said. "I am proud of all three of these girls to get out there and get off to a great start to their outdoor seasons."

Sophomore Christine Glasmann represented Utah in the javelin and earned a second place finish with a throw of 156 feet, 2.25 inches.

"Chrissy had two throws within two feet of her lifetime best, so she had a really great series of throws. She got the day started for us right out of the gates," Kepler stated.

In the 800-meter run, sophomore Caitlin Faust and freshman Amanda Gehrich placed second and third, respectively. Faust finished in a personal best time of 2:11.03, while Gehrich recorded a time of 2:11.21. Freshman Sarah Newton placed eighth overall with a time of 2:14.10, freshman Nicole Griffiths finished in ninth with a time of 2:14.36, junior Megan Perkins placed 11^th with a time of 2:19.30, and junior Mesa Weidle finished 12^th with a time of 2:21.18.

Sophomore Sadie Wassum finished in fourth place in the mile with a time of 5:04.04.

In the 1500-meter run, freshman Melissa Taggart earned second place after posting a time of 4:46.57.

"Melissa is someone who came into our program late this last fall and in her first ever 1500, she really represented herself well and ran hard. Certainly proud of the effort she put out on the track today," Kepler said.

Freshman Holly Stallman placed fifth in the long jump after recording a personal best mark of 17 feet, 10.75 inches.

In the high jump, sophomore Eliza Hansen led the way for Utah when she finished seventh overall. Hansen cleared a mark of 5 feet, 2.75 inches. Freshman Suzannah Stark tied for 13^th place after clearing a mark of 4 feet, 11 inches.

Senior Rhianna Williams placed seventh in the 400-meter run with a time of 58.19 seconds.

Stallman also competed in the 100-meter dash, placing 14^th with a personal best time of 12.49 seconds. Junior Raynee Helm finished the race with a time of 12.91 seconds to place 23^rd.

Freshman Brooke Martin placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 1:02.99. Junior Madison Lanford placed 12^th with a time of 1:06.01.

Stallman also competed in the 200-meter dash and placed 18^th with a time of 26.20 seconds.

Utah also had two 4x400 meter relay teams compete to close out competition on Saturday. Utah's 'A' relay team placed fourth overall with a time of 3:53.55. The relay team included Faust, Newton, Weidle, and Martin. The 'B' relay team, consisting of Griffiths, Williams, Stallman and Taggart, placed seventh with a time of 4:00.12.

The Utah track and field team will be back in action next Friday and Saturday, March 31-April 1, at the Stanford Invitational. The two-day event will be held in Palo Alto, Calif.