Barringer and Nelson Win Steeplechase Titles

Saturday, May 31

Lincoln, Neb.

TBA

Colorado

Day 2

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

May 31, 2008 | Track and Field

By: Linda Sprouse, Assistant SID

LINCOLN, Neb. ? University of Colorado junior Jenny Barringer and senior Billy Nelson won the 3,000-meter steeplechase titles at the NCAA Midwest Region Championship on Saturday at Ed Weir Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.

This was the third straight regional title for Barringer and the first for Nelson. Barringer finished in 9 minutes, 44.46 seconds, setting the stadium record. Nelson broke the tape in 8:41.93.

Barringer took the lead from the beginning of the race. Within the first 800 meters, Barringer was running with Silje Fjortoft (Southern Methodist) and Irene Kimaiyo (Texas Tech) and had about 30 meters between them and the rest of

the pack.

“I love those girls (Silje Fjortoft and Irene Kimaiyo) because they smashed my race plans,” Barringer said. “They are true competitors and made it hard from the start which I wasn't anticipating. Unfortunately for them I feed off that and I love it. Competition is good and it was a good race for me.”

Barringer started to make another move about 1800-meters into the race as she started to pull away from Fjortoft and Kimaiyo. When she entered the bell lap, Barringer had a 100 meter lead and kicked to win by more than 26 seconds. Fjortoft finished in 10:10.89 and Kimaiyo took third (10:12.63). Barringer was grinning from ear to ear at the end of the race.

“I hope that people don't think less of me because I smiled with about 100 meters to go,” Barringer said. “Any true competitor can understand the joy and pleasure that fills your heart when you know that all you hard work and prayers are coming true in the final stretch.”

The win was a great way for Barringer to show that she was back on her game with the NCAA Championship in sight. After a disappointing second place finish at the Big 12 Championships two weeks ago, Barringer ran the fastest collegiate time of the year by more than 11 seconds (9:55.12).

“If I was into redeeming myself, I went into the right race because I've had plenty of opportunities in the last two years, but I'm not,” Barringer said. “And that is what makes this so sweet. God clearly has been faithful to me because after so many different trials along the way, I'm still here to fight another day.”

On the men's side, Billy Nelson took the lead right from the start and held it for the first three laps until UTEP's Patrick Mutai stepped up the race plan. Mutai took a huge lead and pulled away from the lead pack in the fourth lap and seemed to be comfortable, but Nelson kept Mutai in his sights. Mutai started to run out of steam in the final 400 meters and Nelson took advantage of it to win his first regional title.

“I kind of jumped out front with [teammate] Pete (Janson),” Nelson said. “We were running 70's, which is what we wanted to hit. Mutai took the lead and took it a lot harder than I expected. It was always in the back of my head that all I have to do is finish in the top five, but I always want to run the best I can.

“But when he had a pretty big lead, I knew that he could run pretty tough. He's an 8:31 guy, so I didn't know what he was going to have left. I just kept my eye on him and ran with the second, third and fourth place guys; we were like the gate-keepers. With a quarter to go, I knew that I had it. I knew that I could kick hard. That was my plan coming in.”

Nelson placed second at the regional in 2005 and 2007, but this year the two-time Big 12 Steeplechase Champion wanted to add a regional title to his accolades.

“It feels good,” Nelson explained. “This is my third time running at the steeplechase at regionals. The first time was just getting in the top five and last year we were working on steeple-ing in a group of people; so I had some strategies that I was working on and trying to get down, so winning wasn't as important before. But this is my last year and I told [Brent] Vaughn that I wanted to get this regional championship and this is just the icing on the cake.”

Pete Janson took fifth to automatically qualify for nationals. He crossed the finish in 8:50.61. Janson also placed fifth in 2006 and was eighth in 2005.

“I've very pleased across the board with all of the steeplechasers,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “Jenny is a lot less rusty than a few weeks ago and she showed it. I am looking forward to her continued improvement.

“Billy and Pete both ran smart and patient races. In this meet, you are really just trying to get through. So they were just waiting awhile and accelerated as the race went on. Billy was able to get the win and Pete was able to move up to fifth and get the automatic spot. I'm very satisfied.”

Christian Thompson ran the steeplechase in the first section and finished 13^th overall. He ran the final two laps without his left shoe and still made good time at 9:12.88.

“I've never seen that and I don't know how anyone negotiates a water jump without a shoe, so I was pleased with that performance,” Wetmore said.

The men's 4x100-meter relay team did it again as they set the CU school record with a mark of 39.47 seconds. The Buffs placed second and earned their second consecutive berth to nationals in the event.

“What's great about this record is that there is no conversion,” Hugh Charles said. “Two weeks ago we were at altitude so people were kind of skeptical of our time and now we are at sea level so no one can say anything. This is legit. We eclipsed our time and it feels great.”

The Buffs ran a time of 39.59 at the Big 12 Championship to break the 37-year-old school record of 39.60. CU knocked off .12 seconds off the time, which is a huge gap in the sprints.

“They ran beautiful,” Wetmore said. “All four legs were sound and the beauty of that is when you run fast in Boulder, the elevation is a factor. They set a school record and then ran faster down here which was an unquestionable performance.”

Charles ran a solid first leg and handed off to Ryan Campbell. Campbell started off a little slow but picked up speed into his exchange with Nate Terry. Terry, who has traditionally been a 400-meter runner, kept the Buffs in second place, just behind Texas A&M. When Dodson got the baton, he was able to narrow the gap between him and Chris Dykes. He didn't pass Dykes, but he did help CU to another school record and a great second place finish.

“I thought to myself, ?I'm going to go get him,' because he was that close,” Dodson said. “I knew that was striking distance for us, so it was a good thought to have at that time.”

After the 4x100, Dodson was back to work on the track. He got out to a great start in the 200-meter dash and finished strong in the last 50 meters. He placed fourth and earned a spot in the NCAA Championships. Dodson finished in 20.81 in a very tight pact.

“I'm excited to get a chance to go to nationals in the 200 as well as in the 4x100,” Dodson said. “It was a good day today and I just want to thank God for helping me get this far.”

Dodson is ranked sixth on the national list as he clocked a personal best and school record at the Big 12 Championship of 20.37.

“He (Jeremy) was getting pretty beat up by the end of the weekend having to run the 100 rounds, the 200 rounds and 4x100 prelims and finals,” Wetmore said. “He was really hobbling to the line at the end of the 200 but he did what he had to do to advance.”

James Begley had a disappointing day in the throwing events. He placed 18^th in the discus. Begley recorded a throw of 153 feet (46.64m) in his second attempt. He fouled his third and did not qualify for the finals. In the hammer throw, Begley was 20^th, recording a mark of 171-01 (52.16), also in his second toss of the night.

Allison Sawyer was 22^nd in the women's steeplechase. Sawyer ran in the first section and finished fourth of five in that heat. Her final time was 11:04.38.

In the men's 1500-meter run, Rob Thayer was the lone Buffalo. Thayer started in second-place, running just behind Texas' Leo Manzano. He dropped back to fifth after the first 500, but Thayer got boxed in and fell to the back of the pack. He was able to move up a few spots near the end of the race and finished ninth with a personal best of 3:46.19.

Colorado's No. 11 ranked men's team finished third in the team scoring with 55 points. No. 2 Texas A&M took the event with 87 points. The finish was the highest CU has ever obtained at a regional meet.

The CU women were 22^nd with 10 points. Texas A&M also won the women's championship with 116 points.

The declarations for nationals will be made on June 3 and the final lists will be posted on June 4. The NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship will be held June 11-14 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.