Buffs Have Successful First Day at Pac-12 Combined Events Championship

Buffs finish first day with four men in the top eight at the Pac-12 Combined Events Championship

BOULDER – Colorado track and field team had a great first day at the Pac-12 Combined Events Championships yesterday. The men are going into day two with four in the top eight, and on the women's side they have one athlete in the top five, with the rest not far behind.

"I think the most exciting thing right now is we have four men ranked in the top eight. It was school record breaking history back in 2010 when we scored 3 decathletes in the Big 12 championships when we were competing out at Missouri. That was the first time in conference history we had done that and this will be the first time in Pac-12 conference history to potentially score 4. So that's the goal tomorrow is to get four of our guys in the top eight," assistant Coach Lindsey Malone said.

Andrew Ghizzone is in second place going into day two, and is just slightly off from his total point PR from his competition in Azusa a couple of weeks ago. Aaron Carmichael had an overall point PR, finishing day one with 4997 points. Nate Gravelding had the biggest overall points PR with 4641 points. Davis Butte finished day one just under his PR for total points. "The men's squad is doing great, and I am really excited for what they are going to do tomorrow," Malone said.

On the women's side, Maja Wichhart-Donzo is sitting at 5^th place, and is only six points away from fourth place. "She is trailing a senior, so hopefully we can make up some points tomorrow and maybe even get on the podium for top three," Malone said. Michaela Wenning is sitting at 11^th place and Drianna Mustin is sitting at 13^th place. There have not been any new developments on qualifying for the NCAA Championships; however, Wenning is still on the list for the high jump, and Wichhart-Donzo is still on the list for the triple jump.

Overall, Malone is expecting a good showing today by both the men and the women, as they have been very consistent in their combined events performances.

Air Force Twilight:
While the multi-athletes were competing in Stanford, a few of their teammates were sharpening their skills at the Air Force Twilight meet. They had a great showing there as well. In the men's shotput Colorado had two of the top five finishers, Aaron Haigler in third place with a distance of 51-4.25/15.65 and Austin Swanson behind him at 48-7.5/14.82. Valerie Welch finished first in the women's 100-meters hurdles with a time of 14.16. Alexander Billing finished first for the men in the 110-meter hurdles clocking in at 14.31. Rajon O'Quinn had an excellent race in the women's 200 meters with a time of 23.94, earning her first place. This was their last meet before competing next weekend in the Pac-12s.

Airforce Twilight:
Women's Javelin: (1. Elizabeth Jarvis, Air Force, 143-8/43.78), 4. Elisa Grandemange, 133-4/42.93
Men's Shotput: (1. Garrett Coalson, Air Force, 54-2.5/16.52), 3. Aaron Haigler, 51-4.25/15.65, 4. Austin Swanson, 48-7.5/14.82
Women's Shotput: (1. Courtney Clark, 47-4.25/14.43), 2. Mariah Walker, 43-7.75/13.30
Women's Hammer: (1. Elisa Grandemange, 185-7/56.58)
Men's Hammer: (1. Jack Root, 187-3/57.08), 3. Matthew Denton, 166-6/50.74, 4. Caleb Penner, 166-5/50.72, 5. Grayson Webber, 161-3/49.14, 6. Austin Swanson, 156/47.54, 7. Brock Knechtel, 155-5/37.37
Men's Discus: (1. Logan Feasline, Air Force, 168-10/51.47), 5. Grayson Webber, 149-5/45.55, 6. Paden Gatlin, 147-10/45.06, 8. Brock Knechtel, 140-7/42.86, 10. Aaron Haigler, 137-2/41.80, 13. Austin Swanson, 127-1/38.74, 14. Caleb Penner, 125-10/38.35
Women's Discus: (1. Heather Scheetz, 149-7/45.60), 5. Mariah Walker, 141-11/43.26, 6. Elisa Grandemange, 137-11/42.05
Women's 100-meter hurdles: (1. Valerie Welch, 14.16)
Men's 110-meter hurdles: (1. Alexander Billing, 14.31)
Men's 400 meters: (1. Thomas Staines, CSU Pueblo, 45.98), 4. Duane McClurkin, Jr. 47.46, 8. Kendal Smith, 48.52,
Women's 100 meters: (1. Natasha Gay, Unattached, 12.07), 2. Tashay Brown, 12.52
Men's 100 meters: (1. Davion Taylor, 10.67), 2. Jaysean Skrine, 11.07
Men's 400-meter hurdles: (1. Kodie Artner, Bockman TC, 52.29), 2. Aaron McCoy, 52.48, 3. Nathan Hoy, 54.56
Women's 200 meters: (1. Rajon O'Quinn, 23.94), 3. Alexandria Peters, 24.68
Men's 200 meters: (1. Robbie Anderson, 21.52), 4. Jon Maas, 21.71, 10. Duane McClurkin, Jr. 23.12

Women:
100-meter hurdles: (1. Lyndsey Lopes, 13.63), 7. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 14.41, 11. Michaela Wenning, 15.02, 15. Drianna Mustin, 15.53
200 meters: (1. Lyndsey Lopes, USC, 24.31), 5. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 24.84, 9. Drianna Mustin, 25.84, 12. Michaela Wenning, 27.05
800 meters: (1. Alissa Brooks-Johnson, 2:14.81), 3. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 2:15.68, 7. Drianna Mustin, 2:22.03, 12. Michaela Wenning, 2:30.89
High Jump: (1. Kendall Gustafson, UCLA, 5-10.75/1.80), 4. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 5-6/1.68, 5. Michaela Wenning, 5-5/1.65, 12. Drianna Mustin, 5-2.5/1.59
Javelin: (1. Kendall Gustafson, UCLA, 152-09/46.56), 6. Michaela Wenning, 122-04/37.29, 10. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 100-11/30.77, 13. Drianna Mustin, 98-09/30.09
Long Jump: (1. Alyssa Thompson, Arizona, 20-10.50/6.36), 7. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 18-1.5/5.52, 12. Michaela Wenning, 16-10.75/5.15, 14. Drianna Mustin, 16-9.75/5.12
Shotput: (1. Kendall Gustafson, UCLA, 42-11/13.08), 9. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 34-11.75/10.66, 10. Michaela Wenning, 34-8.5/10.58, 15. Drianna Mustin, 27-4/8.33

Men:
100 meters: (1. Michael Gonzalez, USC, 11.03), 6. Andrew Ghizzone, 11.48, 7. Davis Butte, 11.50, 8. Aaron Carmichael, 11.72
110-meter hurdles: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 14.44), 2. Andrew Ghizzone, 15.12, 3. Davis Butte, 15.61, 6. Aaron Carmichael, 15.94, 7. Nate Gravelding, 16.99
400-meter dash: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 48.67), 2. Andrew Ghizzone, 49.70, 3. Davis Butte, 51.77, 6. Nate Gravelding, 54.06, 7. Aaron Carmichael, 54.27
1500 meters: (1. Andrew Ghizzone, 4:31.46), 3. Nate Gravelding, 4:45.07, 4. Davis Butte, 4:52.58, 6. Aaron Carmichael, 4:59.43
Discus: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 141-01/43.01), 2. Andrew Ghizzone, 115-03/35.14, 4. Aaron Carmichael, 104-11, 31.98, 5. Nate Gravelding, 100-06/30.64, 6. Davis Butte, 97-04/29.66
High Jump: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 6-5.00/1.96), 2. Andrew Ghizzone, 6-2.75/1.90, 5. Aaron Carmichael, 5-10.00/1.78, 6. Davis Butte, 5-8.75/1.75, 7. Nate Gravelding, 5-7.75/1.72
Javelin: (1. Andrew Ghizzone, 155-3/47.32), 3. Nate Gravelding, 142-8/43.50, 5. Davis Butte, 131-01/39.96, 7. Aaron Carmichael, 89-9/27.36
Pole Vault: (1. Harrison Williams, 17-2.75/5.25), 3. Davis Butte, 13-11.25/4.25, 4. Aaron Carmichael, 13-3.5/4.05, 5. Nate Gravelding, 12-11.5/3.95
Shotput: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 44-11.75/13.71), 4. Andrew Ghizzone, 37-6.75/11.45, 6. Aaron Carmichael, 33-3.75/10.15, 7. Nate Gravelding, 33-3.75/10.15, 8. Davis Butte, 28-5.00/8.66
Long Jump: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 23-8.75/7.23), 4. Andrew Ghizzone, 21-9.00/6.63, 5. Aaron Carmichael, 21-1.25/6.43, 7. Davis Butte, 20-4.50/6.21, 9. Nate Gravelding, 19-10.25/6.05

Buffs Have Successful First Day at Pac-12 Combined Events Championship

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Players Mentioned

Kodie Artner

Alexander Billing

Tashay Brown

Davis Butte

Aaron Carmichael

Matthew Denton

Paden Gatlin

Andrew Ghizzone

Elisa Grandemange

Nate Gravelding

Aaron Haigler

Nathan Hoy

Brock Knechtel

Jon Maas

Aaron McCoy

Drianna Mustin

Rajon O'Quinn

Caleb Penner

Alexandria Peters

Jaysean Skrine

Kendal Smith

Austin Swanson

Davion Taylor

Mariah Walker

Grayson Webber

Valerie Welch

Michaela Wenning

Maja Wichhart-Donzo