Colorado
Day 1
Buffs Sweep Top 5 Places In 10K
May 16, 2008 | Track and Field
BOULDER ? The University of Colorado swept the top five places in the men's 10,000-meter run on the opening day of the 2008 Big 12 Track & Field Championship on Friday.
“We knew we should have five guys do fairly well, I was confident we'd have five guys finish in the top eight and I knew if things went well we could score very high,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “The only way it is a surprise is when you're asking all five guys to hit on all four cylinders.”
Junior Kenyon Neuman won his first conference championship in the 10k with a time of 30 minutes, 40.78 seconds. It was a close pack as Bradley Harkrader placed second (30:40.98), Matt Tebo took third (30:41.22), Chris Pannone was fourth (30:41.25) and Richard Medina placed fifth (30:44.47).
“Anybody could have gone across the line first,” Neuman said. “I'm happier about the fact that we went one through five because that's a good start for points for the team and we're hoping that we'll be in contention to compete for the title in
“We're in the lead right now and hopefully in the 5K at the end we'll bring in a lot more points. Hopefully Pifer and Vaughn will bring in some good points in the 1,500. I'm happier with the fact that we got so many points. We're looking to win the team title in front of the crowd here in
Neuman took the lead to start the race. Tebo and
The race was a little slower than a normal race, Neuman explained, and the other teams looked tentative to go out any harder than the Buffs.
“We started out with a pace, at altitude, that we knew we could maintain based on conversions,” Neuman. “Once we saw that people fell off we were going to slow it down so we could save ourselves for the 5K.”
The Buffs actually held the top five places for 16 of the 25 laps. Pannone actually fell to sixth at one point in the race, just behind Kevin Uhl of
This is Pannone's final conference meet and he really wanted to make a difference.
“The plan was to run a certain pace; we were pretty fast but we want to be faster tomorrow,” Pannone said. ”We started fast, then we slowed a little and then we finished fast. I was just trying to run the splits but I wasn't doing all the great. Our whole plan was to finish one through five; that was our dream race because we could almost sweep it. So I had to get back up there, and around the 5k I was able to make a move. I wasn't feeling all that great but I just wanted to make the last mile and once I got going I started feeling good.
“Hopefully I can come back on Sunday, contribute to the team and score some more points,” Pannone said. “Our goal is to win the whole conference meet so we need all the points we can get.”
He scored 10 points for the Buffs during the indoor meet.
Freshmen Tebo and
“Only one of the guys has ever run the 10k before, and I kept reminding them to stay patient and stay controlled.” Wetmore said. “A novice at that distance, at this elevation?even if you train here, racing here is a whole different animal and they could still blow it up if you aren't comfortable. I think they were reminding each other to be patient and to not get greedy.”
Neuman led four of his teammates for the last nine laps. The top four slowed down to finish at the same time.
This was the second time in three years that a CU runner has won the 10k title and is just the second time in 22 years. Current Buff Brent Vaughn won the title in 2006 in
The Buffs saw over 400 people come out to support them on Friday night for the 10,000-meter run. Throughout the day there was a great turn-out from the local people as well as fans from other schools.
“I don't know what I think about that, but I do know that there has never been a crowd of even 3-400 ever before so it was exciting to see that many people,” Wetmore said. “We had like a 90-minute gap in between events so I think a lot of people went home to get food and a lot of people were getting off of work and said ?hey, lets swing over there and see that thing we read about in the paper. A lot of our kids had their folks here to cheer for them.”
The championship started off with the women's heptathlon and men's decathlon.
Chelsea Haverty finished the first day with 2,889 points and is currently in eighth-place. She recorded a personal best of 5 feet and 4.25 inches in the high jump, jumping over 1.25 inches higher than her pervious personal best. Haverty also recorded marks of 15.23 in the 100-meter hurdles, 25.22 in the 200-meters and 28-03.50 in the shot put.
