University of Colorado Athletics
Buffs Head For MPSF Indoor Championships
February 26, 2015 | Track and Field
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 27-28, in Seattle.
The University of Washington will host the championships at Dempsey Indoor, the site of many of the nation's top indoor meets. Admission is free.
CU is sending a strong group to the championship. As usual, the Buffs have some of the top distance runners, not only in the conference, but in the nation. Junior Pierce Murphy ranks third in the league in the 5,000-meter run after running the third best time by a Buff a couple of weeks ago at the Husky Classic (13:39.29); his time ranks fourth in the NCAA. Junior Morgan Pearson is sixth in the league in the 5k (13:43.37) and ranks 11th in the country.
Junior Ammar Moussa is ninth in the MPSF in the 5k (13:48.34) and sophomore Ben Saarel is just out of the top 10 at 11th (13:58.19).
Senior Jake Hurysz is CU's record holder in the mile (3:58.13), which is fourth in the conference. He is also 14th in the NCAA.
On the women's side, redshirt freshman Erin Clark and freshman Kaitlyn Benner rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 3k. Clark has recorded a time of 9:23.77, while Benner clocked in at 9:24.20.
CU's sprinters are young, but are looking to make an impact on the team score. Sophomore Austin Mitsch leads CU in the 60 and 200-meter dashes. He ranks 18th in the league in the 60 (6.95) and 21st in the 200 (21.86). Sophomore Jaron Thomas is just out of the league's top 10 in the 60-meter hurdles, coming in 11th with a season best time of 8.15. The women are led by redshirt freshman Ana Holland. She is 14th in the 60 (7.53) and 19th in the 200 (24.49).
Junior Abrianna Torres leads a pack of CU combined events athletes as she has the best pentathlon score in the MPSF this season at 4,002 points. She also ranks sixth in the long jump (19-5.25). Sophomore Mariah Slack (3,349) is 11th in the pentathlon and on the men's side, freshman Andrew Ghizzone is also 11th with 4,763 points in the heptathlon.
The Buffs are also high on the list in the MPSF in the high jump. Senior Mark Jones has the best mark in the MPSF at 7 feet, 1 inch and is 20th in the NCAA. Freshman Rajon O'Quinn ranks fifth in the women's high jump, clearing 5-8.75 earlier this season.
The throwers will be led by senior Alex Kizirian, CU's weight throw record holder. His PR of 70-8 is third in the MPSF and ranks 14th in the NCAA. He also ranks 12th in the conference in the shot put (55-6.25). Junior Sophie Hallam-Eames is 15th in the weight throw (55-4.75) and freshman Mariah Walker is 15th in the shot put (47-6.50).
The first event of the meet is the women's weight throw on Friday at 12 p.m. (PT). The pentathlon will start at 12:15 p.m. and the heptathlon will begin at 2 p.m. The first prelims on the track, the women's 60-meter hurdles, will start at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's events will start at 10:30 a.m. with the heptathlon 60-meter hurdles, women's shot put and women's high jump. The championship is set to conclude at 2:40 p.m. with the men's 4x400-meter relay.
Live stats can be found at http://www.gohuskies.com/fls/30200/trackresults/022715/index.htm?&DB_OEM_ID=30200. Flotrack will also be streaming the meet live but a subscription is required.
The Buffs are competing in the MPSF for indoor track and field as the Pac-12 Conference does not sponsor an indoor track and field championship. All 12 Pac-12 schools are members of the MPSF for the indoor championships, although Oregon State, and Utah only compete on the women's side. In total, there are 19 schools that will compete at the MPSF Indoor Track and Field Championships. .
After the league meet, the NCAA will announce the field for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which are March 13-14. The University of Arkansas will host the meet in Fayetteville, Ark. at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
