Florence Wins Regional Steeple

LINCOLN, Neb. - The time off from a nagging foot injury served Colorado junior Natalie Florence well, as the Buff runner was the highlight of the day for CU, winning the inaugural NCAA Midwest Regional 3,000 Meter Steeplechase here at Ed Weir Track on Saturday.

Florence, who hasn't competed since May 1 at the CU Twilight, won the race in a time of 10:28.24, her new personal record (10:30.26) and the fifth-fastest time ever at CU. Second place finisher Marget Larson of Colorado State, the number two seed in the event, checked in at 10:34.44. The title was Colorado's third of the meet after Sara Gorton and Ed Torres both won the 5,000 meter run here Friday evening.

"We took Natalie out of the conference meet because she had some soreness in her heels which we thought could be a bad thing for her," said coach Mark Wetmore. "So she took two weeks completely off, and for the last two weeks has just done light work on a trail just by the track. She hasn't been over a water jump in 3-4 weeks, but she hit them all perfectly today and ran a very intelligent race. Others made mistakes and off she went to the win. She really capped off a week of ups and downs with an up."

Also advancing to the NCAA Championship meet was senior Jorge Torres, whose fifth place finish in the men's 1,500 meter run earned him a trip to Sacramento. Torres ran a time of 3:43.87, finishing almost four seconds ahead of sixth place finisher Tommy Bonn of Texas A&M (3:47.70) to secure the final automatic spot in the championship meet.

In all, six Buffaloes will head to the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships from June 13-14. Ed Torres has qualified in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs, as has Molly Austin. Freshman Billy Nelson, CU's lone first year runner to make the NCAA meet, will compete in the men's 5,000 meter run. Sara Gorton will compete in the 5,000 meter run and try and avenge her only defeat of the season in the event, when she finished second to Stanford's Lauren Fleshman at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 18.

Jorge Torres will compete in the 1,500 meter run and Florence in the 3K steeple. All five veteran Buffs are All-Americans in at least one event ranging from cross country to the 10K, and have previous NCAA finals experience to take with them to California. Nelson hasn't been to a track & field NCAA final, but was 42nd in the cross country championship race this past fall.

Team scores were also kept at the meet, with Nebraska claiming the women's title on their home track and Minnesota claiming the men's title. Colorado's women finished 11th, while the Buff men tied for 13th.

2003 NCAA Midwest Regional Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Saturday, May 31, 2003 Results - Colorado Athletes Only

Women's 3,000 Meter Steeplechase
1. Natalie Florence, 10:28.24, advances to NCAA Championships
13. Kendall Grgas-Wheeler, 11:14.42

Men's 1,500 Meter Run
5. Jorge Torres, 3:43.87, advances to NCAA Championships

Women's High Jump
Anna Magle, NH