Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Open Indoor Track Season
January 18, 2008 | Track and Field
The Buffaloes will start the 2008 track and field season with a two-day home meet on Jan. 18-19 at Balch Fieldhouse. CU will kick off the season on Jan. 18 with the first day of the combined events at 1 p.m. starting with the women's pentathlon 60-meter hurdles. Saturday's events will commence at 10 a.m. with the men's weight throw. The final event of the day, the men's heptathlon 1,000-meters, is slated for a 5 p.m. start
A traditionally distance-laden program, CU's track and field program has taken huge steps in the last few years and has seen great improvements in the sprints, throws and middle distance disciplines and will look to add combined events to that list this season.
"We had some important new contributors last year; some in coach (Brandon) Cout's sprint/hurdles group and some in coach Casey Malone's throwing group," Head Coach Mark Wetmore said. "I think it is safe to predict that we will have some similar new contributors this coming indoor and outdoor season coming out of coach Lindsey Malone's group and that is all important because if fills out some of the spaces in our overall team strength approaching our opportunity to host the 2008 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championship. It's exciting to think that we may put our two most complete teams on the field in the last decade."
During the summer of 2007, head coach Mark Wetmore announced the hiring of Lindsey Malone, who would take over as CU's combined events and jumps coach. The combination of the improvements throughout all the events and the hiring of Malone should prove to make the Buffaloes a contender in the Big 12.
"Lindsey assumed the responsibilities for some events that have not been our strongest in the past," Wetmore said. "Its been quite a few years since we have had a conference competitor in either the men's or the women's multis. Those additional points will be welcome, of course."
DISTANCE
Colorado is known for having a dominate distance program, winning all 12 Big 12 men's titles and 11 women's cross country titles. Brent Vaughn has outdoor eligibility left and will look again to be one of best in the country. Vaughn won the indoor and outdoor conference 5k titles, as well as the regional 5k title in 2007. Billy Nelson, Pete Janson and Stephen Pifer will also only be competing in the outdoor campaigns. Nelson was awarded a sixth-year by the NCAA and is the Big 12 defending 3,000-meter steeplechase champion. He placed fourth at the NCAA Championship. Janson took the steeplechase crown during the 2006 season. Pifer, who won the league's 1,500-meter title in 2006, was the runner up last season.
Kenyon Neuman and Chris Pannone are returning scorers for the Buffs. The Buffs have several newcomers who will look to score for CU. Richard Medina and Matt Tebo were an important part of CU's success during the fall and will have a chance to show what they are capable of doing on the track this spring.
Jenny Barringer is the top returner on the women's side. Barringer won the USA Track & Field Championships in June 2007 and went on to compete internationally at the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan and DecaNation in Paris, France. Barringer set the school record of 9:33.95 in Paris where she won the gold medal.
The women's team is very young and lost Erin Marston due to graduation after the fall. Jacquie Faust is a transfer from Truman State and will compete with the Buffs for her final season of eligibility. She will be a major asset to the team in the 10 and 5k races. The Buffs will also look to several freshmen to score points this year. Laura Thweatt was one of the top scorers on the cross country team and should have a successful spring.
JUMPS/COMBINED EVENTS
Since arriving on campus in August 2007, assistant Lindsay Malone hit the ground running to develop a combined events and jumps program for the Buffs. Her first two signees were Adam Salzmann and Alex Von Hagen. Salzmann was the Wheatridge High School Most Valuable Player of the Year. He took ninth at the USA Track & Field Junior Olympics with 5,879 points. Von Hagen placed third at the 2007 AAU Junior Olympics and ranked seventh in the nation in the decatholon. He also won the 2007 Colorado State Championship in the long jump.
On the women's side, Chelsea Haverly and Troi Smith will be competing for Malone this season. Haverty previously competed at CU in the long and triple jumps and sprints while Smith was a sprinter. Both have the speed for the jumps and sprints and have been developing in the other areas.
