BUFF WOMEN NINTH, MEN 10TH AT BIG 12 TRACK

Thursday, April 29

Norman, Okla.

TBA

Colorado

Big 12 Outdoor Championships

Photo by: Associated Press

May 01, 2004 | Track and Field

By: CUBuffs.com

NORMAN, Okla. ? The University of Colorado track & field team wrapped up the Eighth Annual Big 12 Outdoor Championships here on Saturday evening, with the CU women racing to ninth place and the Buffalo men finishing 10th. It was an afternoon with some surprises and a school record for the Buffs, who earned their first and only individual title Saturday.

Sophomore Dathan Ritzenhein, coming off his historic 10,000 meter race on Friday night in Palo Alto, arrived in Norman at 4:30 p.m. with plenty of time to spare to take on the field in the men's 5,000 meters at 6:45 p.m. Ritzenhein won easily in a time of 14:08.40, which qualified him for the NCAA Regional meet at the end of the month in College Station.

On the flip side, junior Renee Metivier took a bad fall in the second lap of the women's 1,500 meter run, getting spiked by several other runners before she was able to get up and carry on. The pre-race favorite in the event, Metivier was not able to make up the 15 meters she lost in the fall and finished a disappointing ninth in 4:46.28.

In the men's 1,500 meter run, both Bret Schoolmeester and Jared Scott scored for the Buffaloes. Schoolmeester led for part of the race and wound up fourth in 3:50.26, while Scott earned eighth place in 3:53.07. He would PR in the men's 5,000 later in the day with his time of 14:45.89, a significant improvement over his previous best of 15:12.

Metivier was able to bounce back and contribute to the Buffalo scoring in the women's 5,000 meters. She led for much of the race along with teammates Sara Slattery, Christine Bolf and Kalin Toedebusch, with the foursome going 2-3-4-7 for CU. Slattery was outkicked in the last 200 meters by Melissa Gulli of Texas A&M, who also won the 10,000 meters on Thursday night. All four Buffs earned regional qualifying marks for the meet at A&M.

Colorado's other high finisher on the day was senior Natalie Florence in the women's steeplechase. She took fourth in a time of 10:43.48. Colorado also got scoring out of freshmen Jason Zichterman and Pete Janson tonight. Zichterman was fifth in the men's 800 meter run in 1:51.83, while Janson was seventh in the men's steeple in 9:13.75. Both of Colorado's men's sprint relays scored as well, with the 4x100 taking eighth in 42.01, and the 4x400 winning its heat and finishing sixth overall in 3:11.98. Sophomore Brandon Johnson anchored the CU men's 4x400 to sixth place on the day, and also took sixth in the 400 meter hurdles in 52.42, the exact same time he ran in Friday's prelims.

One of CU's most thrilling performances of the day was its first, as Liza Negriff leaped to a huge personal best and the school record in the women's triple jump. Her mark of 40-6.25 breaks Udie Ekiko's mark of 40-2, but was not good enough to score as she wound up ninth in a simply loaded women's field.

CU's top track & field athletes will get a well-deserved break as they prepare for their next big meet, the NCAA Regional in College Station on May 28-29.

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

RESULTS ? Colorado Athletes Only

Women's Triple Jump

9. Liza Negriff, 12.35m 40-06.25

Men's Discus

9. Zach Hazen, 51.61m 169-04

12. Matt Carr, 49.97m 163-11

Women's Shot Put

11. Cortney Hutmacher, 12.92m 42-04.75

Men's 400 Meter Relay

8. Lee-O'Brien, Pincock, Wilhite, Napp, 42.01

Women's Steeplechase