Colorado University Athletics
Caldwell Wins MPSF 5k title
February 26, 2016 | Track and Field
SEATTLE — University of Colorado sophomore Mackenzie Caldwell turned in one of her best performances on Friday night, winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Track and Field 5,000-meter run.
Caldwell won the race in 16 minutes, 32.54 seconds, two seconds ahead of Portland's Anna Farello (16:34.55). This is the second straight year the Buffs have won the 5k as Kaitlyn Benner, who was a freshman last year, took home the title in 16:08.22.
“This is the time of year that people are trying to accomplish different things and in Mackenzie's case, she is just practicing racing and making good racing decisions,” head coach Mark Wetmore said. “She waited until the final stages of the race, made a sound move, and no one went with her. I'm very happy for her.”
Another Buff, true freshman Cayla Seligman, recorded a top five finish with a time of 16:35.85. She was just edged at the line by Arizona State's Adriana Olivas, who finished in 16:35.82.
“That was Cayla's debut at 5,000-meters, so she was being careful, but not overly tentative, keeping herself in the race the whole way,” Wetmore said. “For a long time there was a pack of 10 and then a pack of eight and then the kicking began and Mackenzie won and Cayla was fifth. We are really happy with those points and happy with their development.”
In the men's race, freshman John Dressel earned a third place finish after running 13:53.77 in his 5k debut, while senior Ammar Moussa was 12th in 14:13.26. Dressel was just one second from second place finisher, BYU's Rory Linkletter, who recorded a time of 13:52.74.
“The longer the race, the longer there is time for doubt and yet John stayed on the pace we talked about, stayed in the mix the whole way, and beat some good people,” Wetmore said. “That was a very good freshman debut.”
Senior Abrianna Torres finished her indoor career with a fourth place finish in the pentathlon after recording a score of 3,852. She started off the day clocking a time 8.95 in the 60-meter hurdles. Torres went on to clear 5-6.50 in the high jump, which was half an inch from tying her personal best. Torres won the shot put portion of the event with a toss of 44-00.75 and then jumped 18-4.25 in the long jump. She wrapped up action by running 2:36.94 in the 800.
“Abrianna has been a little off this winter,” Wetmore said. “It's hard during a senior year with real life looming in the distance. I am confident that she will put in eight or 10 good weeks of training and come out as good as ever in the heptathlon.”
Her teammates, freshman Maja Wichhart-Donzo and sophomore Michaela Wenning placed 11th and 12th, respectively. Wichhart-Donzo completed the pentathlon with a PR of 3,513 points, while Wenning tallied 3,444 points.
Sophomore Andrew Ghizzone was the only Buff competing in the heptathlon and is in 16th place after the first day of action (2,607). He finished the 60 in 7.41 and then jumped 20-6.25 in the long jump. Ghizzone went on to throw 37-00.25 in the shot put before ending the day with a mark of 6-00.50 in the high jump.
In the 200 finals, sophomore Ana Holland became just the second Buff to ever run a sub-24 second 200, clocking in at 23.95, which placed her seventh overall. Holland already ranks second on CU's all-time performer list, but was just a fraction of a second from breaking the 23.81 record (Amaris Buchanan) from 2001.
“That is the fastest she has ever run indoors and she looked good doing it,” Wetmore said. “This was the first time she has been pushed this year. I think when we get outdoors on the bigger turns and more frequently against faster competition, that she has a couple tenths of a second left in her.”
Teammates Alex Peters (24.67) and Rajon O'Quinn (25.47) finished 15th and 30th, respectively.
Sophomore Duane McClurkin Jr. led the Buffs in the men's 200 race, placing sixth with a 21.74 mark. Junior Austin Mitsch placed 12th (22.04) and Jaysean Skrine was 18th (22.47).
“Duane is just a freshman and he will help us even more tomorrow in the 400 and high jump,” Wetmore said. “We recruited him as a jumper and he has become one of the best sprinters on the team.”
There were a couple of preliminary events held on Friday, with the finals taking place on Saturday. Freshman Isaiah Oliver qualified for the finals in the 60-meter hurdles after running the fastest time by a Buff this season at 8.15 seconds, which tied for seventh.
“Isaiah is a big talent,” Wetmore said. “We have only had him for about 10 total workouts. I think there is a good chance he will run faster tomorrow. He's obviously a big talent, but the question is will be have him enough [since we are sharing him with football] to make him the multi-event athlete that is in him. It might take a year or so.”
Colorado had a couple athletes running in the 60 prelims as well. Holland finished 14th (7.53) in the women's race, while Mitsch (7.05) and Skrine (7.08) finished 19th and 20th, respectively.
The Buffs were also competing well in the field events. Senior Sophie Hallam-Eames led the women in the weight throw with a 10th place finish (57-6.25). Freshman Elisa Grandemange was 16th (53-9.75) and freshman Mariah Walker took 19th (53-2.25). On the men's side, senior Brady Rutt placed 12th with a mark of 56-10.75.
