Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Day 3
Bosshard, Coburn Win Big 12 Individual Titles
May 15, 2011 | Track and Field
NORMAN, Okla. - University of Colorado sophomore Joe Bosshard won the 5,000-meter run title and junior Emma Coburn captured the 3,000-meter steeplechase crown on Sunday night at the 2011 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Bosshard recorded a time of 13 minutes, 50.62 seconds for his second Big 12 meet record in three days. In setting the 5k record, he broke former Buff Brent Vaughn's record of 13:53.01 which was set at the 2005 championship. Bosshard also became the first CU male to win both the Big 12 5k and 10k titles after winning the 10k in meet record time (28:52.85) on Friday night. (Sara (Gorton) Slattery is the only other Buff to win both titles in 2005.)
"I came into this race with about the same race plan as the 10k," Bosshard said. "We wanted to keep the pace honest. My legs felt good from the 10k. I guess I saved a little bit from that race. Once it got to 600 to go I wanted to start pushing it and Colby Lowe gave me everything that he had and I'm thankful that I had everything left over that I did."
The race started with Bosshard in the middle of the pack and he steadily moved up before taking the lead with a few laps remaining. He was running with Oklahoma State's Lowe and with about 300 meters left Lowe grabbed Bosshard and caught him off balance. Bosshard quickly regained his composure and retook the lead from Lowe (who would be disqualified after the race for grabbing Bosshard) and raced to the finish line to take home the title.
"I'm very proud of him," head coach Mark Wetmore said. "He closed very well over the last lap despite getting bashed. He should be very happy with his weekend. He is moving into hallowed ground with Colorado distance runners."
Matt Tebo and Andy Wacker also recorded points for the Buffs in the 5k. Tebo placed second in 14:00.04 and Wacker finished fifth overall (14:02.92). Both of them scored for CU in the 10k on Friday night as well. Martin Medina finished ninth after finishing in 14:22.33.
"I'm very pleased with Matt Tebo," Wetmore said. "This was definitely his best race for Colorado. He is a senior and he should be proud of that race. We were hoping for about eight points [in the 5k] but we got 22."
For the second straight year, Coburn won the steeplechase title, winning the race in 9:57.39. Coburn led the race from the beginning and never looked back as she pulled out to a 15 meter lead after the first lap. She was able to increase it throughout the race and won handily as the second-place finisher, Rebeka Stowe (Kansas), crossed the finish in 10:15.29.
"It feels great and I couldn't have asked for anything better," Coburn said. "Winning the last two titles has been really fun. We came in hoping that I would win and try to run as comfortable as possible to do that and it worked."
This is the fourth time in the last five years that a Buffalo has won the Big 12 steeplechase title. Jenny Barringer won in 2007 and '09 and Coburn captured the honor in 2010 and '11. Coburn's time on Sunday was the second fastest ever in meet history. She set the meet record in 2010 with a time of 9:56.53.
"Emma was double entered in the steeplechase and the 5k in case we needed her in the 5k for some team reason, so the steeple was designed to be quite controlled and yet it was faster than what we expected and by a greater margin than we expected," Wetmore explained. "That was a good run for her and in the end we decided not to bring her back so she only had the one race."
Coburn has been compared a lot over the course of the last two years to Barringer, the CU and American record holder in the steeplechase, but hopefully now she is making a name for herself in the event.
"It's fun to get my own name out there, a couple records out there and to stamp my own name on the steeplechase," she said.
Emily Hanenburg also scored points for the Buffs in the steeplechase with an eighth-place finish after clocking a time of 11:04.30. This is Hanenburg's second all-conference honor. She was sixth in the steeplechase in 2009.
"Emily came in ranked 11th or 12th in that field and for her to move up in the pack and run a better race plan than some of the other women and get a point for us her senior year was icing on the cake."
Aric Van Halen picked up points for the men in the steeplechase by finishing fourth overall. He raced to a time of 8:57.16, just a few seconds off his personal best. Van Halen finished just over five seconds from ISU's Hillary Bor, who won the event in 8:52.11. Van Halen came close to catching the bronze medalist, TTU's Gilbert Limo (8:56.89), at the line but unfortunately came up just a little short. He did finish over 10 seconds in front of Texas A&M's Stephen Curry who finished fifth in 9:07.34. Jonny Stevens just missed scoring for the Buffs with a personal record time of 9:13.87.
"It was good," Van Halen said. "I probably should have been third and could have gotten second. I let them gap met a little bit around 1,600-meters and I didn't make my move until about 300 to go, so I'm a little upset, but I can't be too upset because I've never scored [at conference] before."
