Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Day 4
Buffs Give Strong Performance In Pac-12 5k
May 17, 2015 | Track and Field
LOS ANGELES – Three Buffaloes finished in the top seven of the men's 5,000-meter run to wrap up a very successful Pac-12 Track and Field Championship for the University of Colorado on Sunday.
Junior Morgan Pearson, who was third in the 10k on Saturday, led the trio with another third place performance, finishing in 13:47.83. Fellow junior Pierce Murphy was right on Pearson's heels at the end of the race, finishing fourth in 13:48.42. Junior Ammar Moussa, the Pac-12 10k Champion, finished his weekend with a seventh place finish, clocking in at 14:01.04.
“I was very happy with the points we got in the 5k,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “It's always a hard decision to bring people back from a 10,000-meters the night before, but this is the conference meet and this is the one time of the year we tell them to prepare for team duty. I was very pleased with the performances of Morgan and Ammar. Pierce was in there fresh and he did really well. It capped off a very good weekend.”
The women also performed well in the 5k. Redshirt freshman Erin Clark came back to run the event after winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase on Saturday and it paid off well for the Eugene, Ore. native as she finished second in 16:06.37. Clark was able to close well at the end of the race to out-run Washington's Maddie Meyers (16:09.58) and Arizona's Elvin Kibet (16:09.81).
“We expected Erin to try her best for the team and get a few points,” Wetmore said. “None of us expected her to finish second. This is a really strong conference in the distance events. She was up front the whole way and I kept my fingers crossed that she could hang on and actually a couple opponents fell back, so she was able to pull away and finished second behind one of the best runners in the country, a fifth-year senior. She is our high points-scorer for the weekend with 18 points. She's just a freshman and has a really big future for us.”
Clark's teammate, freshman Kaitlyn Benner, also performed well in the 5k as she came away with an eighth place finish in 16:24.70.
CU also excelled in the 1,500. Senior Sara Sutherland had an outstanding race, placing second overall. Sutherland entered the race with a personal record of 4:18.30, which she blew out of the water with a 4:13.56 finish. Sutherland was fourth heading into the final lap and was able to overtake UW's Meyers (4:14.03) and Stanford's Elise Cranny (4:14.05). Shelby Houlian (Arizona State) won with a meet record of 4:11.06. Her time put her fifth on CU's all-time performers list, which includes the NCAA record (3:59.90, set by Jenny Simpson in 2009).
“She, Heather (Burroughs) and I felt there was a 4:13 in her, but we didn't get it at Mt. SAC and we didn't get it at Payton Jordan and we were beginning to just say let's get the points that we can because again this was a really strong field. She ran a very patient, smart and methodical race. She kept moving up and moving up and ran down a couple of people in the last 100 meters. The people in front of her on our all-time list are Olympians and she has a big future. It was a wonderful run for her and I'm really proud she had the race we've been waiting for.”
Junior Maddie Alm was also able to pick up a few points for CU in the 1,500, placing seventh in 4:20.10.
The men too had a strong showing in the 1,500 with sophomore Ben Saarel leading the way with a third place finish. It was a very tight race with the top four finishing within half a second of each other. Saarel recorded a time of 3:46.90 behind Washington's Izaic Yorks (3:46.42) and Cal's Thomas Joyce (3:46.46). Oregon's Ben Haney was fourth (3:46.97).
Senior Jake Hurysz was less than half a second behind Saarel, finishing eighth in 3:47.67. Redshirt freshman Zach Perrin picked up a 10th place finish in 3:48.88.
“I was very happy with how the men did in the 1,500,” Wetmore said. “Yesterday we knew how we had to run and we knew we had to run a very different way today. We knew that our opponents would not lead and expected us to lead, so the best we could do was either fulfill their expectations or throw a little bit of a wrench into the works and not lead. So it was inevitable it would be very slow, very crowded and a maniacal mosh the last 200-300 meters. So we could end up with no points or a handful of points and in the end it was about what we had hoped for.”
Sophomore Jaron Thomas recorded points for the Buffs in a pair of events, the 110 and 400-meter hurdles. He started the day by clocking a seventh place finish with a time of 14.32. Thomas came back in the 400-hurdles a couple hours later and placed sixth overall in 52.47.
“Jaron got kind of a slow start this year and had been trying to make up ground; I wouldn't say he made it all back, but he made up a nice chuck this weekend,” Wetmore said. “Coming into this weekend, I don't think he was on the form chart for scoring in either event, but he made the finals in both and scored in both, so he is getting better by the weekend.”
