Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Big 12 Outdoor Championships
Warfield-Ruffatto, Barringer, Nelson and Vaughn Win Big 12 Titles
May 14, 2007 | Track and Field
Warfield-Ruffatto won the javelin, while Barringer and Nelson each won the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Vaughn took the title in the 5k. The CU women were shut out last year, not winning a single individual title, while the men earned four.
The men took fourth as a team with 92 points and the women came in at 10th with 37 points. The fourth-place finish for the men ties the best finish for CU at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships; in 2006 the men also finished fourth.
Warfield-Ruffatto started out the day by becoming CU's first Big 12 Conference javelin champion since 1987 when she recorded a throw of 161-01 (49.10m). Liz Lampros was the last conference champion for CU in the javelin with a throw of 157-08 in the Big Eight meet.
“This is always something that I wanted and I am really happy to be here,” Warfield-Ruffatto said. “When I hit my second throw, I thought it was going to be a pr, but the wind caught it, so I was a little upset about that. I was really excited and it would have been a pr if not for the wind. And it ended up being really well, so it felt like a really good day today.
“This is the highlight of my collegiate career. It feels crazy. It hasn't really set in and it feels good to contribute this much (in the team race).”
She became the first conference throwing champion at
“I definitely thought Hannah was highly capable of performing well enough to place first today,” Malone said. “Of course that depends on how everyone else does and it is really, really hard to know how this meet is going to go. Some really strange things happen at this meet and Hannah competed very well today. There were some weird conditions going on today and she looked very powerful. When she threw 49 meters, I knew it was going to be very difficult for anyone to throw past that based on the marks coming in, as far as the throws coming in.”
“Hannah has had a great year,” Colorado Head Coach Mark Wetmore said. “She pr'd a couple of times. She grew up in
Barringer dominated the steeplechase, winning in a time of 10:19.34, her first mark of the year. She came in 13 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Eva Tomankova of
“It was really exciting,” Barringer said. “This is my first conference championship. I kind of did things backwards. I won a national title last year. That was really exciting, but having run so many conference races and not having a title makes this really special, especially since it was on Mother's Day. My mom isn't actually here. They are out in
Barringer also took third in the 5k race. She finished in 16:59.92, passing Lisa Moll of
“If you were to look at the men's and women's results, no one came close to doing that double (the 5k and steeplechase) in any track meet,” Wetmore said. “A steeplechase in the morning is typically the end of a day. We asked her to lay a little bit low in the steeplechase so if we needed her, we could bring her back in the 5k. And still she was tired. You could tell that was a hard run in the 5. She really had to battle back. So, 8,000-meters of really hard running, a championship, a third-place finish and the high points scorer for us, she's just a great athlete.”
Nelson also dominated on the men's side, claiming the title in 8:47.89, more than 26 seconds in front of Jake Morse of
“It feels good, “ Nelson said. ”I'm just doing it for the team, really. I've been hurt a lot outdoors, so it's kind of nice to show that I can run outdoors too, not just cross country. It feels good to get here and to contribute 10 points to the team and show that I can compete.
“One of the main factors is that I really love this race. Its fun for me, so I think that takes a lot of importance in my training and preparing for it, because I just enjoy it. I knew what I was supposed to do. I wanted to go out and run a certain time and hit my marks. I really didn't know where I was until I got done. I came down the lane and I heard people cheering, and I thought someone was beating me, but I turned around and realized that I was ahead.”
“He (Billy) is nursing something sore in his heal and a steeple workout or a race really pounds it hard, particularly landing in the water jump because of the angle of the heal,” Wetmore said. “But he wanted to help the team if he could in the 5,000 and we were doing well in the team title and no one wanted to be the person to cost us an important point. So he went to the line but he was limping and was way in the back and wasn't going to be a factor, so I instructed him to walk off the track.
“It was a great win in the steeple for him. It was a dominate win. He won by 13-14 seconds over good guys, guys that are nationally ranked. It was windy, it was hot, it was not a fast day. He ran about his third fastest time and he is looking very ready for the end of the season.“
Payton Batliner took fourth for the Buffs with a time of 9:07.98 for his best finish at the league championship in the steeplechase.
Vaughn won the 5,000-meters in 14:21.46.This is his third outdoor title in as many years and the second time he has won the 5k race. Vaughn won the 5k in 2005 and 2007 and the 10k in 2006.
“We all know that he had a problem with the heat here a year ago down at Baylor last year at this meet in the 10,000-meters,” Wetmore said. “He ended up in the hospital. A heat problem like that for a distance runner never goes completely away. It's always waiting around to rear its head.
“We've had to be very careful with him in subsequent hot races and workouts. We were really nervous about this race (5k). Not much can go wrong in a 1,500, but in a 5,000, it's the end of a long weekend and we all had our fingers crossed. We had people stationed around the track to pull him off if he looked wobbly. But he never faltered. He just put the hammer down and said he never felt any problem at all. It was a great big day for him.”