Wetmore was also happy with Van Halen's performance.
"Aric is still learning the event; it is relatively new to him," Wetmore said. "I think he finished on the podium what the form chart predicted, but those are three real good guys that finished ahead of him. They are all good guys with PRs about 10 seconds better than him."
Liz Tremblay recorded a third-place finish in the 800 after running her second fastest time ever at 2:07.07. She started out in the middle of the pack and had to move up at the end of the race. She was able to pick off a few of competitors in the final stretch to earn her first outdoor all-conference award.
"It was a messy race for everybody," Wetmore said. "It went out surprisingly slow. Liz got an inside lane from the start, so everyone started to collapse on her. She is new to the event and not experienced in solving those traffic problems, and really was buried and banging around like a ping-pong ball until about 150 to go. But she found her way out and closed very well."
Laura Thweatt led the Buffs in the 5,000, placing fourth overall after crossing the finish in 16:16.29. Shalaya Kipp finished fifth in 16:23.01 and Katie Cumming was sixth in 16:25.78. Thweatt recorded 11 points overall for the team score after finishing third in the 10k on Friday night.
Thweatt ran a steady race and was always in the front of the pack running with Kipp. Kipp actually lead the race for the first 3,000-meters before ISU's duo of Betsy Saina and Dani Stack took the lead from CU. The pair would go on to place first and second, respectively. Cumming also ran well as she stuck with the lead pack and was able to finish strong.
"We got some big points in the women's 5 and we were very happy with that," Wetmore said.
Overall the Buffs had a better team outing than in previous years as they finished their tenure in the Big 12. The men were eighth overall with 52 points and the women placed 10th with 38 points. Texas A&M captured both team titles. The women recorded 146 points and the men dominated with 175.
"I'm not sentimental but I have enjoyed the time in the Big 12," Wetmore said. "We are moving from a very good conference to a very good conference and the only big difference is the bus rides."
The NCAA West Preliminary Championship are next up for the Buffs on May 26-28 in Eugene, Ore.
2011 BIG 12 OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
Norman, Okla. (John Jacobs Track Complex)
Women's Team Scores
1. Texas A&M, 146; 2. Nebraska, 119; 3. Oklahoma, 117; 4. Texas, 90,50; 5. Baylor, 77; 6. Iowa State, 60; 7. Kansas, 51.50;
8. Kansas State 48; 8. Texas Tech, 48; 10. Colorado, 38; 11. Oklahoma, 12; 11. Missouri, 12.
Men's Team Scores
1. Texas A&M, 175; 2. Texas, 103.50; 3. Oklahoma, 90; 4. Nebraska, 84.50; 5. Texas Tech, 74; 6. Kansas, 64; 7. Baylor, 57.50;
8. Colorado, 52; 9. Missouri, 35; 10. Iowa State, 34; 11. Kansas State, 33; 12. Oklahoma State, 15.50
Track Events (CU Athletes Only)
Women's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase: 1. Emma Coburn, 9:57.39; 8. Emily Hanenburg, 11:04.30
Men's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase: (1. Hillary Bor, ISU, 8:52.11) 4. Aric Van Halen, 8:57.16; 9. Jonny Stevens, 9:13.87
Women's 800 Meters: (1. Natalja Piliusina, OSU, 2:05.57) 3. Liz Tremblay, 2:07.07
Women's 5,000 Meters: (1. Betsy Saina, ISU, 16:06.05) 4. Laura Thweatt, 16:16.29; 5. Shalaya Kipp, 16:23.01; 6. Katie Cumming, 16:25.78; 12. Camille Logan, 16:41.17; 22. 17:29.34
Men's 5,000 Meters: 1. Joe Bosshard, 13:50. 62; 2. Matt Tebo, 14:00.04; 5. Andy Wacker, 14:02.92; 9. Martin Medina, 14:22.33
Women's 4x400 Relay: (1. Texas A&M, 3:31.28) 10. Colorado (J.Windham/B.Regan/K.Dreher/L.Tremblay), 3:48.47
Men's 4x400 Relay: (1. Texas A&M, 3:02.38) 10. Colorado (A.Salzmann/J.Morris/K.MacIntosh/B.Reimer) 3:12.70
Field Events (CU Athletes Only)
Women's High Jump: (1. Shanay Briscoe, UT, 5-11.25) 14. Holly Odneal, 5-05-25
Men's Discus: (1. Julian Wruck, TTU, 208-01) 12. Dane Chobanian, 171-01; 19. Trey Mullen, 155-02; 22. Alex Kizirian, 148-06
--COLORADO--
Players Mentioned
