Pannone Earns Provisional Mark At Stanford

PALO ALTO, Calif.? University of Colorado senior Chris Pannone earned a provisional mark in the 10,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday night.

Pannone placed fourth in his section and recorded a personal best by clocking a time of 28 minutes and 49 seconds. With the mark he provisionally qualified himself for the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Jun 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa.

The heat was closely contested as the top four finishers were separated by less than three seconds. Alabama's Tyson David won the section in 28:47.54. The next three were separated by less than .19 seconds. Matt Clark (Clemson) was second in 28:49.77 and Alabama's Augustus Maiyo was third in 28:48.77.

Pannone surpassed his former personal best of 30:31.57 which he set in 2006 at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.

Freshman Laura Thweatt also had success at the invitational. She placed sixth in the 5,000-meter run. Thweatt crossed the finish in 16:54.25 in her 5k debut, just 2.25 seconds off the regional qualifying time.

“I wanted to run two second faster, but it was my first one, so I'm pretty happy with it,” Thweatt said. “I really just wanted to run under 17 minutes and I did that.

“I raced at the Potts meet two weeks ago in the 1,500. This was really my second race and my first 5k. It was a big college meet and so much different than I am used to. It was a great experience.”

The Buffs will be back in action on Saturday, April 12 at the CU Invitational. The combined event athletes will compete at the UCLA Rafter Johnson/Jackie Joyner Kersee Invitational on April 10-11.

STANFORD INVITE

Palo Alto, Calif.

Track Events (CU Athletes Only)

Women's 5,000-Meter Run (section 3): 6. Laura Thweatt, 16:54.25

Men's 10,000-Meter Run (section 2): 4. Chris Pannone, 28:49.96

--COLORADO?