Spring sports are winding down but there’s still plenty of intriguing stories coming out of the University of Utah.
The Ute baseball team earned a much-needed 12-7 victory over BYU Tuesday at Miller Park, snapping a nine-game losing streak. This weekend, Utah travels to California for a three-game series to close out the regular season. After falling 13-1 in the series opener vs. the Bears on Thursday, the Utes need to win both Friday and Saturday to qualify for the Pac-12 Tournament the following week.
I wrote a feature this week on Utah closer Blake Whiting, who closed out Tuesday’s game against BYU. Whiting has an intriguing story — he earned a scholarship during his mission to baseball-crazy Dominican Republic from Salt Lake Community College and ended up with the Utes.
In golf, Salt Lake City native Blake Tomlinson led Utah into the NCAA golf regionals.
In gymnastics, Utah got a big addition in Michigan transfer Abby Brenner, an All-American and key part of the Wolverines’ 2021 national championship team.
In volleyball, the Utes added outside hitter Lauren Jardine, a Lone Peak High product who won a national championship at Wisconsin in 2021.
And check out Jay Drew’s great feature on Utah cross-country distance runner Cara Woolnough, who hails from Brisbane, Australia.
Numbers game
4.0: Grade point average, in biomedical engineering, earned by Utah cross-country standout Cara Woolnough.
15:40.52: Woolnough’s school record-breaking time in the 5,000 meters.
9.975: Career-high on the vault by Abby Brenner, who has transferred from Michigan to Utah.
From the archives
Extra points
- Why Utah’s offensive line needs to hit the ground running in 2022 (Deseret News)
- The latest on the Utah Utes’ 2023 recruiting class (Deseret News)
- Why elite football speed is born on the track (Deseret News)
- What is Utah getting in Michigan transfer Abby Brenner? (Deseret News)
- ‘He has a plan for me in baseball’: How Blake Whiting’s mission to the Dominican Republic impacted his life (Deseret News)
- This national champion is transferring home to play for the Utah Utes (Deseret News)
- Salt Lake City native Blake Tomlinson proud to lead Utes into NCAA golf regionals (Deseret News)
- A 4.0 in biomedical engineering? One of Utah’s 107 graduating student-athletes was perfect, smart and fast (Deseret News)
Fanalyst
Comments from Deseret News readers
“This could be the year that the Red Rocks finally reach the mountain top again. Exciting stuff.”
—SGU84770
“(Devin) Lloyd is the best. We are fortunate to have had such a good young man come through our Utah football program.”
—GoRed
“Talent only takes a person so far. Cara is clearly very talented but she took it to the next level with the hard work, dedication and discipline. Congrats to her for all her accomplishments. She has earned everything she has. Well done!!”
— KSM’s Dad
Up next
May 20 | 8 p.m. | Baseball | vs. California | @Berkeley, California | Pac-12 Network
May 21 | 1 p.m. | Baseball | vs. California | @Berkeley, California | Pac-12 Network