Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Day 3
Three More Buffs Advance To NCAAs
May 30, 2015 | Track and Field
AUSTIN, Texas – On the final day of the NCAA West Preliminary Round, senior Sara Sutherland (1,500), sophomore Ben Saarel (1,500) and junior Morgan Pearson (5,000) punched their tickets to compete for the Buffaloes at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The University of Colorado now has a total of seven athletes who will compete at nationals, June 10-13, in Eugene, Ore. Saturday's qualifiers join redshirt freshman Erin Clark (3,000-meter steeplechase), junior Pierce Murphy (10,000) and junior Connor Winter (3,000-meter steeplechase), who qualified for NCAAs earlier this week, as well as junior Abrianna Torres who will compete in the heptathlon.
Sutherland added her name to the list by placing second in the first section of the 1,500-meter run. She clocked a time of 4:13.95, just shy of her personal record (4:13.56). She had some work to do as she started the race near the back. With about 650 meters remaining, she made a big move to jump into second behind Arizona State's Shelby Houlihan, who would eventually win the race in 4:13.27.
Saarel also advanced to nationals in the 1,500. He finished sixth in the first section with a time of 3:44.19 and had to wait until the second heat ran to see if he earned one of the two time qualifiers, and he got the final one. Teammate Jake Hurysz ran in the same section and finished in 3:47.53.
The men's 5,000 saw Pearson advancing after placing fifth in the first heat. It was a very close finish with five runners (third through seventh) crossing the finish within .85 seconds of each other. One of those runners was junior Ammar Moussa, who placed seventh in 14:13.00. Moussa missed moving on to NCAAs by .54 seconds. Murphy, who qualified for NCAAs in the 10k on Thursday night, placed 18th in the second heat (14:43.35).
In the women's 5k, freshman Kaitlyn Benner recorded a time of 16:28.10 to place sixth in the second section of the race. Overall her time was 17th. Her teammates, Clark, Alm and graduate student Abby Levene finished 33rd, 34th and 35th, respectively. Clark finished in 17:03.19, while Alm clocked in at 17:04.38 just a couple of hours after finishing her 1,500 quarterfinal. Levene earned a time of 17:04.64 to finish her CU career.
The women's 4x400-meter relay ended the meet for the Buffs with a 16th place finish. The quartet of senior Lindsy Mattson, redshirt freshman Ana Holland, freshman Tashay Brown and junior Eileen Gehring clocked a time of 3:38.20, which was seventh in their heat.
2015 NCAA WEST PRELIMINARY ROUNDMike A Myers Stadium (University of Texas)
Austin, Texas
Track Events
Women's 1,500 (quarterfinals): (1. Shelby Houlihan, Arizona State, 4:13.27) 2. Sara Sutherland, 4:13.95; 19. Maddie Alm, 4:22.85
Men's 1,500 (quarterfinals): (1. Chad Noelle, Oklahoma State, 3:41.96) 12. Ben Saarel, 3:44.19; Jake Hurysz, 3:47.53
Women's 5,000-meter (semifinals): (1. Dominique Scott, Arkansas, 15:50.07) 17. Kaitlyn Benner, 16:28.10; 33. Erin Clark, 17:03.19; 34. Maddie Alm, 17:04.38; 35. Abby Levene, 17:04.64
Men's 5,000-meter (semifinals): (1. William Kincaid, Portland, 13:48.27) 14. Morgan Pearson, 14:12.46; 16. Ammar Moussa, 14:13.00; 37. Pierce Murphy, 14:43.35
Women's 4x400-meter relay (quarterfinal): (1. USC, 3:27.86) 16. Lindsy Mattson/Ana Holland/Tashay Brown/Eileen Gehring, 3:38.20
Players Mentioned
