CU Advances Six Athletes to Nationals

CU advanced five women and one man to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships

SACRAMENTO – The University of Colorado's track and field team closed out their weekend at NCAA West Preliminaries with an overall great performance and six athletes advancing to nationals.

Elisa Grandemange threw a personal best in the women's hammer with a distance of 195-10.00/59.71. "The day started with Elisa having a real nice throw in her flight in the hammer, a personal best," head coach Mark Wetmore said. "It's hard to come here in these circumstances pressure and a whole new level of competitors surrounding you and throwing your best. She did well and finished quite a bit higher than we would have predicted," .

In the women's 5,000-meter run, Erin Clark ran her fastest time ever finishing in 15:30.59 and advancing to Eugene for nationals. "Erin had a great day running her fastest 5k ever after running her fastest 10k ever," Wetmore said.

The women closed out the night with the 4x400 relay, racing their fastest time ever, but not quite fast enough to get through to Eugene. The women finished 20th overall with a time of 3:39.99.

On the men's side, Zach Perrin ran the men's 5,000 meters and will be advancing to nationals. "Zach advanced in the 5,000; it was tight, we had to wait for the second heat and watch the clock carefully, but he got through and will represent the Colorado men in Eugene," Wetmore said.

"Off we go to Eugene. Five women, Erin Clark in two events, and Zach Perrin for the guys decent size group continuing on to the NCAA finals," Wetmore said of the weekend. The women will be represented by, Erin Clark (5,000-meter run and 10,000-meter run), Kaitlyn Benner (10,000-meter run), Val Constien (3,000-meter steeplechase), Makena Morley (10,000-meter run) and Elissa Mann (800-meter run) and the men will be represented by Zach Perrin in the 5,000-meter run.

For a full list of competition results visit: http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor18/.

Men's Results:
Men's 200-meter dash: 1. Divine Oduduru, Texas Tech, 20.21; 2. Jaylen Bacon, Arkansas State, 20.51; 3. Devin Quinn, Illinois, 20.63; CU Finisher: 23. Duane McClurkin, Jr., 21.29.
Men's 1,500-meter run: 1. Josh Kerr, New Mexico, 3:42.62; 2. Sam Prakel, Oregon, 3:42.77; 3. Sam Worley, Texas, 3:42.90; CU Finisher: 22. Ben Saarel, 3:49.62.
Men's 5,000-meter run: 1. Grant Fisher, Stanford, 13.47.22; 2. Andy Trouard, Northern Arizona, 13:47.86; 3. Sean McGorty, Stanford, 13:48.09; CU Finishers: 9. Zach Perrin, 13:50.83; 23. Eduardo Herrera, 14:01.98; 29. Ryan Forsyth, 14:09.13.

Women's Results:
Women's 5,000-meter run: 1. Karissa Schweizer, Missouri, 15:19.65; 2. Ednah Kurgat, New Mexico, 15:25.25; 3. Sharon Lokedi, Kansas, 15:27.09; CU Finishers: 8. Erin Clark, 15:30.59; 20. Makena Morley, 16:03.06; 24. Kaitlyn Benner, 16:10.51.
Women's Hammer Throw: 1. Brooke Andersen, Northern Arizona, 233-9.00/71.26; 2. Janee' Kassanavoid, Kansas State, 222-11.00/67.94; 3. Temi Ogunrinde, Minnesota, 216-2.00/65.88; CU Finisher: 21. Elisa Grandemange, 195-10.00/59.71.
Women's 4x400 relay: 1. Oregon, 3:29. 94; 2. USC, 3:30.57; 3. Baylor, 3:31.34; 20. Colorado, 3:39.99.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kaitlyn Benner

Erin Clark

Ryan Forsyth

Elisa Grandemange

Eduardo Herrera

Elissa Mann

Makena Morley

Zach Perrin

Ben Saarel