Furnell, a native of Lee’s Summit, Mo., is one of three push athletes on the four-man bobsled team piloted by two-time Olympian Kris Horn. The quartet will run four heats, with the final standings being determined by the combined times from those runs.

Furnell will look to join fellow track and field alumni Noelle Pikus-Pace ’05 and Chris Fogt ’07on the shortlist of Utah Valley athletes that have medaled in the Olympics. Pikus-Pace won the silver medal in the skeleton at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, while Fogt took silver in the four-man bobsled at the same Games. Fogt currently serves as the head coach of the USA Bobsled team.

The opening two heats will be on Saturday, starting at 2 and 3:57 a.m. MT respectively. The final two heats will be on Sunday beginning at 2 and 4:15 a.m. MT. All heats will be broadcast live on the NBC family of networks and Peacock.

UVU softball scores early to top Valpo

LAS VEGAS —  A six-run first inning, fueled by a grand slam from  Megan Sterzer, propelled Utah Valley to a 9-7 win over the Valparaiso Beacons on Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas.

Sterzer’s grand slam — the first home run over her collegiate career — capped a six-run rally that gave the Wolverines the buffer they needed as Utah Valley held on down the home stretch.

After blanking the Beacons in the top of the first, the first five Wolverines reached to start the bottom of the frame.  Britney Moreno  tripled to right and was immediately singled home by  Amber Rodriguez.

A walk to  Emma Haygood  and a single by  Bailey Marvin  loaded the bases for  Angelique Mann, who dunked a single just in front of the left fielder. Valpo was able to send down the next two Wolverines, but were unable to retire the next as Sterzer launched a grand slam to deep left field to make it 6-0.

Three straight two-out singles plated the next Wolverine run in the bottom of the second to make it 7-0. Mann slapped a single to right center to bring Haygood in from second.

Another two-out rally in the top of the third trimmed the lead down to five at 7-2. Kaia Garnica picked up a two-run bases-loaded single for the Beacons.

Utah Valley pushed the lead back up to six in the bottom of the third with an RBI single from Moreno that scored  Tatum Hall.

Valpo made a game of it late, rallying for two in the fifth and three in the seventh to get within two. The Wolverines got a key insurance run in the sixth when  Peyton Hall  doubled to center and scored  Kendyl Purdy.

The Beacons got the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but starter  Lily Riley  was able to reenter and close out the game with a soft grounder to first.

BYU softball splits at Nutter Collegiate Classic

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — BYU softball defeated Hawai’i in run-rule fashion after falling to CSUN in a day one doubleheader of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at Big League Dreams Sports Park on Thursday night.

BYU 8, Hawaii 0 (6)

The Cougars (2-9) picked up the run-rule victory over the Rainbow Wāhine behind a 12-strikeout outing for starting pitcher Gianna Mares, her career high and the fourth-most in a single game at BYU.

BYU struck first as Morrow took the first pitch of her at-bat deep to center, putting the Cougars up 1-0 through one frame.

Next time up, the Cougars went on to extend their lead. After  Danica Acosta  and  Tristen Turlington  reached on walks, Mansfield loaded up the bases with a single to center. Bennett then reached safely on a fielder’s choice, where Acosta scored on an errant throw to the plate.

Morrow followed that up with a two-RBI base hit to score Mansfield and Turlington for her second and third RBI of the gamee, making it 4-0 in favor of BYU. Even though Hawai’i got two runners in scoring position,  Gianna Mares  forced a Rainbow Wahine batter to pop out to shortstop Morrow to keep the lead at four through two innings.

Mares worked around a two-out double by freezing a Hawaii batter with a strikeout looking in the third.

The Cougars kept the momentum going in the top of the fourth. Bennett notched her first career triple before Owens drove her in on an RBI foul out. Brittingham then hit a solo shot over the left field wall to extend the lead. Mares struck out two in the bottom half, one swinging and one looking, to give her strikeout number seven and eight and keep it at 6-0, BYU.

Mares reached a career-high mark in the fifth with two more punch outs on her way to 10 strikeouts for the evening while stranding two Rainbow Wāhine runners.

After Owens got hit by a pitch to start the sixth frame, Morrow recorded her fourth RBI of the contest with an opposite field triple to drive Owens home. Shuler grounded out to second to score Morrow, putting the Cougars up 8-0 after six.

For the third consecutive inning, Mares sat down two more Hawai’i batters, increasing her strikeout numbers to 12. After allowing a leadoff single, she fanned those final two batters to seal the 8-0 run-rule victory for BYU.

CSUN 7, BYU 2

The Cougars went up 2-0 in the third inning but the Matadors responded with a four-run fourth and a three-run sixth to get the win.

BYU got on the board first in the third after a Mansfield triple down the left field line and a Shuler sacrifice fly to center to drive her home. The Cougars tallied another when Ilove’a Brittingham took a 1-1 pitch deep to right center to put them up 2-0 after two.

In the bottom of the fourth, CSUN retaliated with a four-run inning to take control of the contest. Those runs came by way of two RBI singles and a 2-RBI double in three straight Matador at-bats. The damage stopped there with the Cougars trailing 4-2.

The Cougars’ last chance to get back in the game came up short as a Shuler walk and Brittingham single to start the seventh was all BYU could muster. CSUN went on to retire the side, resulting in the Cougars falling in the first game of the doubleheader.