SEATTLE – Simone Plourde and Emily Venters both ran PR times in the women’s 3000m race and strengthened their hold on the top two spots in the Utah record books Friday night at the Ken Shannon Last Chance Invite inside Dempsey Indoor.
Plourde secured her second-career event victory and first as a Ute Friday night when she shaved off a tad over four seconds from her previous school record with a run of 8:53.95. Her time, which will likely land her in the top-10 at the end of the weekend, will likely secure Plourde a spot at the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.
Venters improved her time in the record books by just over two seconds with a PR mark of 8:58.50 for sixth overall while Bella Williams made her season debut with a time of 9:17.21 for her first competition since NCAA West Regionals last outdoor season.
Over in the 60m hurdles, Harley Daniel took third in her heat with a run of 8.84 while Bailey Kealamakia came in second for her heat at 9.04.
Freshman Emily Martin won her heat in the 200m dash with a mark of 24.55 for fourth-overall and was Utah’s top finisher in the event. Kealamakia secured a top-10 finish after running a PR time of 24.97 and narrowly improved her previous time in the Utah record books (25.05) to keep Kelise Davis (25.04) from knocking her off the 10th spot. Daniel wrapped things up for Utah Friday night by winning her heat with a time of 25.57.
The Women of Utah will wrap up the second and final day of the Ken Shannon Last Chance Invite on Saturday, Feb. 25, as they look to post qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
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