The Utah Valley track & field team had a great showing in the running events on Friday, April 15 on the second day of the Beach Invitational held at Long Beach State University in California.
Senior Zane Farrer led the way for the Wolverines in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, taking seventh place overall and fourth in heat one with a time of 14.25 seconds (+0.8 meters per second). Isaiah Gerald was the second and last Wolverine to compete in the event, placing 41st overall and fourth in heat six with a time of 15.42 seconds (-0.7 meters per second).
Three Wolverines competed in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, starting with Jenna Welch placing 33rd overall and fourth in heat five with a time of 14.88 seconds (+1.3 m/s). Emma Aldred-Hunt followed in 39th place and seventh in the fourth heat with a time of 15.07 seconds (+2.7 m/s). Hannah Sobel finished things for the Wolverines in 57th overall and sixth in the seventh heat with a time of 15.43 (-1.8 m/s).
The Wolverines also had three competitors in the men’s 400-meter dash, including a top-10 finish by freshman Cameron Franklin in ninth overall and third in the third heat with a time of 47.73 seconds. Jared Supinger finished in 41st place and fourth in heat seven with 49.39 seconds. Dallin Anderson finished well in the 11th heat, taking third with a time of 49.84 seconds, and finishing 53rd overall.
UVU had a top-15 overall finish in the women’s 400-meter dash by sophomore Larissa Dabb with a time of 55.09 seconds and taking third in the third heat. Meg Babcock did not start.
For the 100-meter dash, two Wolverines finished in the top-10. Aaron Johnson took fifth overall and second in heat two with a time of 10.54 seconds (+1.7 m/s). Caleb Furnell finished seventh overall and just one millisecond behind Johnson with a time of 10.55 seconds and third in the first heat. Jordan Daw took 75th overall and fifth in the eighth heat with a time of 11.05 seconds. Ryan Tenn did not start.
Emma Newbold was the first Wolverine to finish in the women’s 100-meter dash with a time of 12.24 seconds (+0.1 m/s), placing 51st overall and fourth in heat seven. Kirsta Farley took third in heat 13 with a time of 12.31 (+2.6) and 63rd overall.
Jacob Deming finished first among the Wolverines in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, taking 22nd overall and taking first in heat eight with a time of 54.56 seconds. Isaiah Gerald took 43rd with a time of 56.87 seconds while finishing sixth in heat eight. Unfortunately for Zane Farrer, he finished last among the Wolverines with a time of 56.94 seconds, 46th overall, and last in heat two in sixth place.
Finishing 14th overall in the women’s 400-meter hurdles was Becky Swanson-Lowder with a time of 1:02.75. She took second in heat three, just over one second short of finishing first. Welch had another solid outing with 27th place overall and second in heat eight with a time of 1:04.21, just .24 seconds behind first in the heat. Emma Aldred-Hunt capped things off for the Wolverines, taking 32nd overall and fifth in heat five with a time of 1:05.07.
Caleb Furnell once again had a fantastic race in the men’s 200-meter dash, finishing fourth overall and fourth in heat one with a time of 20.89 seconds (3.4 m/s). Aaron Johnson finished two places behind Furnell in sixth place and first overall in heat two with a time of 21.21 seconds (+1.5 m/s). Jacob Supinger was the next Wolverine to finish with a time of 21.85 seconds (+1.7 m/s), 38th overall and third in the heat. Jordan Daw took 46th with a time of 21.91 (+1.5 m/s) and finished fourth overall in heat two followed by Cameron Franklin in 48th with a time of 21.94 (1.7 m/s) and fourth in heat seven. Dallin Anderson had a tough race, finishing at 101st overall finishing with a time of 22.68 (3.4 m/s) and fifth in heat 15.
Laurissa Dabb had an amazing race in the women’s 200-meter dash, finishing 16th overall with a time of 24.62 (+1.0) and finishing first overall in heat eight. Krista Farley also took first overall in her respective heat (heat 15) and 70th overall with a time of 25.43 (+1.6 m/s).
UVU did not compete in the men’s or women’s 1600 relays.
Everlyn Kemboi had another terrific race to start the women’s 1500-meter for the Wolverines, taking second in heat four with a time of 4:24.77 while finishing 65th overall. Taylor Viertel followed in the fifth heat, unfortunately finishing ninth in the heat and 78th overall.
Austin Hone had an excellent race in the men’s 1500-meter Open A, finishing 36th overall and seventh in heat three with a time of 3:49.45. Jacob Egan and Thomas Pickford finished eighth and 12th in heat seven, respectively. Egan ran a 3:53.59 while placing 106th overall while Pickford clocked a time of 3:59.05 at 159th.
Hope Preston also finished strong in the women’s 1500-meter Open B, placing 11th overall and finishing sixth in heat one with an impressive time of 4:44.81. Madison White competed in her heat as well, finishing fourth in heat seven with a time of 4:51.24 while ending 39th overall.
The Wolverines didn’t compete in the other 1500-meter events.
The track team will now come back to Provo, Utah to compete at the BYU Robison Invitational hosted by Brigham Young University from Wednesday, April 20 to Saturday, April 23. The events are expected to last all day each day.