MIDDLE DISTANCE
Assistant coach Jay Johnson has a good returning core for middle distance in one of the toughest middle distance conferences in the nation. Johnson will look to Rob Thayer to lead the group. Thayer scored for the Buffs at the outdoor conference meet, taking sixth overall in the 1,500. He ran a regional mark and placed 10th at the regional meet, despite a personal record.
Sara Vaughn will lead the women. Vaughn returned to the track last spring for the outdoor season and scored for CU at the conference and regional meet. She placed third in the 1,500 at the Big 12 meet and finished third at regionals. Vaughn qualified for nationals and placed 22nd in the prelims. Vaughn will be joined by Dani Rodriguez and Jen Hooper.
SPRINTS/HURDLES
Assistant coach Brandon Couts has a core of returning scorers for the Buffs on the men's side. Ryan Campbell and Jeremy Dodson scored for CU on the conference and regional level. They were also members of the first CU relay team to qualify for the NCAA meet since 1972 and they placed sixth to earn All-American status.
The Buffs will add freshman recruit Stephen Agyei and junior transfer Evan Wright. Wright spent the previous two seasons at TCU and Agyei was a standout at Smoky Hill.
On the women's side, Couts will look for leadership from Veronica Maul. Other returning veterans are Dyamond Seay and Sara Price. The recruiting class for 2008 is very talented and showcases a pair of twins in Monica and Monique Green and Te'Qin and TianEn Windham.
THROWS
For the eighth season, the Buff throwers are coached by '04 Olympian Casey Malone. They are coming off a breakout year in 2007 and look to keep moving in that direction. Despite graduating several talented athletes, Malone has talent which can go the distance.
James Begley, the lone senior, has his outdoor season left. He has been making huge strides in the off season and will look to impress at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in Boulder. Begley will be joined by Patrick Bachman. Kevin Fasing placed fifth at the Big 12 Championship last year in the javelin and went on to place second at the USATF junior championships. Brandin Williams is a junior college transfer and also competed at the junior championships. Malone will look for Chase Dukes, who is in just his second year of competition, to contribute to the team in several areas.
The women are a very young but capable group. Kaity Kark and Chynna McCall will lead the charge with one year of experience under their belts. Both were slowed last year due to injuries but have been having great workouts this season.
THE SCHEDULE
Colorado officially kicks off the indoor season by hosting the Potts Invite on Jan. 18-19. The Buffs will stay on the Front Range as four of its five meets are in Colorado. Colorado will travel to Colorado School of Mines of the Joe Davies' Open the second week of the season. The following two weeks the Buffs will be at the Air Force Academy.
CU will travel out of state for the Husky Classic, hosted by the University of Washington. The indoor Big 12 Championship will be at Nebraska after a one-year break last season. Arkansas will once again host the NCAA Indoor Championship March 14-15 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Just a week separates the last meet of the indoor season and the first meet of the outdoor when the Buffs host the Potts Collegiate Invitational on March 22. CU will also be home again on April 12 for the CU Invitational. Nine of the outdoor meets on the Buffs' schedule are along the Front Range, but just like in the past, CU will have several options heading into each weekend of competition.
Stanford, Oregon and the star-studded Mt. SAC Relays will be the west coast stops for CU. The Buffs will also have the option to compete twice in Texas at the Michael Johnson Invite and the Texas Relays. With the open and flexible schedule, the student-athletes will get a chance to compete at a meet which will benefit them the most during the season.
As stated before, CU will be hosting the 2008 Big 12 Outdoor Championships, May 16-18, at Potts Field. It is the first time CU has hosted a conference championship since 1993 (Big Eight). Nebraska is the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship site, May 30-31. Drake will host the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championship June 11-14 at Drake Stadium, the site of last year's regional. As it is an Olympic year, several CU athletes, present and current, will be looking to qualify for the Olympic team at the U.S. Olympic Trials on June 27-July 6 in Eugene, Ore.
