Track Preps For NCAA Regional Meet

BOULDER - The University of Colorado will send 17 members of the track & field team to compete in 13 events this Friday and Saturday, May 25-26, at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships at the Jim Duncan Track at Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University.

In the field of qualifiers from the states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming, the top five finishers in each individual event this weekend and the top three relay teams in each race, will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships. In addition, a national "at-large field' will be created from the sixth through eighth place individual finishers and fourth through sixth relay teams, based on a year long descending order list to fill the NCAA Championship fields in each event area.

Hannah Warfield-Ruffatto will start the action for the Buffs in the javelin on Friday, May 25 at 1 p.m. (CST), which is also the first event of the day. Warfield-Ruffatto won the Big 12 title two weeks ago in Lincoln and currently ranks sixth on the regional list with a personal best of 167-11.

Zach Hazen will take to the field at 1:30 in the hammer throw. Hazen, who has owned the school record since March 30, recorded a personal best of 210-11, passing his old record of 200-09, at the Big 12 Championships to place second overall. Hazen is fourth in the region. Ryan Willis also earned his first and final regional trip in the shot put and is 17^th overall.

Brent Vaughn and Jenny Barringer have both won regional titles and will have another chance at those titles this weekend. Vaughn won the 5k in 2005 and owns the best mark in the region, while Barringer is third on the list in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Both won their respective events at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Sara Ensrud rounds out the women's team for the Buffs. She will compete in the 1,500-meter run and is third in the region. Stephen Pifer, Anthony Chiulli and Rob Thayer will compete for the men in the 1,500. Pifer is fourth with a mark of 3:41.77. Chiulli is seventh (3:44.75) and Thayer is 14^th (3:47.72).

Billy Nelson will race the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He is the second on the list to Colorado State's Rob Watson (8:38.92). Kenyon Neuman is eighth in the 5k.

Colorado will also have several athletes in the sprints this year. Ryan Campbell qualified for the 100 and 200-meter dashes. He ranks fifth in the 100 and 10^th in the 200. Jeremy Dodson is the highest ranked sprinter with a third-place spot on the regional list in the 200. Chris Abuan is 18^th in the 400.

The men's 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams also qualified. Dodson, Abuan and Campbell will be joined by George Pincock, Trae Pflueger and Abe Friesen for the 4x100. The 4x400 will be Friesen, Campbell, Abuan, Pincock, Dodson and Chiulli. Each relay has six members, with two serving as alternates. The 4x100 is the earned the third fastest time in the region (39.85) on April 14; while the 4x400 ranks 16^th.

The NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships are June 5-9 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento.