Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Day 1
Women's DMR Takes Fifth At Big 12 Championship
February 26, 2010 | Track and Field
AMES, Iowa - The University of Colorado women's track and field team recorded eight points on the first day of the 2010 Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Lied Recreation Center on the campus of Iowa State.
The Buffs picked up points in the pentathlon, 5,000-meter run and distance medley relay. Sophomore Brianne Beemer recorded a seventh-place finish in the pentathlon and Laura Thweatt placed seventh in the women's 5,000-meter run. Beemer was also part of the distance medley relay with Katie Cumming, Liz Tremblay and Emma Coburn, which placed fifth.
On the men's side, Aldo Vega recorded a point for the Buffs with an eighth-place finish in the men's 5k.
Beemer started off her successful day by recording 3,611 points in the pentathlon, just shy of her personal best 3,625 points (set on February 5, 2010).
"It is so neat to score in the pentathlon and to be able to score for the team," Beemer said. "I am very pleased with seventh-place even though I did leave a lot of points on the board."
Assistant coach Lindsey Malone was also very happy with Beemer's finish.
"She had another great meet and was just slightly under her PR," Malone said. "Bri is just a sophomore, but the way that she competes, she acts much older and she is very mature. To have the ability to come into a meet of this magnitude and get close to a PR in every single event is outstanding. I am very proud of her."
Beemer's top event continues to be the 800-meter run, the fifth and final event of the competition. She saved the best performance of the season for last as she clocked a PR of 2 minutes, 13.99 seconds and finished almost eight seconds in front of Megan Wheatley (NU) who crossed the line in 2:21.84.
Beemer's time in the 800 is the best run by a CU pentathlete, besting her previous record of 2:15.39 (set at the 2009 Big 12 Championship). The time is also the seventh best ever run by a CU athlete in the overall 800 and puts her as the sixth fastest performer of all-time.
"Bri is a very brave runner and her goal this year was to get under 14 [seconds], which she flirted with a lot last year," Malone said. "She ran on her own and it was a fantastic race."
The distance medley relay was not to be outdone and ran the fourth fastest time in CU history with a time of 11:34.32 for the fifth-place finish. The relay was in eighth place for the majority of the race. Cumming started out with the baton and passed it off to Beemer. Tremblay took the third leg and made the final handoff to Emma Coburn. Coburn's mile leg of the relay is where CU made its' move and went from eighth to fifth. Coburn ran down Missouri's Bailey Belvis in the final 200 meters to move from sixth to fifth.
"The women's distance medley was three sophomores and a freshman," Colorado head coach Mark Wetmore said. "They came back from previous events and ran a nice time.
"Brianne had a real nice day. She scored in the pentathlon and came within a few points of her bests under the Big 12 pressures and contributed a leg on the distance medley for the sixth event of the day. She can go home tonight and feel good about her weekend."
Thweatt added two points with her seventh-place finish in the 5k and moved up one spot from last year's indoor meet when she was eighth. Thweatt crossed the finish in 16:40.62. She ran most of the race in ninth place but moved up in the final laps and was able to move up to seventh with a strong finish.
Vega, an exchange student from Queretaro, Mexico, crossed the finish of the men's 5k in 14:18.05 to score in his first Big 12 meet. He took the lead from the beginning of the race and led for the first 600 meters. He stayed near the front of the pack and was able to outkick Iowa State's Guor Marial (14:18.81) at the finish for the final scoring position.
"Aldo is a fine young man and we are thrilled to have him at CU," Wetmore said.
Christian Thompson finished in 12th place for CU; recording a time of 14:33.25. Jordan Kyle finished 16th overall (14:39.00) after starting the race in the front of the pack and even had the lead at the halfway point before falling back.
"I have to be frank that the male distance runners really did not perform well. That is my event area and my responsibility. We are going to have to go home to Boulder and put our heads together and figure out where the mistakes were made. "
CU's combined event male athletes also had a good day of competition. After the first four events in the heptathlon, CU's Alex Von Hagen is in eighth place with 2,836 points. Eddie Taylor is 12th (2,573) and Adam Salzmann is 13th (2,049). The heptathlon will conclude on Saturday.
"We had some great new PR's today," Malone said. "Our goal for conference is to do what you have done and maybe do a little better. We aren't expecting anything crazy that hasn't been attained at a meet or a practice. Alex just broke 40 feet in the shot put, which is huge for us and he has now been nicknamed the 'Golden Child' since he was the first in the group to do so."
Von Hagen's throw of 40 feet, 4.00 inches in the shot put, his second toss of the day, is the best mark recorded by a CU athlete in the heptathlon. The previous best had been 38-11.75 by Andrew Hildner on Feb. 24, 2001 (also at a Big 12 Championship).
"Alex pulled together a great day. Eddie had a couple of PRs and Adam was doing amazing and unfortunately had a no height (high jump), which is the one thing you don't want happening in a multi. The fact that it happened at Big 12s is disappointing, but he has a bright career and he will move on."
In other action on the track, Coburn finished third in the preliminaries of the women's mile run to automatically qualify for the finals Saturday. She crossed the finish in 4:48.05, which was just .46 seconds behind first-place finisher Lauren Bonds (KU).
The men's middle distance runners had some bad luck with a pair of ninth-place finishes in the 800 and 1,000-meter runs, just missing qualifying for the finals. Steve Kasica finished the 800 in 1:50.80 in the first heat. Matthew Biegner missed qualifying for the finals in the 1,000 by .08 seconds when he crossed the finish in 2:27.23. He was the ninth person to cross the finish line. His time did make him the eighth-fastest performer in CU history and he is the fastest Buff in the event since Anthony Chiulli (2007).
The second and final day of the championship is Saturday. The day will start at 11 a.m. with the men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles.
2010 BIG 12 INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
Ames, Iowa (Lied Recreation Center)
Women's Team Scores (after Day 1)
1. Texas Tech, 48.50; 2. Nebraska, 47.50; 3. Kansas, 32.50; 4. Iowa State, 26; 5. Kansas State, 25; 6. Texas A&M, 13.50; 8. Oklahoma, 12; 8. Texas, 11; 9. Colorado, 8; 10. Baylor, 6; 11. Missouri, 12. Oklahoma State, NTS.
Men's Team Scores (after Day 1)
1. Nebraska, 48; 2. Oklahoma, 27; 3. Texas, 25; 4. Texas Tech, 21.5; 5. Iowa State, 17; 6. Kansas, 13.50; 7. Baylor, 12; 8. Texas A&M. 10.50; 9. Oklahoma State, 7; 10. Kansas State, 6.50; 11. Missouri, 6; 12. Colorado, 1.
Women's Pentathlon:
Points: (1. Chantae McMillan, NU, 4151) 7. Brianne Beemer, 3,611; 10. Alyssa Frank, 3,344; 12. Katie Dreher, 3,264; 13. Holly Odneal, 3,223
60-Meter Hurdles: (1. Kelsey Lloyd, TTU, 8.63) 12. Beemer, 9.28; 15. Frank, 9.48; 16. Odneal, 9.57; 17. Dreher, 9.61
High Jump: (1. Two tied, 5-8.00) t3. Beemer, 5-04.50; t7. Holly Odneal, 5-03.25; t7. Alyssa Frank, 5-03.25; t12. Katie Dreher, 4-11.75
Shot Put: (1.Chantae McMillan, NU, 47-05) 12. Odneal, 33-05.25; 13. Beemer, 32-03; 14. Frank, 31-10; 17. Dreher, 28-05
Long Jump: (1. Chantae McMillan, NU, 19-09) 10. Frank, 16-10; 12 Dreher, 16-05.25; 14. Beemer, 16-03.75; 15. Odneal, 15-05)
800-Meters: 1. Beemer, 2:13.99; 2. Dreher, 2:19.6; 11. Frank, 2:31.0; 14. Odneal, 2:32.6
Men's Heptathlon (after day 1):
Points: (1. Nick Adcock, MU, 3,250) 8. Alex Von Hagen, 2,836; 12. Eddie Taylor, 2,573; 13. Salzmann, 2,049
60-Meters: (1. Mantas Silkauskas, KSU, 6.84) 8. Salzmann, 7.26; 9. Von Hagen, 7.30; 13. Taylor, 7.41
Long Jump: (1. Mantas Silkauskas, KSU, 23-11) 10. Salzmann, 21-06.25; 11. Von Hagen, 21-04.75; 13. Taylor, 20-00.50)
Shot Put: (1.Lars Rise, MU, 51-08.50) 10. Von Hagen, 40-04; 11. Taylor, 38-08.75; 13. Salzmann, 36-01.25
High Jump: (1. Nick Adcock, MU, 6-08.25) t7. Von Hagen, 6-03.50; 10. Taylor, 5-10.75; Salzmann, NH
Field Events (CU Athletes Only)
Men's Pole Vault: (1. Jordan Scott, KU, 17-09.25) James Nixon, NH
Men's Weight Throw: (1. KP Singh, OU, 68-11.25) 11. Trey Mullen, 54-08.25; 12. Dane Chobanian, 54-06.75; 13. Patrick Bachmann, 53-11)
Women's Weight Throw: (1. Alena Krecheyk, KU, 64-01.25) 22. Chynna McCall, 49-00.75; 23. Kaity Kark, 48-06
Track Events (CU Athletes Only)
Women's Mile (prelims): (1. Lauren Bonds, KU, 4:47.51) 3. Emma Coburn, 4:48.05Q
Men's Mile (prelims): (1. Hillary Bor, ISU, 4:06.10) 16. Aric Van Halen, 4:19.93
Men's 60-Meters (semis): (1. Rakieem Salaam, OU, 6.68) 16. A.J. Whitaker, 6.92
Women's 600-Yards (prelims): (1. Kianna Elahi, ISU, 1:21.31) 16. Liz Tremblay, 1:25.74; 17. Joi Windham, 1:26.77
Men's 600-Yards (prelims): (1. Joey Roberts, TAMU, 1:09.64) 13. Matthew McCathran, 1:11.47; 20. Adrian Gomez, 1:12.32
Men's 400-Meters (prelims): (1. Tabarie Henry, TAMU, 46.81) 21. Kyle MacIntosh, 50.15
Men's 1,000-Meters (prelims): (1. Armando Del Valle, KSU, 2:25.16) 9. Matthew Biegner, 2:27.23
Men's 800-Meters (prelims): (1. Blake Irwin, MU, 1:49.77) 9. Steve Kasica, 1:50.80
Men's 200-Meters (prelims): (1. Curtis Mitchell, TAMU, 20.90) 13. A.J. Whitaker, 22.05
Women's 5,000-Meters (finals): (1. Lisa Koll, ISU, 15:41.57) 7. Laura Thweatt, 16:40.62
Men's 5,000-Meters (finals): (1. NU) 8. Aldo Vega, 14:18.05; 12. Christian Thompson, 14:33.25; 16. Jordan Kyle, 14:39.00
Women's Distance Medley Relay (finals): (1. Texas Tech, 11:16.53) 5. Katie Cumming/Brianne Beemer/Liz Tremblay/Emma Coburn, 11:34.32
Men's Distance Medley Relay (finals): (1. Baylor, 9:41.88) 9. Matthew Biegner/Matthew McCathran/Steve Kasica/Matt Tebo, 10:00.57
--COLORADO--