“It feels good and I am just happy to score some points for our team,” Vaughn said. “Our team did really well today and that is the main point of the Big 12 meet, to score points for your team. Pifer ran really well and helped me out in there (the 5k race). There were some really big kickers sitting around, so Pifer got it going and I just went with him and we started sharing the lead.
“We both ran the 1500 just a few hours before that, so we weren't going to go lead the whole pack through the wind. We wanted to sit back. We were confident in our kicks just coming off the 1500 so we just wanted it to be a fast last 2k.”
Stephen Pifer took second in the 5k, crossing the finish in 14:25.95.
In the 1,500-meter run, Pifer took second with a time of 3:42.16. Pifer won the title in 2006 and finished second to Leonel Manzano of
“Stephen has had a lot of wars with Leonel Manzano of
“Stephen didn't even blink when I asked him to get back on the track in the 5. He expected it all along. He ran maybe a better race than the 1500 because he got second in the 5 tired, behind only his teammate, beating a number of fresh people including the 10,000 meter champion. He had a wonderful weekend; the
Sara Ensrud took third in the women's 1,500. She crossed the finish in 4:29.86.
Anthony Chiulli took third in the 800-meter run. Chiulli didn't get out to a good start and was in the back of the pack, but managed to come back to the top half and even passed
The men's 4x100-meter relay took second, finishing in 40.05. The relay consisted of George Pincock, Jeremy Dodson, Chris Abuan and Ryan Campbell. The mark ranks fourth overall in
The men's 4x400-meter relay team recorded its first regional qualifying mark in 3:09.86. Abe Friesen led the Buffs off, and was followed by Campbell, Abuan and Pincock. The team finished seventh overall.
Dodson and Campbell also placed in the 200-meter dash. Dodson came in third with a mark of 20.66, the sixth fastest time in CU history. Dodson actual finish was 20.659, behind Marcus Pogh's mark of 20.658.
“By far we got the most points from the sprinting events in the time that I have been around here,” Wetmore said. “
Kevin Fasing took fifth in the javelin in his Big 12 debut. He recorded a mark of 194-03, just shy of his personal best. Ryan Willis took sixth in the shot put, recording a personal best of 55-10.50 in his final Big 12 meet. Overall the throwers contributed 26 points for the Buffs, men and women combined, and their best showing ever at the Big 12 meet.
“This is by far the best Big 12 showing my throwers have had since I have been here,” Malone said. “I couldn't be more proud of them. They have been very consistent; they've competed very maturely and professionally. Really across the board they have had a great showing and have competed really well.”
“Every thrower that Casey brought had a good performance somewhere over the weekend,” Wetmore said. “No one came here, fouled four times or threw poorly. Casey had them better prepared for this than any meet ever. We talk about that a lot. That what you do at CU, or
“All in all, it was really a wonderful all-around team effort. People contributing in all of the different event areas. I think all of the assistant coaches brought somebody who contributed. So that is the way we are going to challenge for the conference title. You can do it all in the 1,500, 5 and 10 and you can't do it all in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay. You need a full team effort and this was definitely out best in my time here.”
The Buffs will compete at the Midwest Regional on May 25-26 in
2007 BIG 12 OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
Team Scoring:
Men: 1.
Women: 1. Texas A&M, 140; 2. Nebraska, 117; 3. Texas, 89; 4. Texas Tech, 87; 5. Kansas, 78; 6. Oklahoma, 64; 7. Kansas State 60; 8. Missouri, 47; 9. Iowa State, 44; 10.
Field Events (CU Athletes Only)
Men's Shot Put: 6. Ryan Willis, 55-10.50
Women's Javelin: 1. Hannah Warfield-Ruffatto, 161-01
Men's Javelin: 5. Kevin Fasing, 194-03; 16. Kevin Waldron, 164-02
Women's Triple Jump: 20. Amberly Casey, 39-10.00
Track Events (CU Athletes Only)
Men's 4x100-Meter Relay: 2.
Women's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase: 1. Jenny Barringer, 10:19.34
Men's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase: 1. Billy Nelson, 8:47.89; 4. Payton Batliner, 9:07.98
Women's 1,500-Meters: 3. Sara Ensrud, 4:29.86
Men's 1,500-Meters: 2. Stephen Pifer, 3:42.16; 4. Brent Vaughn 3:47.92; 6. Rob Thayer, 3:50.41
Men's 800-Meters: 3. Anthony Chiulli, 1:49.79
Men's 200-Meters: 3. Jeremy Dodson, 20.66; 4. Ryan Campbell, 20.83
Women's 5,000-Meters: 3. Jenny Barringer, 16:59.92; 21. Erin Marston, 19:27.20
Men's 5,000-Meters: 1. Brent Vaughn, 14:21.46; 2. Stephen Pifer, 14:25.95; 11. Kenyon Neuman, 14:52.14; Billy Nelson, DNF
Women's 4x400-Meter Relay: 11.
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay: 7.
?
