CU has Successful Second Day in Sacramento

Colorado advanced three more athletes in the preliminaries, Dani Jones advances to nationals in the women's 1,500

SACRAMENTO – The University of Colorado's track and field team continued their competition today in Sacramento, while Teammate Dani Jones was competing in Eugene in the Prefontaine Classic.

Elissa Mann punched her ticket to NCAA National Championships and earned a personal best in the women's 800-meter run. She finished in 10^th place overall with a time of 2:03.96.

Val Constien also joined the herd of Buffaloes heading to Eugene, and won her heat in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. She ran a personal best of 9:47.97. Head coach Mark Wetmore said, "Val just ran a huge personal best advancing to nationals and winning her heat of the steeplechase, 9:48, that's one of our top four or five fastest times ever at Colorado."

On the men's side today, Duane McClurkin, Jr. finished third in his heat with a time of 21.25 and will advance to the next round in the 200-meter dash. He joins teammate Ben Saarel who is also advancing after his race in the men's 1,500-meter run yesterday.

Competition will continue tomorrow with the field events beginning at noon and the track events beginning at 6 p.m., Pacific time.

For competition information, including the live results and the meet schedule, visit:
http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor18/.

Jones finished with an impressive time of 4:07.74 at the Prefontaine Classic, and assistant coach Heather Burroughs was there to witness it.

"Dani was the only collegian in this race. All the others are professional runners," Burroughs said, "We are grateful the meet director gave her a chance to be here and really excited that she won it. She made a decisive move to the lead with 400 to go and ran away from a very talented field. This race qualifies her for the USA Nationals in June where she'll have the chance to race many of these women again."

"Tonight was a good night. I don't think the time reflects my fitness, but I'm proud of the race I ran and the confidence I had," Jones said of her race tonight, "My coaches and my teammates have been wonderful these past couple months, along with Jenny Simpson and the rest of the pros. I couldn't ask for a better group. I'm thankful for the meet directors at pre as well, for giving me a chance to race at such a great event."

Men's Results:
Men's 110-meter hurdles: 1. David Kendziera, Illinois, 13.60; 2. Amere Lattin, Houston, 13.60; 3. John Burt, Texas, 13.65; CU Finisher: Alexander Billing, 14.62
Men's 200-meter dash: 1. Divine Oduduru, Texas Tech, 20.38; 2. Jaylen Bacon, Arkansas State, 20.54; 3. Kenzo Cotton, Arkansas, 20.54; CU Finishers: 22. Duane McClurkin, Jr., 21.25; 35. Jon Maas, 21.52
Men's 3,000-meter steeplechase: 1. Obsa Ali, Minnesota, 8:36.49; 2. Matt Owens, Brigham Young University, 8:36.73; 3. Clayson Shumway, Brigham Young University, 8:36:76; CU Finisher: 25. Adam Peterman, 8:54.63

Women's Results:
Women's 800-meter run: 1. Sabrina Southerland, Oregon, 2:00.72; 2. Avi' Tal Wilson-Perteete, UNLV, 2:01.14; 3. Sammy Watson, Texas A&M, 2:02.20; CU Finisher: 10. Elissa Mann, 2:03.96
Women's 3,000-meter steeplechase: 1. Allie Ostrander, Boise State, 9:40.20; CU Finishers: 2. Val Constien, 9:47.97; 16. Sage Hurta, 10:07.62

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexander Billing

Sage Hurta

Dani Jones

Jon Maas

Elissa Mann

Adam Peterman

Ben Saarel

Jenny Simpson