Colorado
Day 2
Charles and Begley Lead Buffs On Day 2
May 17, 2008 | Track and Field
“It was a great day,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “Hugh (Charles) jumped very well for someone who has been job hunting (NFL tryouts). James Begley had a nice personal best in the shot put?he got us some points that were not on the form chart. Jeremy (Dodson) got through in two events, the 100 and the 200, and (Ryan)
“Other than Brent Vaughn not having a great 1500 everybody else exceeded our expectations. I haven't tallied the scores but I know that we are ahead of where I had hoped to be after Saturday.”
The CU men are currently second in the team standings with 42 points.
Charles placed fourth in the men's long jump for five points. He recorded a regional qualifying mark with a jump of 25 feet, 2.75 inches.
“That's one of my duties here?to get us points,” he said. “Especially in the field events, because we don't have too many field event guys except for the decathletes. That is a big role that I play on this team?getting points in the long jump. Come tomorrow I hope the 4x100-meter relay team can rock the house?I know it will.”
This was the first time Charles had jumped since the indoor league championship at the end of February as he used most of the outdoor season preparing himself to sign a free agent deal.
“I think I accomplished a lot,” Charles said. “Fourth is alright, third would have been better and second would have been even better. But without much practice and traveling from (NFL) team tryouts I am pretty pleased with my performance and I think the coaches are too.”
“I think I did my job today. I've had one day of long jump practice during the outdoor season that was last Wednesday. I practiced about 20 minutes; it was more of a refresher. I've always been pretty good at long jump but I wish I would have had more time with Coach Malone?she's a great coach. With my schedule I'm happy with how I did, I just wanted to help the team and do my job.”
The mark ranks sixth best on CU's all-time list and it's a personal best. The only person to top Charles is Kingsley Adams, over 33 years ago.
Charles also ran in the 100-meter dash and earned a time of 10.52. He failed to make the finals as he placed ninth overall.
Begley placed fifth overall in the men's shot put, earning his first top-eight Big 12 finish at
“It was nice to come through for the team, especially after yesterday,” Begley said. “Four points is more than I thought I would get in the shot put, so it is exciting to help the team out?we're trying to get a team championship this year.”
Begley recorded a regional mark of 56 feet, 4.5 inches on his fourth throw in the shot put. He advanced to the finals after his third throw of 55-06.50.
“It feels like a huge load has been lifted off of my shoulders,” Begley said. “I didn't quite know what to expect today, I hit some big throws in practice and it all seemed to come together today. It feels really good, like I have a load off of my back and I can say I had a successful career here.”
With his performance today, Begley has qualified in three events for regionals: the discus, shot put and hammer throw.
“Now that I have qualified for regionals in three events, it triples my chances of advancing to nationals and that is what it is all about,” Begley explained. “I want to get in the top-5 and keep PR-ing, and it's nice to perform the best when your team needs it the most.”
Senior Stephen Pifer advanced to the finals in the 1,500-meter run by placing second in his heat and second overall. He ran a time of 3:49.27, just behind
The Buffs suffered a disappointing loss in the 1,500 as fellow senior Brent Vaughn did not qualify for the finals. Vaughn finished ninth overall, just one position out, with a time of 3.52.67. He was pushed after the first 300 meters and appeared to stumble. After Vaughn regained his composure, he was unable to maintain his position in the race.
“He (Vaughn) didn't run the race, tactically; that he had planned to run and nothing got in the way to stop him from doing it?so it is okay that he is a little distraught,” Wetmore said. “I think he has a little head cold, and he says ?I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine' but when you get to 1000-meter and the bravado is over and there is nothing left except your repertory system. I think he is 90% but that is a great field and you have to be 100% to do well.
“The 1500m is a marquee field in this meet, there must have been four or five sub-four-minute milers. But with the elevation and a well executed mile he could have made the mile. Tactically it wasn't great and he wasn't completely honest with himself about his wellness, but he'll come back tomorrow and be fine.”
Junior Jeremy Dodson had a successful day on the track as he advanced to the finals in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. He recorded a time of 10.43 in the 100 and a mark of 20.66 in the 200. He was fourth in both prelims.
