Colorado University Athletics
Ghizzone, Torres Start Strong At Texas Relays
March 31, 2016 | Track and Field
AUSTIN, Texas – Facing some of the toughest competition in the country, University of Colorado sophomore Andrew Ghizzone and senior Abrianna Torres began their outdoor seasons in the combined events on Wednesday at the 89th running of the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
Ghizzone finished the first day of the decathlon in 16th place with 3,417 points, while Torres finished day one of the heptathlon in 24th place at 3,004.
Ghizzone started the day in the 100-meters with a time of 11.49 seconds (17th overall), beating his personal-best of 11.63 by over a tenth of a second. The PR got Ghizzone off to a good start, and set the stage for the rest of the events.
Heading into the long jump, and looking to keep pace with the leaders, Ghizzone earned a respectable mark of 21-feet, 10.75 inches to finish 13th overall. Moving quickly from the long jump to the shot put, Ghizzone recorded a mark of 35-7.25 on his first throw, which would be his best, for a 16th place finish.
The second-to-last event on the day was the high jump and Ghizzone was looking to finish strong. Ghizzone finished 15th (5-10) in the high jump and just missed a top 10 finish in the 400 by :0.11, coming in 11th with a time of 50.79 to finish off his day.
“Andrew's doing fantastic so far,” assistant coach Lindsay Malone said. “He's some 60 points above where he was last year at Pac-12s, which was his best meet of the season last year. Technically he's coming in earlier in the season and finishing higher pointwise then he was at the end of the season last year, and that just shows he's put in a lot of work this year. I'm really proud of him. He's turned into quite the technician and things are coming around so it's been a really good first day for him and we know the second day is considered to be his best day. It used to be that his second day was his best day but today his first day was solid as well. He's doing a great job and I'm really proud of him.”
As for Torres, she began her day in the 100-meter hurdles finishing in 24th place with a time of 14.64. She then moved onto the high jump where she placed 13th after clearing 5-4.25. The finish placed her 24th overall with 1,661 points after the first two events, with two more coming in the day.
Looking to make up ground, Torres turned to the shot put, one of her best events, for the springboard she needed to launch herself up the standings. Sitting in 12th heading into her third and final throw, Torres didn't disappoint stepping up to the occasion and throwing for a distance of 38-11. That mark moved her up four spots for an eighth place finish, her first top 10 finish of the day.
The final event of the day for Torres was the 200-meters. Torres finished 27th in 26.60 to wrap up her day of competing.
“Abrianna started off awesome in the hurdles, 14.68 was a good opener for her,” Malone said. “We are looking forward to day two and the weather looks to be better than it was today.”
The Texas Relays continue on Thursday, with the final day of the heptathlon and decathlon. CU will also have men and women competing in the 400-meter hurdles.
2016 NIKE CLYDE LITTLEFIELD TEXAS RELAYS
Mike A. Myers Stadium (Austin, Texas)
Women's Heptathlon
Day 1 Finish: (1. Taliyah Brooks, Arkansas, 3,561) 24. Abrianna Torres, 3,004
100-Meter Hurdles: (1. Taliyah Brooks, Arkansas, 13.16) 24. Abrianna Torres, 14.64
High Jump: (1. Taliyah Brooks, Arkansas, 5-10) t13. Abrianna Torres, 5-4.25
Shot Put: (1. Lucia Mokrasova, UTEP, 44-0.75) 8. Abrianna Torres, 38-11
200-Meters: (1. Payton Stumbaugh, Arkansas, 23.76) 27. Abrianna Torres, 26.60
Men's Decathlon
Day 1 Finish: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 4,036) 16. Andrew Ghizzone, 3,417
100-Meters: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 10.72) 17. Andrew Ghizzone, 11.49
Long Jump: (1. Kevin Nielsen, BYU, 24-3.75) 13. Andrew Ghizzone, 21-10.75
Shot Put: (1. Trey Hardee, NIKE, 49-1.75) 16. Andrew Ghizzone, 35-7.25
High Jump: (t1. Ingmar Vos, Unattached, 6-5; t1. Kevin Nielsen, BYU, 6-5) 15. Andrew Ghizzone, 5-10
400-Meters: (1. Harrison Williams, Stanford, 47.26) 11. Andrew Ghizzone, 50.79
