University of Colorado Athletics
Track Gets Ready For Big 12 Outdoor Championship
May 10, 2006 | Track and Field
BOULDER- Seniors Bret Schoolmeester and Christine Bolf will lead the University of Colorado track and field teams to the 10th Big 12 Championship on May 12-14 hosted by Baylor University at the Hart-Patterson Track & Field Complex in Waco, Texas.
Both Schoolmeester and Bolf will be looking for their first career conference titles as they will kick of competition for CU on the track. The 10,000-meter run is the first track event for the Buffs on May 12 and will start at 8:15 p.m. (CT) with the women. The men will race at 9 p.m.
The multi and field events will christen the 10th championship on Friday, May 12, at 2 p.m. The final event will be the 1,600-m relays at 8:35 p.m. Sunday, May 14. Live stats will be available at www.BaylorBears.com.
"My expectation is that some people will rise up and do well, and some people will not respond well to the competition and some people in the middle," head coach Mark Wetmore said. "My aspirations are that people are business-like in their approach to this competition, that they are focused and serious. Subsequent to that, our aspirations are that we compete at a level that we are capable of, so people will throw what they threw to get here, jump what they jumped to get here and run what they ran to get here.
"I don't like to put aspirations or expectations that are unrealistic on them. I guess that some coaches think that if you give them a big enough pep-talk and a big enough goal, that even if they fall a little short that they will still perform well, but I think I?d rather that they have a businesslike, calm-minded approach to this and give us what they have in them, rather than reach for something that they don't. If that happens, then my expectation is that the men will score about 60 points and be in the top half of the team field. The women, this is a more developmental meet for us to get our new people to smell the air and have the experience."
Texas Tech won its first ever men's championship with 149.50 points, while the Nebraska women earned their second title since 2000 with 126.67 points. Colorado's men took seventh and the women earned ninth.
"I think probably Brent Vaughn will be the guy that will score the most points for us," Wetmore explained. "There are people running more races for us, but Vaughn has the 10,000 and the 5,000, the two hardest distance races that there are in conditions that aren't good for people that are from there, let along for those of us from paradise. It's going to be hot and humid and Vaughn is going to have a tall order this weekend."
Vaughn scored 18 points for CU at the 2005 Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championships with a first-place finish in the 3k and a second in the 5k. Last year at the outdoor championship, Vaughn won the conference 5k crown and finished ninth in the preliminary round of the 1,500. He currently ranks second in the conference in the 5k.
The Buffs will also be looking to Stephen Pifer, Pete Janson, Anthony Chiulli and Schoolmeester in the distance events. Pifer currently ranks first on the conference list in the 1,500 and is third in the 5k. Schoolmeester is first in the 5k and 10k. Janson is sixth in the steeplechase and Chiulli is fifth in the 1,500.
The sprinters are also hoping to come on strong this year. George Pincock has the sixth and seventh best times in the conference, in the 200 and 400, respectively. Chris Abuan is ranked eighth in the 400, just behind Pincock.
The men's 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams will also be looking to collect some points for CU. Last year they finished seventh and fifth, respectively. This year both teams are ranked in the top five. The 4x100 recorded the second fasted time in CU history (40.30).
"Christine Bolf, Liza Pasciuto and Jenny Barringer are all being asked to do some hard running this weekend and those three will combine for the bulk of our women's points," Wetmore said.
Bolf, Barringer and Pasciuto are 1-2-3 in the league rankings in the 5k. Bolf has the second best time in the league in the 10k and Barringer owns the second best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Bolf, Barringer and Pasciuto are all ranked in the 1,500 in fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.
Other athletes with top-10 league rankings that will be counted on to contribute this weekend from the women's team are Carly Newlands (forth in the shot put), Amberly Casey (ninth in the long jump) and Cortney Hutmacher (10th in the hammer throw).
The weather will be warm for the Buffs. The forecast is predicting 92 degrees and high winds on Saturday for the preliminaries in most events. Saturday is expected to get up to 87 degrees.
"None of us are ready for 80 degrees and 50 percent humidity, let alone 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity," Wetmore said. "But that is the way the Big 12 always is for us. It's no surprise.
"Jenny (Barringer) might have some advantage, having grown up in Florida. She has 10 months of Boulder acclamation behind her now, so I don't know if we can hope she has some Florida heat mechanism remaining in her, but at least she won't be shocked by it."
The championship will be televised, tape delayed, on FSN Rocky Mountain on Saturday, May 20 at 2 p.m.
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