Teammate Ryan Campbell also advanced to the finals in the 200 with a time of 20.97. He placed eighth overall.
Senior Chelsea Haverty recorded a seventh-place finish in the women's heptathlon. She recorded a career-best 4,714 points. On the final day of the combined event, Haverty earned marks of 17-09.50 in the long jump, 91-00 in the javelin and 2:28.30 in the 800-meter run. It is the first time Haverty has scored for the Buffs in Big 12 action.
Freshman Adam Salzmann placed ninth in the men's decathlon with 6,437 points. His best event was the 1,500-meter run which he won in a time of 4:30.45. Salzmann won by over 10 seconds as
Once again the crowd came out to support the Buffaloes and the Big 12 Championship. The crowd that came out was 1,535, compared to the 805 who came out on Friday. Sunday will be the culmination of the championship and CU looks to be in good condition.
“The main thing we needed to happen, happened today,” Wetmore said. “That was to get some points in some of our other events and better performances there. We did better in the shot put then we expected. We got people through in the 100 and the 200. Hugh jumped better than expected. The great thing about tomorrow is that they are all finals, so unless Ryan doesn't show up he's going to score. Jeremy is going to score, James Begley is back in the discus and that is his specialty and Pifer in the 1500m and the 5k. We're looking forward to it; it should be a great day.”
This was the first time
The Big 12 Track & Field Championship will wrap up on Sunday at Potts Field with finals in all of the events. The day will start with the men's javelin throw at 10 a.m. The first event on the track is the women's 4x100-meter relay at 3 p.m. Ralphie IV will come to Potts Field from 2-4 p.m. for guest to meet and greet.
2008 BIG 12 OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
Potts Field (
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Men's Team Scores:
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NTS:
Women's Heptathlon (CU Athletes Only)
Total Points: 7. Chelsea Haverty, 4,714; 10. Troi Smith, 4,318
Long Jump: Haverty, 17-09.50; Smith, 16-10.75
Javelin: Haverty, 91-00; Smith, 85-06
800-Meters: Haverty, 2:28.30; Smith, 2:48.50
Men's Decathlon
Total Points: 11. Adam Salzmann, 6,437; Ryan Dresen, DNF
110-Meter Hurdles: Salzmann, 15.52
Discus Throw: Salzmann, 108-05
Pole Vault: Salzmann, 12-03.50
Javelin: Salzmann, 143-04
1,500-Meters: Salzmann, 4:30.45
Field Events (CU Athletes Only)
Women's Shot Put: 18. Chynna McCall, 39-01.25; 19. Kaity Kark, 373-08.75
Men's Shot Put: 5. James Begley, 56-04.50
Women's High Jump: Kathleen Majewski, NH
Men's Long Jump: 4. Hugh Charles, 25-02.75
Track Events (CU Athletes Only)
Men's 1,500-Meters: 2. Stephen Pifer, 3:49.27; 9. Brent Vaughn, 3:52.67; 11. Rob Thayer, 3:53.16
Women's 1,500-Meters: 11. Sara Vaughn, 4:42.10; 12. Emily Hanenburg, 4:42.60; 14. Allison Eckert, 4:50.74; 16. Dani Rodriguez, 5:00.66
Men's 100-Meters: 4. Jeremy Dodson, 10.43; 9. Hugh Charles, 10.52; 11. Ryan Campbell, 10.54
Women's 400-Meters: 14. Veronica Maul, 56.94; Monique Green, 58.29
Men's 400-Meters: 17. Nate Terry, 48.34; 18. Adrian Gomez, 48.53; 22. Shane Cronin, 49.32
Women's 400-Meter Hurdles: 7. Toi Windham, 60.81; 10. Sara Price, 62.57; 11. Joi Windham, 63.94
Women's 200-Meters: 19. Veronica Maul, 25.37; 21. Monique Green, 26.12
Men's 200-Meters: 4. Jeremy Dodson, 20.66; 8. Ryan Campbell, 20.97
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Players Mentioned
