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Show RAISING THE BAR MOVE OVER, SNUGGIE: SAKPANTS ARE THE NEW COZIEST THINGS BY KYLEE EHMANN /STAFF WRITER PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LASSONDE ENTREPRENEUR INSTITUTE re you looking for a cozy and fun way to stay warm this winter? A pair of U students have designed the perfect product for you. In late November, Garred Lentz and Brayden Iwasaki launched Sakpants, a cross between sweats and footie pajamas. Lentz, Sakpants co-founder and a graduate student, said he had the idea for Sakpants because for most of his life he has wrapped the hem of his sweats around his feet when he got cold. This is because he doesn't like socks, and he always lost his slippers. After using a prototype of the pants as a project for a public speaking class, Lentz was encouraged to pitch the pants to the U's Entrepreneur Club. Sakpants received $3,000 from the Get Seeded program, an affiliate of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute funded by Zions Bank. Lentz and Iwasaki used the money to refine their product and then, after raising nearly $25,000 on Kickstarter, Sakpants became available for purchase just in time for the 2014 holiday season. Lentz said while he was capable of starting a business on his own, the Lassonde Institute helped motivate him to actually start a business. "I don't know if I would have been brave enough to just, like, decide to start a business without their funding and also their support," he said. Thad Kelling, spokesperson for the Lassonde Institute, said while success stories like Lentz's and Iwasaki's are great, the Institute's main mission "is to provide students transformative experiences through entrepreneurship and innovation:' Kelling said the Institute annually has around 5,000 students working in teams to get their start-ups funded. He said these students come from all around campus and the Institute prides itself on being interdisciplinary. "The music majors are just as welcome as the business school students," Kelling said. "Everyone has an idea for an app, for a new food truck or a new medical device. We help them reach towards that dream:' Lentz said any student interested in entrepreneurship should take advantage of the many programs the Institute offers. "The experience I had pitching and working with them is something I'll use in other professional settings," he said. Lentz said he sees himself staying in entrepreneurial lines of work, but he doesn't know how far Sakpants will take him. For now, he plans to focus on making Sakpants a viable long-term product, which includes looking for a local store to retail the product. Lentz said they may even have a version officially licensed by the U, but they're not that far yet. Sakpants are currently available online at sakpants.com and come with drawstrings and feet pads in pink, blue, orange or yellow. k.ehmann@chronicle.utah.edu @Ehmannky A 1111 • 4 1, 4o g 111 • . 4 II• • Jr ■ -0 • • ■ 11 ' Na ■• R II. I • l 11 a ■11 igl irt-tor 411,2 t • o• --• *ft.', 'S.-#i •• • ..*• II ',-1.0 Ient4 , 1.tot..;4:, ■ • -,a. A • 11/ " 4r, 4,..., • . a* , r'Yt A .. - a h, • Ili . amor10, I ' —1 111 II IN Nik,S11•1 11 . 101 • • ..,.. 47".• 11, 1111-'' ■ 4 • IN • ai l 1111 w•aappi A Om mmmmm IN It44\ 4A ltaim ,6 - • " • II of'- . ..',,vol , • 1° le 11 0 0 4 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2015 } BY RYAN MILLER BY KIM BRENNEISEN /STAFF WRITER DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO he Utah ski team hosted the Utah Invitational last weekend in Park City and Midway and finished in second place overall, jumping Denver on the final day of competition but falling just short of Colorado. Kevin Sweeney, director of skiing, said the team did well considering the tough competition that is always present in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. "My overall feeling is that I am very happy with how we skied": Sweeney said. "Some of the things I am most happy about is we skied well in every discipline, with men and women out coming in Nordic. For us to score well and be up near the top, we have to be consistent, and I thought we did a really good job of that' Sweeney also mentioned that although the team had a handful of freshmen, they were able to get comfortable right from the beginning. "We do have some newcomers to the team, and it was their first collegiate meet, so there is always a little adjustment period, but based on our results, we did very well with that' Sweeney said. Kristina Rove finished with one of the top performances of the weekend, placing third in the women's slalom on Sunday and finishing sixth in the women's giant slalom on Friday. Rove was very satisfied with how she placed, considering the rocky start she had on Sunday, as she fell leaving the starting gate. She also mentioned how the invitational was beneficial since it included the first slalom events of the season. "I was super happy [with my finish];' Rove said. "At the beginning of the season it's always super interesting because you don't really know where you are compared to others. It's really fun to start the season this way, and I'm excited going forward. [My finish on Friday] was good as well. I think we did