Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Day 2
Buffs Stampede In 3K, Finish Strong At MPSF
February 28, 2015 | Track and Field
BOULDER — Five University of Colorado athletes recorded sub-8:00 times in an extremely talented 3,000-meter run field on Saturday afternoon at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Track & Field Championships.
“Everyone knew coming into the meet that the men's 3k was loaded,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “The MPSF meet serves as a federation championship, but also as a last chance meet. Oregon, Stanford and Colorado had all put very good people in there; it was probably the best 3k field I've ever seen.”
Junior Morgan Pearson led the Buffs with a third place finish, coming in at 7:51.93. His time put him fourth on CU's all-time performers list and currently is listed at 10th in the NCAA. Senior Jake Hurysz was fifth overall with a time of 7:53.06 and junior Ammar Moussa was right behind him, placing seventh in 7:53.61. Moussa's time put him seventh all-time at CU. (Hurysz ran a personal best 7:50.50 at the 2014 MSPF Championship, which is second in CU history.)
Although they didn't score, two more CU runners finished under eight minutes. Sophomore Ben Saarel ended up 12th with time of 7:57.74 and junior Pierce Murphy was 14th in 7:59.73.
“Pierce was maybe a little further back because he jumped out early to assure the pace was going,” Wetmore said. “Morgan took over and Ammar and Jake were in the pack with other people from Oregon and Stanford. It just unfolded pretty well. We are happy with our performances. Morgan got himself into the NCAA 3k with that run, as well as Jake and probably Ammar. I'm a little unhappy with Ben. He ran 7:50 a year ago and we will have to come home and figure out why he is a little off. Overall we got what we wanted which was a few team points and a few people through to NCAAs.”
The women also had a great showing in the 3k and were led by redshirt freshman Erin Clark. She placed fifth overall after clocking in at 9:19.60, a personal best. The time also moved her up to ninth on CU's all-time performers list.
“Erin ran 9:23 a few weeks ago and we thought we could maybe run a little more aggressively and change things along the way and maybe get her under 9:20 and she did that,” Wetmore said. “Heather (Burroughs) and I are really, really pleased with how the young women distance runners are coming around with last night's 5k and Erin's run tonight. A couple of people behind Erin weren't real visible but are making great improvements and they are going to be a very good team in six to nine months.”
Senior Mark Jones placed sixth overall in the high jump, clearing 6-10.25. He came into the competition at 6-8.25 and passed sailed over the bar on his second attempt. Jones easily cleared 6-10.25 on his first try, but was unsuccessful on his three approaches at 7-00.25.
“I know that he and coach (Lindsey) Malone were hoping he could go a little higher,” Wetmore said. “He is tied with some people for 20th on the NCAA list, so if he had gone 7-2 he might have had a chance to get in.”
In the sprints, sophomore Jaron Thomas recorded an eighth place finish in the 60-meter hurdle finals, crossing in 8.26.
“Jaron is young, he had a great freshman year a year ago,” Wetmore said. “He's had some interruptions this fall. Everything was going well up through last night, but then today, as far as I can see, he was a little off at the start and couldn't catch up. But still it was eighth place and picked up a point for the team.”
The men's 4x400-meter relay team took seventh overall to add a pair of points to the team score too. Sophomore Erik Gaytan, freshman Darrin Haynes, sophomore Garrett Losty and sophomore Jaylyn Mars teamed up for a time of 3:16.91. The women's 4x400-relay didn't score (ninth overall), but they did run the third fastest 4x400 relay time in CU history in 3:46.13. Senior Lindsy Mattson ran the first leg and handed off to freshman Ana Holland. Tashay Brown, another freshman, was the third leg, and freshman Rajon O'Quinn ran the anchor leg.
Freshman Andrew Ghizzone had a very good second day in the heptathlon, finishing ninth overall with a personal best score of 5,020 points, becoming just the sixth Buff to record 5,000 or more points in the event. He was just 22 points shy of eighth place as Jackson Walker, BYU, was eighth with 5,044 points.
Ghizzone had a strong start to the day, placing ninth in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.82. He tied for first in the pole vault with a PR of 15-9, which also broke CU's heptathlon pole vault record. The previous record of 15-7 had stood since 2001. Ghizzone also raced to a first place finish in the 1,000, clocking in at 2:37.45, the second best time ever by a CU heptathlete.