CU saw even more success in the sprints. Redshirt freshman Ana Holland placed eighth in the 100 (11.70) after helping the 4x100-meter relay take seventh. Senior Lindsy Mattson, freshman Tashay Brown and junior Eileen Gehring were the other three legs of the relay that clocked in at 45.39. The quartet also teamed up for a seventh place performance in the 4x400-relay (3:39.03).
The men's 4x100 also picked up an eighth place finish. Redshirt freshman Jaylyn Mars, sophomore Austin Mitsch, sophomore Erik Gaytan and freshman Jay Skrine combined for a time of 41.05. The 4x400-relay (Gaytan, Mars, freshman Darrin Haynes and sophomore Garrett Losty) finished the meet for the Buffs with a sixth place finish.
“Ana ironically was probably expected to make the final and get a few points in the 200, but not in the 100 and it turned out the other way around,” Wetmore said. “The men's 4x400 relay did a little better than what we expected. There wasn't a big scorer in the sprints, but the ones, twos and threes (points) really end up helping the team.”
Overall, the CU men placed seventh (68), while the women were eighth (43). Oregon took home both men's (152) and women's (185) titles.
“This is our best combined men's and women's conference meet in my time here, so I'm very happy,” Wetmore said.
The NCAA West Preliminary Championships are next for the Buffs, May 28-30, in Austin, Texas.
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPSDrake Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Team Scores:
Men:
1. Oregon 152; 2. USC 121; 3. Washington 84.50; 4. UCLA 83; 5. Arizona State 75; 6. Arizona 73.50; 7. Colorado 68; 8. California 66; 9. Stanford 64.50; 10. Washington State 31.50.
Women:
1. Oregon 185; 2. USC 182; 3. Stanford 87; 4. Arizona State, 72; 5. Washington State 64; 5. UCLA 64; 7. Washington 63; 8. Colorado 43; 9. Arizona 36; 10. Utah 14; 11. Oregon State 6; 12. California 3.
Track Events
Women's 4x100-meter relay (finals): (1. USC, 43.10) 7. Lindsy Mattson/Tashay Brown/Ana Holland/Eileen Gehring, 45.39
Men's 4x100-meter relay (finals): (1. USC, 39.17) 8. Jaylyn Mars/Austin Mitsch/Erik Gaytan/Jay Skrine, 41.05
Women's 1,500-meters (finals): (1. Shelby Houlihan, ASU, 4:11.06) 2. Sara Sutherland, 4:13.56; 7. Maddie Alm, 4:20.10
Men's 1,500-meters (finals): (1. Izaic Yorks, UW, 3:46.42) 3. Ben Saarel, 3:46.90; 8. Jake Hurysz, 3:47.67; 10. Zach Perrin, 3:48.88
Men's 110-meter hurdles (finals): (1. Marquis Morris, USC, 13.95) 7. Jaron Thomas, 14.32
Women's 100-meters (finals): (1. Jasmine Todd, UO, 11.18) 8. Ana Holland, 11.70
Men's 400-meter hurdles (finals): (1. Ben Theil, UO, 50.32) 6. Jaron Thomas, 52.47
Women's 5,000-meter (finals): (1. Shelby Houlihan, ASU, 15:58.45) 2. Erin Clark, 16:06.37; 8. Kaitlyn Benner, 16:24.70
Men's 5,000-meter (finals): (1. Edward Cheserek, UO, 13:45.25) 3. Morgan Pearson, 13:47.83; 4. Pierce Murphy, 13:48.43; 7. Ammar Moussa, 14:01.04
Women's 4x400-meter relay (finals): (1. USC, 3:32.12) 7. Lindsy Mattson/Ana Holland/Tashay Brown/Eileen Gehring, 3:39.03
Men's 4x400-meter relay (finals): (1. Oregon, 3:05.84) 6. Erik Gaytan/Darrin Haynes/Jaylyn Mars/Garrett Losty, 3:13.90
Field Events
Women's hammer throw: (1. Ida Storm, UCLA, 215-00) 13. Sophie Hallam-Eames, 165-4/50.40; 15. Kellie Lind, 160-5/48.89
Women's triple jump: (1. Jasmine Todd, UO, 42-11.75) 19. Bekah Daniel, 37-2.25/11.33
Women's discus: (1. Valerie Allman, SU, 187-3) 9. Sophie Hallam-Eames, 143-8/43.78/ 12. Mariah Walker, 133-7/40.71
Men's triple jump: (1. Darian Brooks, SU, 52-00.50) 15. Michael Egotanda, 44-1.50/13.45
Men's discus: (1. Gerhard De Beer, UA, 193-8) 11. Brady Rutt, 167-7/51.08
Players Mentioned