really well as a team, but whenever you finish in the top 10 and score for the team you can be happy about your day' Other highlights from the weekend included Chloe Fausa taking second in the women's giant slalom, Veronika Mayerhofer taking home fourth in the women's five-kilometer freestyle, Dominic Demschar finishing in second in the men's giant T slalom, Endre Bjertness coming in fourth in the men's slalom and Nick Hendrickson taking fourth in the men's 10-kilometer freestyle. On the final day of the invitational, Mayerhofer and Sloan Storey were both able to finish in the top three in the women's 10-kilometer classical. Although the team had a well-rounded performance, Sweeney believes there are still areas to improve. "I think they could have scored a little bit better in a couple of the disciplines:' he said. "It's so competitive right now in the RMISA that if you falter in one discipline, another school will probably capitalize on that!' Rove said throughout the entire weekend, it was important to take chances and let everything go, but she also credited some of her advantages to her experience. "I think the girls who risked the most, the ones who risked everything, were the ones who came out on top this week': Rove said. "Because I'm a senior I knew what was going on and what to expect from the events' Sweeney agrees with Rove, stating that one of their biggest strengths was their seniority. "Our returning team members scored very well': Sweeney said. "We've had some excellent leadership on both sides of the squad, and I think that really helped us this weekend with getting confidence in the newcomers on the team, and we put down some really good results': Next up for the skiing team will be the Colorado Invitational, which starts Jan. 23. Sweeney said since the team has the upcoming week off from any competition, one of their main focuses will be rest "This was a big push for both groups and our main focus is to recover': Sweeney said. "We're off this next weekend, so our focus is to get some good training under our belts, and recover. We've had some nagging injuries we need to take care of, and we should be ready to go': k.brenneisen@chronicle.utah.edu @KimBrenneisen /ASST. SPORTS EDITOR n most cases the freshmen are the ones learning from the upperclassman, but two Red Rock newcomers are doing some teaching of their own. It's no secret Utah needed to improve on the beam, and aided by the efforts of freshmen Kari Lee and Maddy Stover, the Utes appear to have done just that. Utah scored a 49.200 on the beam Friday night against BYU, and co-head coach Megan Marsden said her team's performance can be partially credited to the freshmen — and not just because of their individual routines. "I will give our freshmen some credit for coming and raising the bar a little bit, and also providing some example of how to train beam with more confidence under pressure': Marsden said. "Both Kari and Maddy do that very well, and our returning girls are learning a little bit from them:' Marsden said Stover and Lee both rise to the occasion well and that's something that has rubbed off on the rest of the team. "What I liked seeing was some of my returning girls looking more comfortable and confident up there:' Marsden said. "I felt like Tory [Wilson], Kailah [Delaney] and Baely [Rowe] — my first three people up — competed better than they have up to this point, and I liked that:' Though the two freshmen have helped set a new tone this young season, they still have plenty to learn. "The freshmen are constantly giving the upperclassman kudos for helping them through this new game they're in:' Marsden said. "I think it's working both ways:' Room to improve The Red Rocks left Provo with their highest opening meet score since 2005 (196.900), but not all the Utes returned home happy about their performance. "I promise you that there were some girls not exactly pleased with how they did': Marsden said. "I know Corrie Lothrop, she is capable of a much better all-around night, and that doesn't rest well with her when she's not at her absolute best every week. So I know that she will make some improvements:' Lothrop was the sole Ute to fall in competition Friday, losing her grip on the bars. Utah had a near fall on the beam when Stover lost her balance mid-way through her routine, but she managed to remain on the apparatus. "Those are two examples of people that I think came home with not a lot they were really proud or Marsden said. "I think most of the girls had places they could hang their hat, but also places ... they are still trying to improve!' Marsden considers the fact that Utah has plenty of places to improve on coming out of such a high-scoring first meet a very good thing. "The girls are motivated to improve on a 196.900, when in the past we were coming in and trying to improve on a 195-something. So that's exciting, a 196.900 and still many things to improve on:' she said. Wilson nabs gymnast of the week honors Following her all-around victory Friday at BYU, senior Tory Wilson was named the Pac12 Gymnast of the Week. Besides winning the all-around with a score of 39.450, Wilson also won vault (9.925) and floor (9.900) at the meet. r.miller@chronicle.utah.edu @millerjryan 5 |