Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Day 2
Medina Takes Third In 3k At MPSF Championships
February 25, 2012 | Track and Field
SEATTLE - Senior Richard Medina became the second fastest indoor 3,000-meter runner in University of Colorado history on Saturday afternoon at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Medina's time of 7 minutes, 53.02 seconds earned him a third-place finish and ranks third on the all-time performances list at CU. His time only ranks behind former CU standout and Olympian Adam Goucher, who owns the top two times at 7:46.03 and 7:52.56; both were set in 1998. Medina improved his personal record by more than 30 seconds as his old PR was 8:23.74.
"I'm really excited," Medina said. "I didn't have many expectations coming into this race. I was going to be happy if I broke eight minutes, so this was really nice to PR this big.
"I got a really good start. I usually hang out in the back longer, but I decided to be more aggressive today. I was hurting after the first three laps but it worked out."
The 3k was Medina's first race of the indoor season and his first since the NCAA Cross Country Championships where he placed eighth to earn All-American honors. He was in the top five for the majority of the race and was third with about 1,000-meters to go. Medina was able to hang on for the bronze medal, holding off Cal's Collin Jarvis at the finish (7:53.43).
Arizona's Lawi Lalang won the 3k in 7:44.48 and Oregon's Trevor Dunbar was second in 7:51.55. Medina's time was just shy of the NCAA Indoor Championships automatic qualifying time of 7:52.30.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team placed sixth at the championships, but more importantly they did so in school record time. The Buffs finished the race in 3:45.11, besting the previous record of 3:47.04, which was set in 1996. Freshman Lindsy Mattson ran the first leg and handed off to junior Brianne Beemer. Freshman Eileen Gehring was third and freshman Bridget Sweeney ran the anchor leg. The relay won the first heat, defeating runner-up California by 4.51 seconds (3:49.65).
Junior Joe Morris returned to the track in the 60 and came away with a fourth-place finish for the Buffs. Morris finished in 6.80 to score in his second event of the meet. (Morris was sixth in the 200 on Friday.) Morris was also part of the 4x400-meter relay team which finished seventh overall on Saturday. The relay, made up of Kyle MacIntosh, Morris, Blake Reimer and Shaw Gifford, finished in 3:15.50.
Colorado also picked up some points in the men's mile run. Junior Matt Biegner raced to a sixth-place finish and a time of 4:04.66.
The Buffs will have one more chance to earn an NCAA qualifying mark on March 2 and 3 at a last chance meet. The NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships are March 9-10 in Nampa, Idaho.
2012 MPSF INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dempsey Indoor (Seattle, Washington)
Women's Team Scores
1. Stanford, 125; 2. Arizona, 110; 3. Oregon, 108.33; 4. Arizona State, 68; 5. Washington, 56; 6. California, 48; 7. BYU, 41; 8. UCLA, 35.33; 9. Utah, 27.33; 10. Washington State, 13; 11. COLORADO, 11; 11. Cal State Northridge, 11; 13. Long Beach State, 9.
Men's Team Scores
1. Arizona State, 131.50; 2. Stanford, 81.50; 3. Oregon, 77; 4. Arizona, 70; 5. BYU, 67; 6. Washington State, 61; 7. UCLA, 49; 8. Washington, 37.50; 9. Long Beach State, 31; 10. California, 26.50; 11. COLORADO, 22. 12. Cal Statse Northridge, 9.
Men's Heptathlon
Points: (1. Marcus Millson, UCLA, 5,700) 11. Jason DeWitt, 5,035; 15. Eddie Taylor, 4,823.
60-Meter Hurdles: (1. Garrett Demirjian, LBSU, 8.36) 9. Jason DeWitt, 8.59; 21. Eddie Taylor, 9.29.
Pole Vault: (1. Marcus Nilsson, UCLA, 15-09) t12. Eddie Taylor, 13-09.25; t12. Jason DeWitt, 13-09.25.
1,000-Meters: (1. Marcus Nilsson, UCLA, 2:33.99) 7. Eddie Taylor, 2:45.18; 17. Jason DeWitt, 2:52.86
Field Events
Men's Shot Put: (1. Jordan Clarke, 62-03.50) 13. Alex Kizirian, 50-11; 15. Brady Rutt, 47-06.25.
Women's Shot Put: (1. Julie Labonte, UA, 58-07.50) 16. Emily Hunsucker, 41-08.50.
Men's High Jump: (1. Nick Ross, UA, 7-03.25) t13. Mark Jones, 6-07.50
Women's High Jump: (1. Brigetta Barrett, UA, 6-04) 11. Brianne Beemer, 5-06; t14. Kelsey English, 5-06; t16. Katie Dreher, 5-04.25; t16. Alyssa Frank, 5-04.25; t26. Holly Odneal, 5-02.25.
Track Events
Men's 60-Meters: (1. Ryan Milus, ASU, 6.65) 4. Joe Morris, 6.80.
Men's Mile Run: (1. Matt Maldonado, LBSU, 3:59.08) 6. Matt Biegner, 4:04.66; 12. Hugh Dowdy, 4:06.57; 16. Connor Winter, 4:10.33.
Women's Mile Run: (1. Amanda Mergaert, UU, 4:30.29) 17. Lara Darco, 4:50.84.
Men's 400-Meters: (1. Amaechi Morton, SU, 46.16) 14. Blake Reimer, 49.07; 16. Matt Butcher, 49.25; 21. Kyle MacIntosh, 49.40.
Women's 400-Meters: (1. Brianne Theisen, UO, 54.11) 11. Eileen Gehring, 55.31; 23. Lindsy Mattson, 57.20; 27. Bridget Sweeney, 57.89.
Men's 800-Meters: (1. Miles Batty, BYU, 1:49.17) 16. Steve Kasica, 1:52.85.
Men's 3,000-Meters: (1. Lawi Lalang, UA, 7:44.48) 3. Richard Medina, 7:53.02; 17. Blake Theroux, 8:11.43; 26. Martin Medina, 8:23.04.
Women's 3,000-Meters: (1. Deborah Maier, Cal, 9:02.35) 9. Shalaya Kipp, 9:18,03; 15. Catrina McAlister, 9:40.95; 29. Courtney Bouchet, 9:56.01.
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay: (1. Oregon, 3:09.00) 7. Colorado (MacIntosh/Morris/Reimer/Gifford), 3:15.50
Women's 4x400-Meter Relay: (1. Oregon, 3:33.70) 6. Colorado (Mattson/Beemer/Gehring/Sweeney), 3:45.11
Players Mentioned
