University of Colorado Athletics
Players Mentioned
Track Preps For Big 12 Championships
May 11, 2005 | Track and Field
BOULDER - Running in her last conference championship, senior distance runner Sara Slattery will be looking to claim her fourth outdoor title as the University of Colorado men's and women's track teams will be sending 34 athletes to compete in 23 individual races and three relays as the Buffs prepare for the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Kansas State at the R.V. Christian Track Complex in Manhattan, Kan., May 13-15.
Of the Colorado contingent, 12 athletes, including Slattery, will be competing in their final league championship including distance runners Natalie Florence, Kendall Grgas-Wheeler, Renee Metivier, Austin Baillie, Matt McCue and Jon Severy, sprinter Eric Lee-Obrien, jumpers Liza Negriff, Anna Magle and Andy Miller and throwers Carly Newlands and Chase Mullen.
The multi and field events will christen the ninth annual championship on Friday at noon, followed by the men's and women's 10,000-m runs at 6:30 p.m. that night. The final event will be the 1,600-m relays at 6:30 p.m. local time Sunday night.
The Texas women won their fifth outdoor conference title, second straight, a year ago in Norman, Okla., while the Nebraska men won their fourth in 2004. Both Colorado teams had their lowest ever finishes in a conference championship, with the women finishing ninth with 46.50 points, and the men, 10th with 35.
"A year ago we had an inordinate amount of ninth place finishes, which is just out of scoring position, so it would be good for those athletes to move up and contribute this year," said head coach Mark Wetmore. "We know we'll have a strong showing from our men's and women's long distance runners, but it will be the other event areas that will be responsible for carrying us beyond an average finish. Our women's jumpers, men's sprinters and men's and women's throwers will have the opportunity to have a big impact this weekend."
While distance runners Metivier and Brent Vaughn both won a pair of conference crowns during the indoor campaign, the only athlete that will be on the bus Wednesday with any outdoor titles will be Slattery who won the 2002 and '03 5k titles and 2002 1,500-m crown. Metivier is entered in four races this weekend, Vaughn and Slattery, three. Those who came close a year ago only to come up short were now juniors Christine Bolf who was the race runner-up in the 10,000-m run and third in the 5k, and Bret Schoolmeester who was fourth in the 1,500-m.
Bolf and Slattery are ranked 1-2 in the league in the 5k and 4-3 in the 1,500-m and Bolf has the fourth fastest 10k time this season while Metivier has the fastest 3k steeple. Vaughn has the league's fastest 5k effort and eighth in the 1,500-m. Schoolmeester owns the league's best 10k time and is sixth in the 5k.
Other athletes with top-10 league rankings that will be counted on to contribute this weekend from the men's team are Stephen Pifer, currently ranked fifth in the 1,500-m, Billy Nelson and Pete Janson are 1-3 in the steeplechase, Jon Severy is fifth and Payton Batliner eighth in the 10k while Miller is eighth in the high jump and in the hammer throw, Zach Hazen and Mullen are third and sixth, respectively. Their counterparts on the women's team have Florence with the fifth best time looking to claim CU's first steeple title since 2002, Magle is fourth in the high jump, Amberly Casey ninth in the long and Negriff eighth in the triple. In the throws Newlands is sixth and Hannah Warfield-Ruffato, fifth in the javelin.
While the rankings seem to side in favor of the Buffs, so do the weekend's forecasted conditions. Ordinarilly hot and windy according to Wetmore, he is hoping for less than 80-degree temperatures and not too much wind.
"It looks good so far," he said.
The championship will be televised, tape delayed, on FSN Rocky Mountain on Saturday, May 21 at 11 a.m.
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