LUBBOCK, Texas – Led by a trio of top-20 finishes, the 20th-ranked Utah cross country team placed third at a very competitive NCAA Mountain Regionals Friday morning at Chaparral Ridge Cross Country Course.
“An outstanding effort today by everyone,” said head coach Kyle Kepler after the race. “All of our women executed the race plan at a high level. They were very poised in a high-pressure situation. A 42 second spread from 1-5 is solid, but know we can make that better – which is what we’ll need to do to place as high as we can at the NCAA meet in eight days.”
Friday’s finish marked just the third time Utah has recorded a top-3 finish at the NCAA Regionals (2023, 2022, 2015) and the eighth time the Utes have recorded a top-5 finish.
Freshman Anna Peters led the way for Utah once again, finishing 14th-overall with a time of 19:53.0. The Post Falls, Idaho, native hit the first mile marker in 23rd after the cluttered start but ultimately settled in at 13th by the time she hit the 2-mile marker before finishing where she did. In the five races she has competed for the Utes, Peters had led the Women of Utah in four of them.
McKaylie Caesar recorded her best finish ever at an NCAA Regional on Friday, placing 18th-verall with a mark of 20:04.6. The grad transfer was in 30th at the first mile marker before slowly making her way into 21st after 2 miles before ultimately finishing in 18th.
Morgan Jensen also posted the best finish of her collegiate career at the regionals on Friday as she battled Caesar down the final 100m before crossing the finish line at 20:04.8 for 19th. The Sandy native jumped 25 spots from the first mile marker (44th) to the finish with her biggest jump coming between the 1 and 2-mile checkpoints – going from 44th to 23rd.
Clara Mayfield was the lone Ute to register a new 6k PR on Friday, finishing with a time of 20:27.9 for 32nd-overall as Utah’s fourth scorer. Mayfield moved up nine spots from start to finish for Utah and held strong in the final 1.6m to finish in 32nd.
Katarzyna Nowakowska was Utah’s fifth and final scorer on Friday, crossing the finish line at 20:35.2 for 37th-overall. Karli Branch (21:05.8)…
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