Overall, the women's team placed ninth out of 19 teams at the meet with 32 points and had two individual champions with junior Abrianna Torres (pentathlon) and freshman Kaitlyn Benner (5,000). The men took 11th (out of 14) with 24 points.
The NCAA will announce the field for the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 3. Nationals will be held March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Ark. at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
2015 MPSF INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dempsey Indoor (Seattle, Washington)
Women's Team Scores
1. USC, 111; 2. Oregon, 89; 3. Arizona State, 69.33; 4. UCLA, 62; 5. Stanford, 52; 6. Washington, 51; 7. Arizona, 48.50; 8. Washington State, 36; 9. Colorado, 31; 10. BYU, 30.33; 11. California, 30; 12. Long Beach State, 13; 13. Cal State Northridge; 9; 14. Hawai'i, 8.33; 15. Portland, 6; 16. Utah, 5; 17. Oregon State, 5; 18. Cal State Fullerton, 2.50; UC-Irvine, no score.
1. Oregon, 95; 2. USC, 88.50; 3. Arizona State, 70; 4. UCLA, 65.50; 5. BYU, 64.50; 6. Stanford, 61. 50; 7. Washington, 54.50; 8. California, 53; 9. Arizona, 37; 10. Washington State, 24.50; 11. Colorado, 24; 12. Long Beach State, 21; 13. Portland, 3; 14. Cal State Northridge, 1.
Heptathlon
Points: (1. Mitch Modin, UO, 5,543) 9, Andrew Ghizzone. 5,020
60-Meter Hurdles: (1. Steele Wasik, UCLA, 8.31) 9. Ghizzone, 8.82
Pole Vault: t1. Ghizzone, 15-9
1,000-Meters: 1. Ghizzone, 2:37.45
Track Events
Women's Mile: (1. Jessica Tonn, SU, 4:40.03) 16. Valerie Constien, 4:51.06; 24. Eryn Blakely, 4:57.62
Men's 60-Meter Hurdles: (1. William Taylor, ASU, 7.73) 8. Jaron Thomas, 8.26
Women's 400-Meters: (1. Brianna Tate, ASU, 52.68) 23. Lindsy Mattson, 56.65
Men's 400-Meters: (1. Tyrell Yardley, BYU, 47.30) 19. Darrin Haynes, 48.96; 26. Jaylyn Mars, 49.76
Women's 3,000-Meters (Finals): (1. Elvin Kibet, UA, 9:15.14) 5. Erin Clark, 9:19.60; 12. Melanie Nun, 9:34.70; 15. Annie Kelly, 9:35.18; 21. Mackenzie Caldwell, 9:40.38
Men's 3,000 Meters (Finals): (1. Jeramy Elkaim, UO, 7:48.48) 3. Morgan Pearson, 7:51.93; 5. Jake Hurysz, 7:53.06; 7. Ammar Moussa, 7:53.61; 12. Ben Saarel, 7:57.74; 14. Pierce Murphy, 7:59.73; 23. Adam Peterman, 8:14.40; 35. Christopher Herrick, 8:25.70; 40. Ryan Forsyth, 8:34.81
Women's 4x400-Meter Relay: (1. USC, 3:33.58) 9. Lindsy Mattson/Ana Holland/Tashay Brown/Rajon O'Quinn, 3:46.13
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay: (1. BYU, 3:07.66) 7. Erik Gaytan/Darrin Haynes/Garret Losty/Jaylyn Mars, 3:16.91
Field Events
Women's Shot Put: (1. Brittany Mann, UO, 55-1) 13. Mariah Walker, 45-11.25; 22. Abrianna Torres, 40-11
Men's Shot Put: (1. Nicholas Scarvelis, UCLA, 64-1.25) 11. Alex Kizirian, 55-03.75
Women's High Jump: (1. Lauren Crockett, UO, 6-00.50) t9. Rajon O'Quinn, 5-5.25; 23. Mariah Slack, 5-1.25; 25. Michaela Wenning, 4-11.50
Men's High Jump: (1. Bryan McBride, ASU, 7-5) 6. Mark Jones, 6-10.25
Players Mentioned