Oliver came back to compete in the long jump after qualifying for the 60-hurdle finals, and placed 14th in the long jump with a mark of 22-5.25. Torres also came back after competing in the pentathlon and placed ninth in the long jump (18-5).
Saturday's events will start at 10:30 a.m. PT 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. PT with the men's 4x400-meter relay. Live stats can be found at gohuskies.com and Flotrack will also be streaming the meet live but a subscription is required to watch.
2016 MPSF INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dempsey Indoor (Seattle, Washington)
Women's Team Scores (Through 7 Events)
1. USC 33; 2. Oregon 32; 3. Washington 28.75; 4. Arizona State 23; 5. BYU 21.25; 6. Colorado 21; 6. UCLA 21; 8. Washington State 20; 9. Stanford 18.75; 10. California 15; 11. Long Beach State 11; 12. Oregon State 9; 13. Portland 8; 14. Hawai'i 4.50; 15. Arizona 3; 16. Cal State Fullerton 2; 17. Cal State Northridge 1.75
Men's Team Scores (Through 6 Events)
1. BYU 33; 2. Oregon 28.50; 3. California 25; 4. Washington 24.50; 5. Stanford 20.50; 6. USC 18; 6. Arizona State 18; 8. Long Beach State 17.50; 9. Arizona 17; 10. UCLA 12; 11. Colorado 9; 12. Washington State 8; 13. Portland 3.
Women's Pentathlon
Points: (1. Amalie Iuel, USC, 4,444) 4. Abrianna Torres, 3,852; 11. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 3,513; 12. Michaela Wenning, 3,444
60-Meter Hurdles: (1. Riley Cooks, LBSU, 8.41) 7. Torres, 8.95; 11. Wichhart-Donzo, 9.08; 16. Wenning, 9.63
High Jump: (1. Liz Harper, WSU, 5-11.25) t3. Torres, 5-6.50; t7. Wenning, 5-4.25; t10. Wichhart-Donzo, 5-1.75
Shot Put: 1. Torres, 44-00.75; 8. Wenning, 34-10.25; t13. Wichhart-Donzo, 33-11.25
Long Jump: (1. Amalie Iuel, USC, 19-9.50) 4. Torres, 18-4.25; 8. Wichhart-Donzo, 17-9; 13. Wenning, 16-7.25
800-Meters: (1. Amalie Iuel, USC, 2:06.88) 10. Wenning, 2:25.99; 14. Wichhart-Donzo, 2:30.01; 18. Torres, 2:36.94
Men's Heptathlon
Points: (1. Steele Wasik, UCLA, 3,257) 16. Andrew Ghizzone, 2,607
60-Meters: (1. Steele Wasik, UCLA, 6.99) 15. Ghizzone, 7.41
Long Jump: (1. Kevin Nielson, BYU, 24-1.50) 16. Ghizzone, 20-6.25
Shot Put: (1. Zach Bronstein, UCLA, 47-8) 14. Ghizzone, 37-00.25
High Jump: (1. Steele Wasik, UCLA, 6-7.50) t12. Ghizzone, 6-00.50
Field Events
Women's Weight Throw: (1. Maggie Ewen, ASU, 66-7.75) 10. Sophie Hallam-Eames, 57-6.25/17.53; 16. Elisa Grandemange, 53-9.75/16.40; 19. Mariah Walker, 53-2.25/16.21
Men's Weight Throw: (1. Greg Skippe, UO, 72-6.50) 12. Brady Rutt, 56-10.75
Women's Long Jump: (1. Margaux Jones, USC, 20-10) 9. Abrianna Torres, 18-5
Men's Long Jump: (1. Eric Sloan, USC, 25-02.75) 14. Isaiah Oliver, 22-5.25
Track Events
Men's 60-Meter Hurdles (prelims): (1. Chris Williams, UW, 7.72) t7. Isaiah Oliver, 8.15q
Women's 60-Meters (prelims): (1. Hannah Cunliffe, UO, 7.28) 14. Ana Holland, 7.53
Men's 60-Meters (prelims): (1. Jamol James, ASU, 6.65) 19. Austin Mitsch, 7.05; 20. Jaysean Skrine, 7.08
Women's 5,000-Meters (Finals): 1. Mackenzie Caldwell, 16:32.54; 5. Cayla Seligman, 16:35.85
Men's 5,000 Meters (Finals): (1. Aaron Nelson, UW, 13:49.93) 3. John Dressel, 13:53.77; 12. Ammar Moussa, 14:13.26
Women's 200-Meter (Finals): (1. Deajah Stevens, UO, 23.14) 7. Ana Holland, 23.95; 15. Alex Peters, 24.67; 30. Rajon O'Quinn, 25.47
Men's 200-Meters (Finals): 1. Tatenda Tsumba, BYU, 21.38) 6. Duane McClurkin Jr., 21.74; 12. Austin Mitsch, 22.04; 18. Jaysean Skrine, 22.47
