Three Buffs Earn Top Honors At Big 12 Championship

Sunday, May 14

Hart-Patterson Track & Field Complex, Waco, Texas

All Day

Colorado

Day 3

May 14, 2006 | Track and Field

By: Linda Sprouse, Assistant SID

WACO, Texas ? The Colorado men's track & field team took fourth place with 78 points, just one point behind third-place Missouri, at the Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships here Sunday at the Hart-Patterson Track & Field Complex in Waco, Texas. It is the highest finish for the Buffaloes at the league championships.

“I'm estatic on the performance of the men's team,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “Just about everyone that we hoped would contribute did, many of them did at a higher level than we expected. That's our highest finish in a long time; just off the podium. We have no regrets at all. We had a great weekend with the men.”

The CU men dominated the distance events, taking top honors in the 1,500, 3,000 steeplechase, the 5,000 and the 10,000. Stephen Pifer set a Big 12 and stadium record as he took top honors in the 1,500-meter run. Also finishing first were Pete Janson in the steeplechase, Bret Schoolmeester in the 5k and Brent Vaughn, who took the 10k on Friday night. It was the first Big 12 title for Pifer, Janson and Schoolmeester.

”I hadn't thought out it (winning all of the distance events),” Wetmore said. “That is cool. We just came here to run race by race. Each individual person did their best. They competed well head to head and that's important. We have a lot of races where we are just running against the clock and perfect conditions and sometimes we forget that the name of the game is racing people. So I am very happy that they accomplished that task.”

Pifer, who earned the first crown of the day, finished his race in 3:40.07. The mark is the third best in school history.

“It feels great,” Pifer said. “I would have liked to have the other two big hitters in the Big 12 race today, just to know that I am the best guy in the Big 12, but you race the competition that shows up that day and I gave it the best I could and came away with the win.”

The previous Big 12 record was 3:42.91, set by fellow Buffalo Jorge Torres in 2002. The stadium record of 4:43.19 was set in 1981 by current Baylor head coach Todd Harbour. The title is the first for Pifer.

“It feels good (to break the stadium record). That guy (Todd Harbour) also holds the Big 12 indoor record in the mile, which is 3:55, so he's obviously one of the best milers in Big 12 history. So to take out his record is definitely a big honor.”

Janson notched a personal record of 8:44.76, and became the sixth-best performer in CU history.

“It feels pretty good, because Texas has gone 1-2 the past two year in a row and I was really disappointed after last year,” Janson said. “Billy Nelson (teammate) and I didn't have a showing. I pr'ed by eight seconds. I thought I was in shape to do it and it was such a good race and great conditions. The race went well for me. I was lucky to go straight to the front and not have anyone challenge me. Everyone kind of let me take the lead and take them through, which is good because there was a lot of jostling behind me. Had I not been out front, it might not have gone as well as it did.”

Schoolmeester finished the 5k, in his final attempt at a Big 12 title, just under four seconds ahead of Pifer, who earned a second-place finish and racked up 18 points in the meet. Schoolmeester's time was 14:06.48, while Pifer finished in 14:10.15. Kenyon Neuman also scored in the race by finishing sixth overall (14:29.65). It was the fifth consecutive year that a CU harrier has won the event.

“I was nervous the whole way that the heat was going to sneak up and grab me like it did Vaughn, but I felt fine,” Schoolmeester said. “I took a pace that I thought would drop people and would be attainable and I am happy. I thought there might be some guys coming with me. I'm just really happy it worked out the way it did.

“I want to dedicate this win to my brother, who almost died fighting a fire last night. It kept me going at the end.”

The men's 4x100 and mile relays came up huge for Colorado. The men's 4x100 relay earned a sixth-place with a mark of 40.64. The relay consisted of Lionel Lawson Jr., Ryan Campbell, Sam Napp and George Pincock. But everything came down to the mile relay of Nate Terry, George Pincock, Brandon Johnson and Chris Abuan. CU and Oklahoma were tied in fourth heading into the final event. CU finished first in the head-to-head competition with a mark of 3:09.41, while OU finished seventh (3:13.02). The Buffs took third overall.

Pincock also took fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 21.08 and Anthony Chiulli (3:42.54) recorded a personal record to earn a third-place finish in the 1,500.

The women tied Oklahoma for 10^th with 30 points. Texas won with 131 points.

“Frankly I am disappointed,” Wetmore said. “I am going to go home and kind of go for a walk in the woods and figure out why we fell a little short of what we should have had. We should have had 40-45 points in this meet. The event area that I directly coach didn't have a great weekend. It looked pretty flat, so I have to re-evaluate that.”

Jenny Barringer took second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She finished in 10:21.90, the 14^th best for the Buffaloes. Barringer has only competed in the event twice this

“I'm really excited,” Barringer said. “This is a really difficult race and it means a lot to me to come out and perform well and do well for the team. I fell like I have a lot of room to improve. This was just my second steeple and both times I finished, I finished knowing what I need to work on for the next one. I am looking forward to what I can do in the next race.”

Liza Pasciuto took fourth (4:25.91) in the women's 1,500.

In the women's 5,000, Pasciuto was the first Buff to finish. She earned a mark or 16:47.41 for fifth-place. Christine Bolf came in after Pasciuto in sixth with a time of 16:50.27. Barringer, running her second race of the night, took eighth with a time of 16:59.79. For the championship, she earned nine points for the Buffs.

The Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championship will be televised (tape-delayed) on Saturday, May 20 at 2 p.m. on FSN Rocky Mountain. Colorado will head to the Midwest Region Championship in Austin, Texas on May 26-27.

BIG 12 OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD

Waco, Texas

TEAM SCORING:

Men: 1. Texas, 135; 2. Nebraska, 90.5; 3. Missouri, 79; 4. Colorado, 78; 5. Oklahoma, 74; 6. Texas A&M, 73; 7. Baylor, 73; 8. Texas Tech, 67; 9. Kansas, 56; 10. Kansas State, 51.5; 11. Iowa State, 30; 12. Oklahoma State, 21

Women: 1. Texas, 131; 2. Texas A&M, 111.5; 3. Nebraska, 100.5; 4. Kansas State, 91; 5. Baylor, 91; 6. Missouri, 76; 7. Texas Tech, 58.5; 8. Kansas, 45; 9. Oklahoma State, 39; 10. Colorado, 30; 10. Oklahoma, 30; 12. Iowa State, 20.5