T&F Preps For MPSF Indoor Championships

BOULDER - The University of Colorado track and field team is prepped for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday and Saturday, February 24-25, in Seattle, Wash.

The Buffs are competing in the MPSF as the Pac-12 Conference does not sponsor an indoor track and field championship. In total 11 of the 12 Pac-12 schools are members of the MPSF for the indoor championships and are joined by several other western schools. The University of Washington will host the championships at Dempsey Indoor, the site of many of the nation's top indoor meets.

CU will send 20 women and 19 men to the meet. Seniors Richard Medina and Andy Wacker and junior Shalaya Kipp will lead the Buffs in the distance events. All three have scored at past conference championships for CU and look to continue that streak. Medina and Wacker have not yet competed this indoor season and Kipp raced in one 3,000-meter run. She ranks seventh in the league standings with a time of 9:18.28.

The middle distances should fare well. Junior Liz Tremblay, along with junior Matt Biegner and senior Steve Kasica have scored for the Buffs and have experience at the conference level. They have each ran once for the Buffs this season and rank in the top-20 in the 800.

Colorado's sprinters are looking to make a big impact this season. Junior Joe Morris, the CU 60-meter record holder, ranks third overall in the 60 (6.76) and is 11th in the 200 (21.53). Freshman Eileen Gehring has had a great first season for the Buffs. She is 14th in the 400 (55.54) and became the third fastest female in CU history in the event with that time. The Buffs will have both 4x400-meter relays competing as well. The men's relay ranks sixth (3:14.93) and the women are 11th (3:49.46).

The throwers have also been excelling this season. Sophomore Alex Kizirian became the second best performer in school history after throwing the weight 62 feet, 1 inch. He is also 16th overall in the shot put (49-00 ). Junior Emily Hunsucker is the top female for the Buffs. She ranks 12th in both the shot put (44-09) and weight throw (55-01). Her weight throw mark ranks third on the CU performers list.

The Buffs are poised to do well in the combined events. Junior Brianne Beemer leads CU with a score of 3,769 points in the pentathlon, which is fourth in the league. Freshman Brittany Lewis is seventh (3,637) and junior Alyssa Frank ranks ninth (3,547). Sophomore Jason DeWitt is the top CU male in the heptathlon with a point total of 4,984. It is 15th in the MPSF.

The last place CU will look for some points this weekend is from its jumpers. Freshman Mark Jones became the fifth best high jumper in school history when he jumped 7-00 which is fourth in the league. Senior Katie Dreher is the top female jumper entering the meet for the Buffs. She is seventh in the league with a jump of 5-08.

The first event of the meet is the men's weight throw on Friday at 12:30 a.m. (PT). The pentathlon will start at 1 p.m. and the heptathlon will commence at 2:30 p.m. The first running event is set to start at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's events will start at 10:30 a.m. with the heptathlon 60-meter hurdles, men's shot put and men's high jump. The championship is set to finish at 2:40 p.m. with the women's 4x400-meter relay. Live stats for the championship can be found at www.gohuskies.com.

Following the conference championships, the Buffs will have one more opportunity to qualify for the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships. Select athletes will travel to a last chance meet March 2 and 3. The national indoor championships are set for March 9-10 in Nampa, Idaho.