Utah Utes campus briefs

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD: Lucy Yates will represent the Utes at the NCAA Championships Wednesday through Saturday at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene. The sophomore from St. Albans, Hertfordshire, U.K., will run in a semifinal heat of the 800-meter event Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. MT.

"We're very excited for Lucy," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "This is her first time qualifying for the national championships. She's moved onto the semifinals and gets to compete in the final 24."

May 28 at the NCAA West Quarterfinals in Austin, Texas, Yates took third place in the first heat and ninth overall, crossing the finish line in 2:07.34.

"Lucy ran a great race," Kepler said. "She had to really push with 200 meters to go and was able to hang on for that the third spot in the heat to automatically."

Yates finished as the runner-up in the first round on May 27 with a school-record time of 2:06.21 that beat her previous personal best by one second.

"It's just really exciting since Lucy is a sophomore," Kepler said. "She's running her best right now and that's what we want at this time of the year."

The finals are set for Friday at 6:50 p.m.