University of Colorado Athletics
Colorado
Big 12 Indoor Championships
Vaughn Wins Second Straight Big 12 3k Title
February 25, 2006 | Track and Field
“It felt good to win the 3,000-meters today,” Vaughn said. “I lost the 5,000-meter race last night, so it felt good to defend one of my championships. This is the strongest the Big 12 has been in a long time. There are a lot of good guys out there. Billy (Nelson) put the pressure on me that the pace had to be fast from the gun.”
“Early in the week Brent began to come down with a winter head cold,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “I considered pulling him out. I was fearful that racing hard this weekend would make it worse and maybe compromise his performance at the NCAA in a couple of weeks, but he completely overruled that. To come here and be our highest team scorer and he never eluded to being sick for a minute, although he was. Great team guy. Courageous guy. I wish I had 10 of him.”
Sophomore Liza Pascuito placed second in the mile and took fifth in the 3k. She ran the mile in 4:47.45, just two tenths of a second off of the leader, Jessica Eldridge of
Bolf raced in the first group of the 3k since she hadn't run the 3k during the indoor season. She finished almost 10 seconds ahead of the rest of her pack in 9:32.72. The mark was good enough to provisionally qualify her for nationals, despite the precious seconds Bolf lost as she lapped her competition. Unfortunately for Bolf, Erin Bedell of Baylor ran a time of 9:29.94 in the second group to take the title. Bolf finished fourth in the event, just ahead of Pascuito.
“In an effort to under race her (Bolf) this winter, we (Wetmore and assistant coach Heather Burroughs) would not try hard to get her a 3,000-meter time,” Wetmore said. “So she had to come into this meet without a previous time. We knew that. We knew she could run hard by herself. She ran a good race.”
“I know this is going to sound like a cry baby,” Wetmore explained. “But she would have won the 3,000-meters overall out of the slow section had the officials enforced a Big 12 rule that I have talked to them about before the meet. They are supposed to get lapped runners out of the way of the lead runner and they did not do that. It certainly cost her a couple of seconds that would have made her a double champion.”
Nelson and junior Stephen Pifer also scored in the 3k for
Pifer also took second in the mile with a time of 4:02.73. Pifer just missed out on his first Big 12 Championship by a narrow margin (.13) to Leonel Manzano of
“I feel like I put out a pretty good effort today,” Pifer said. “I'm kind of a little sick of not being a Big 12 Champ, so I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with it. I'm getting closer and I'm running more races and that is going to help me out more than winning a Big 12 Championship. Learning how to race and how to respond, overall it was a good learning experience.”
In the 1000-m, Anthony Chiulli added another second-place finish for the Buffs. He crossed the finish line at 2:22.14, which was a personal record. Last year, Chiulli recorded a fifth-place finish in the race.
“The male distance runners exceeded my expectations,” Wetmore said. “I hoped that the team would score 60 points as a whole and the distance runners scored 59. I am very happy with how they did. Our anticipated scorers delivered. Some developmental people had some good non-scoring races. This is the deepest Big 12 distance meet I have ever seen and I think we might have had more points than we have ever had.”
Junior George Pincock had a commanding lead in the 400-m, but was unable to finish the physical race as he was pushed going into the last turn.
“He (George) did some banging around with a runner from another team,” said Wetmore. “George fell into the inside of the track and he felt he would be disqualified, so he did not continue. I would rather he had continued and waited for the officials to disqualify him than for him to disqualify himself.”
Senior Chris Abuan set a personal record in the 600-yard run with a mark of 1:10.77 and placed eighth in the event.
The men's 4x400-m relay of Abuan, Brandon Johnson, Nate Terry and Pincock came in eighth overall with a mark of 3:15.24.
Sophomore Mikaela Raddatz finished the 600-y run with a pr of 1:26.68 and took eighth.
In the field events, junior Amberly Casey just missed the finals in the triple jump. She finished in 12th with a leap of 39-1.75. In the men's shot put, Andy Passen threw 52-0.0 for 14th place.
The CU women have only finished below sixth at the Big 12 Championships on three occasions. They were eighth last season and tied a low this season at 11th as they finished 11th in 2000.
“Honestly, as a whole, we did poorly,” Wetmore said. “I don't blame just the women; I blame the team and the staff. We came here with too few potential scorers. We had people come here and not do well. We have to do better in our recruiting. And we have to make better use of the talent we have on campus now.”
The Buffs will have one more chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in
BIG 12 INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Women's Team Scores: 1. Texas, 125; 2. Nebraska, 118; 3. Texas Tech, 68; 4. Baylor, 61; 4. Oklahoma, 61; 6. Kansas State, 60.50; 7. Missouri, 58; 8. Texas A&M, 56.50; 9. Kansas, 45; 10.
Men's Team Scores: 1.
FIELD EVENTS (CU ATHLETES ONLY)
Men's Shot Put: 14, Andy Passen, 52-0.0; James Begley, Foul
Women's Triple Jump: 12. Amberly Casey, 39-1.75
RUNNING EVENTS (CU ATHLETES ONLY)
Women's 600-Yard (finals): 9. Mikaela Raddatz, 1:26.68
Women's Mile (finals): 2. Liza Pascuito, 4:47.45
Women's 3000-Meters (final): 4. Christine Bolf, 9:32.72; 5. Liza Pascuito, 9:35.32; 21. Sara Ensrud, 10:11.85; Erin Marston, DNF
Men's 400-Meters (finals): George Pincock, DNF
Men's 600-Yards (finals): 8. Chris Abuan, 1:10.77
Men's Mile (finals): 2. Stephen Pifer, 4:02.73; 4. Bret Schoolmeester, 4:05.08
Men's 1000-Meters (finals): 2. Anthony Chiulli, 2:22.14
Men's 3000-Meters (finals): 1. Brent Vaughn, 8:04.03; 4. Billy Nelson, 8:06.24; 7. Stephen Pifer, 8:12.37; 10. Bret Schoolmeester, 8:13.90; 20. Erik Heinonen, 8:22.87; 22. Pete Janson, 8:24.17; 29. Chris Pannone, 8:28.46; 32. Payton Batliner, 8:30.80; 32. Daniel Kenney, 8:36.58; 40. Rob Thayer, 8:39.52; Anthony Chiulli, DNF
Men's 4x400 Relay: Abuan/Johnson/Terry/Pincock, 3:15.24
