WALNUT, Calif. – The stellar season for Utah track & field senior Emily Venters continues as she ran away from the field Friday night in the 10000m race to capture the Pac-12 crown with a time of 32:32.98 in front of the Ute faithful inside Hilmer Lodge Stadium.
“A terrific first day,” head coach Kyle Kepler. “Everyone competed well. Simone and Dinedye advancing to the finals in their events was a great start. Then to finish the day with our first-ever individual Pac-12 Champion along with a fourth-place finish from Morgan was awesome. [Morgan] Jensen ran a lifetime best at a championship meet, which is never easy. I’m very proud of everyone and expect more throughout the weekend.”
WATCH | The final 400m from Emily Venter’s 10k Championship run of 32:32.98?? She becomes the 1st @pac12 individual champion for @utahathletics and the track & field program.#GoUtes | #Pac12TF pic.twitter.com/imbfYnnk38
— Utah T&F/XC (@Utah_trackfield) May 13, 2023
Simone Plourde kicked things off for the Utes in the prelims of the 1500m, finishing third in her heat and sixth-overall between the two sections to earned a spot in the finals on Sunday, May 14, with a time of 4:19.12. Freshman Erin Vringer just missed out on earning spot in the finals with a time of 4:21.69 while Lauren Peterson crossed with a mark of 4:44.00 flat.
In the 200m sprint, Emily Martin and Maya LeBar just missed out on advancing to the finals with marks of 24.05 and 25.00 (24.998), respectively. Martin’s time of 24.05 was good for a new PR and moved her up one spot to third on the all-time list to pass teammate Dinedye Denis.
Denis followed up in the 400m hurdles and earned herself an automatic spot into the finals after she won the first section with a time of 59.06 – which was good for third-overall after narrowly edging out a surging Mackenzie Fletcher from WSU down the stretch. Harley Daniel (1:01.85), Ally Gomm (1:02.30) and Rachel Whipple (1:04.78) wrapped things out in the next two heats for Utah.
With all eyes on Venters and the rest of the women’s 10k field, the Lawrence, Kan., native took the lead right as the gun went off and never looked back. Like her NCAA leading run back at Stanford, Venters waited until there was about 17 laps to go before she broke away from the lead group and continued to separate herself the…
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