Emily Venters Named Pac-12 Track, Field AOTW After Historic Performance

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah track and field athlete Emily Venters had a great weekend posting the sixth fastest 10k in NCAA history that earned her Pac-12 Track and Field Athlete of the Week on Tuesday.

Venters became just the fifth Ute to earn the honors with Grayson Murphey being the last back in 2018. Finishing with a time of 31:34.35, Venters not only broke the Utah record on the event, but also the Pac-12 record by 18 seconds.

The senior track and field star hails from Lawrence, Kansas and holds five state titles from her time in high school. Venters started her collegiate career at Boise State, then transferred to Colorado before coming to the Utes.

Congrats to 𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 on becoming the 5th Woman of Utah to be named Pac-12 Track Athlete of the Week‼️

🔗 https://t.co/I2xEfHXjmd#GoUtes | #UtahTFXC pic.twitter.com/rUCInrjDRh

— Utah T&F/XC (@Utah_trackfield) April 4, 2023

Emily Venters As A Ute

Venters joined the Utah track and field team in 2021 and wasted very little time letting everyone know what she was capable of.

In her indoor debut as a Ute, Venters posted the third fastest 3000m time in program history at the UW Invitational while finishing eighth-overall with a mark of 9:12.22. Venters was also a revelation in her outdoor track debut with a fifth-place finish in her first race since 2019, clocking a 20:15.5 and sealing the Dellinger Invitational title for the Utes.

Along with her impressive feat this past weekend, Venters is the proud holder of four other Utah records.

• 1st all-time in 5000m indoors (15:20.37)
• 2nd all-time in 3000m indoors (8:58.50)
• 2nd all-time in 10000m outdoors (33:07.74)
• 4th all-time in 5000m outdoors (15:47.79)

Venters has also racked up the awards and recognitions in her time at Utah being named Pac-12 First-Team for cross-country in 2021 and 2022 as well as USTFCCCA Cross Country All-Region (Mountain), and USTFCCCA All-American (XC) for 2022, as well as USTFCCCA All-American (ITF) for 2023.

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports

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