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FORT WORTH, Texas - Chelsea Shapard won her second-straight 400-meter hurdles title on the final day of the Mountain West Conference Track and Field Championships, leading the Utes to a sixth-place finish.
Shapard earned 10 points for the victory, which she ran in 58.51 to set a new track record. It was one of the most exciting finishes of the day, with Shapard edging TCU's Kishelle Paul by .03.
Shapard also ran the final leg of the third-place 4x400-meter relay team, giving her 11.5 points for the day to become Utah's top-scoring athlete at the championships.
"Chelsea came off the last hurdle third and out-sprinted everyone to the line," head coach Kyle Kepler said. "She hit the last hurdle perfectly to make it happen. She also did a great job anchoring the 4x400 team. It was a great weekend for her. She has emerged as a leader for this team.
"We had a good overall meet. It was exciting for us to have a conference champion on each day. Our kids came out and performed at a high level and fought for every point we earned. This has been my best conference meet in terms of effort and performance. It's been fun to be a part of and it's something to build on for next year. I'm proud of everyone on the team, including my staff. We had positive things happen across the board."
The remainder of the 4x400 team was comprised of Ashley Patterson, Chelsey Kaplar and Whitney Wellington. The quartet set a school record in the event with a time of 3:43.93 and just missed a regional qualifying mark.
Kaplar and Patterson also scored points in their individual events. Kaplar finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles in 60.88. Patterson's time of 55.43 in the 400-meter dash was also sixth.
"This was a big breakthrough weekend for Chelsea Kaplar," Kepler said. "She just missed a regional qualifying mark in the hurdles and had a lifetime best split in the 4x400. Ashley had her second-best time in the 400, we are excited about her prospects and she just keeps getting better."
Chelsea DiGrazia crossed the line fifth in 4:32.01 to lead Utah in the 1,500 to score four points, while Shayla Houlihan added a point with an eighth-place run (4:32.71) in the event. Alyssa Abbott finished ninth in 4:35.22.
"Alyssa has been sick and hasn't overcome it yet, but she and Chelsea were leading the race for awhile," Kepler said. "For Shayla to score in two events was special in her last conference meet."
The 4x100-meter relay team of Liza Whitehead, Wellington, Haley McAllister and Patterson came in sixth with a time of 47.12.
Chasity Toilolo rounded out the point scorers for Utah, coming in sixth in the discus with a throw of 145'7". Lauren Endersen was just out of the points in the 5,000 meters, finishing 10th in 17:59.49.
"Chasity also scored in two events for us and it was good to see her step up and make some noise," Kepler said. "Lauren gave a great effort in trying to double after her win in the 10,000. Her foot was bothering her, and she might have been able to jump into the scoring if not for that. She certainly had a great meet though."
Utah totaled 58 points over the two days. Colorado State won the women's meet with 187 points.
The Utes now head to the NCAA Regional meet, hosted by Cal-State Northridge in Northridge, Calif. Houlihan, Abbott, Shapard, Digrazia and Josefin Berg will all compete at the meet for Utah.
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