Troi Smith ended the first day in ninth-place with 2,836 points. She ran a mark of 15.69 in the 100-meter hurdles and 26.27 in the 200. She threw the shot put 38-05.50 and recorded a jump of 5-00.50 in the high jump.
Adam Salzmann recorded 3,337 points and is currently in 11th place after five events in the decathlon. Salzmann ran times of 11.37 in the 100-meter run and 49.42 in the 400-meters. In the field, he jumped 20-03.75 in the long jump and 5-08.50 in the high jump. He recorded a throw of 34-01.50 in the shot put.
Ryan Dresen is 14th overall. He ran a mark of 12.18 in the 100 to start the meet. He threw the shot put 35-09.25 and recorded jumps of 19-02.50 in the long jump and 6-01.25 in the high jump. Dresen did not finish the 400.
“All of the athletes who competed for CU today did tremendously well, especially being their first Big 12 multi-event meet,” assistant coach Lindsay Malone. “You can't ask for anything more than coming in and getting personal bests during a multi event and they all had numerous today. They've held their composure and represented CU tremendously well today and I am very proud.”
James Begley placed ninth in the hammer throw. He earned a toss of 189-04. Teammate Chase Dukes placed 14th overall (170-02).
On the women's side of the field events, Kaity Kark was 16th in the hammer throw (139-00) and Alyssa Higby was 14th in the javelin (113-06).
All in all it was a good day for the Buffs and they are ready to get back to work on Saturday with the preliminaries in most of the running events.
“The men are on top with 33 points and our women had a good showing in the heptathlon because they are novices,” Wetmore explained. “James Begley finished ninth in the hammer throw, but he had the longest throw on his life trying to get there and that is all I can ask of him. I told him to do what he did to get here and to do his best, I never asked him to surpass what he's done in the past but he did anyway. He had a really good day, and he just missed qualifying in a deep field.
“We're ahead of where we though we'd be on the men's side and we're where we thought we'd be on the women's side but tomorrow is a really busy day. Typically, today was a warm-up for a really big, complicated day tomorrow. Tomorrow is the hardest day of the Big 12 conference meet.”
This was the first time
The Big 12 Track & Field Championship will continue this weekend on Saturday and Sunday at Potts Field.
For a complete list of Friday's action visit our Big 12 Outdoor results page.
2008 BIG 12 OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
Potts Field (
Women ?s Team Scores:
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10. Baylor 2
NTS:
Men's Team Scores:
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NTS:
Women's Heptathlon (CU Athletes Only)
After the first day: 8. Chelsea Haverty, 2,889; 9. Troi Smith, 2,836
100-Meter Hurdles: Haverty, 15.23; Smith, 15.69
High Jump: Haverty, 5-04.25; Smith, 5-00.50
Shot Put: Smith, 38-05.50; Haverty, 28-03.50
200-Meters: Haverty, 25.22; Smith, 26.27
Men's Decathlon
After the first day: 11. Adam Salzmann, 3,337; 14. Ryan Dresen, 2,389
100-Meter Run: Salzman, 11.37; Dresen, 12.18
Long Jump: Salzmann, 20-03.75; Dresen, 19-02.50
Shot Put: Dresen, 35-09.25; Salzmann, 34-01.50
High Jump: Dresen, 6-01.25; Salzmann, 5-08.50
400-Meters: Salzmann, 49.42; Dresen, DNF
Field Events (CU Athletes Only)
Women's Hammer Throw: 16. Kaity Kark, 139-00
Men's Hammer Throw: 9. James Begley, 189-04; 14. Chase Dukes, 170-02
Women's Javelin: 14. Alyssa Higby, 113-06
Track Events (CU Athletes Only)
Women's 10,000-Meters: 15. Anna Chase, 38:13.64
Men's 10,000-Meters: 1. Kenyon Neuman, 30:40.78; 2. Bradley Harkrader, 30:40.98; 3. Matt Tebo, 30:41.22; 4. Chris Pannone, 30:41.25; 5. Richard Medina, 30:44.47, 20. Greg Castro, 33:48.43
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Players Mentioned
