Utah Track and Field to Compete at Bronco Invitational

Saturday, January 20

Boise, ID

All Day

University of Utah

Bronco Invitational

Utah Track and Field to Compete at Bronco Invitational

1/17/2018 11:01 AM | Track & Field

The Utes head to Boise, Idaho.

Salt Lake City - The Utah indoor track and field team travels north this Saturday, Jan. 20, to compete in the Bronco Invitational. Hosted by Boise State, the event will take place in Nampa, Idaho at the Jacksons Indoor Track Facility at the Ford Sports Center.

"Were excited and we are going up to a place we know well," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "It's a track in a building we know very well and the kids know what to expect…hopefully we will come home with a bunch of personal bests and start the season off right."

The distance runners are coming off a solid season of cross country, led in long distances by three time All-American senior Grayson Murphy. Murphy finished eighth at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships, fifth in the 3,000 steeplechase at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track Championships and 15th in the 5,000 at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track Championships. She ran a time of 15:44.45 in the 5,000 at Boston in December, which ranks fifth in the nation headed into the January meets.

Fifth-year senior Hannah McInturff is coming off a strong cross country season where she finished 72nd at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championships. McInturff ranks fourth all-time at Utah in the indoor 3,000, fifth all-time in the indoor mile and ninth in the outdoor 5,000. Sophomore Poppy Tank is coming off a cross country season where she earned all-region honors with a 21st-place finish at the NCAA Regional Championships. During track last season won the 3,000 at the UC Riverside Spring Classic and ranks in the top 10 all-time at Utah in the indoor 3,000 and outdoor 5,000. Others to watch include senior Shaylen Crook, who ranks in the top 10 all-time at Utah in the indoor 5,000 and outdoor 10,000. Senior Jessica Sams also ranks in the top 10 all-time at Utah in the indoor 3,000 and outdoor 5,000.

Middle distance runners are a group that brings experience to the table. Junior Caitlin Faust ranks seventh all-time at Utah in the indoor 800 and 10th all-time in the outdoor 800 at Utah. Senior Dakota Grossman and sophomore Nicole Griffiths could also potentially make some noise during track and field this year. Both competed in the 800 at the Pac-12 Championships last season.

The Utah sprinters welcome back a crew of very talented and experienced runners. In the short sprints, fifth-year senior Alissa Atisme, a fifth-year senior who redshirted last season, holds Utah school records in the outdoor 100 and 200 and indoor 200 and 55. She placed eighth in the 400 at the 2016 Pac-12 Championships. Senior Raynee Helm Wheelock ranks in the top 10 all-time at Utah in the outdoor 100 and indoor 60 and 55.

The long sprints group welcomes back a fifth-year senior Grace Englund who redshirted last season. Englund ranks in the top 10 all-time at Utah in the indoor 400 and 800 and is also on the school-record indoor 4x400 relay team. Senior Rhianna Williams holds the Utah school record in the indoor 400 and ranks in the top five all-time at Utah in the indoor 200 and outdoor 400 and 200.

The Utah hurdlers bring a mix of youth and experience to the track this year. Returning for the Utes is senior Madison Lanford, sophomore Brooke Martin, and making her debut is freshman Rachel Whipple. Lanford and Martin have both competed at the Pac-12 Championships in the 400 hurdles. Lanford ranks 10th all-time at Utah in the heptathlon. In high school, Whipple finished in the top four in the 100 and 300 hurdles at the 2017 Utah State Championships. In the jumps, junior Eliza Hansen and sophomore Suzannah Stark return this season for the Utes, both who have increasingly improved their marks throughout their careers. Junior Lauren McCluskey has also had strong results in the multi-events in her two years at Utah, ranking 10th all-time in the pentathlon.

"Every year it goes without saying that you are going to have someone step up that totally surprised you and just had a huge breakthrough year," coach Kepler said. "We also have a few kids where you have some injuries along the way that you do everything you can to avoid those and we have an incredible athletic training staff that certainly helps us with that."

Competition will take place all day and live results can be found via http://www.broncosports.com/livestats/c-track/index/index.htm

"We're going to run virtually our entire roster, if you are healthy you are running, with maybe one or two exceptions," coach Kepler explained. "We are going to put a lot of bodies on the track and kind of find out where everybody is at and then make the adjustments we need to make from there."

Click below to listen to head coach Kyle Kepler in his weekly Track Chat podcast.