Buffs Impress at Final Day of Potts Invitational

Saturday, January 14

Boulder, Colo.

All Day

Colorado

Potts Indoor Invitational

Duane McClurkin Jr wins the 400-Meter at the Potts Invitational

Photo by: Pro-Motion Photography

January 14, 2017 | Track and Field

2017 Potts Invite Field Results 2017 Potts Invite Track Results WATCH Recap

By: Maggie Still, Assistant SID

BOULDER — The University of Colorado track and field team collected eight event titles on the final day of the Potts Invitational here Saturday at the Sklar Family Track in the CU Indoor Practice Facility.

WHAT HAPPENED:
Duane McClurkin Jr. dominated the 400-meter, winning the individual title with a time of 47.78 that ties his indoor career best. McClurkin also added a third-place finish in the 200, clocking in at 21.77.

Running in her first indoor 400, junior Rajon O'Quinn placed first with a 56.36 time. Teammate Gabby Scott came in right behind O'Quinn in second with a time of 56.72.

CU was feeling good about the 800 as the team recorded five top-five finishes in both the men's and women's races. Elissa Mann took home the women's individual title with a time of 2:10.59. Sister and teammate Karina Mann ran a solid race coming in third at 2:13.56. On the men's side, Connor Dunne (1:54.23), Justice Ramos and Luke Sheesley (1:55.35) all took second through fourth, respectively. Ramos' time of 1:54.3 was a PR.

The 3,000 athletes pulled together clutch performances which included an event title and a PR with Ethan Gonzales coming in with a time of 8:30.88. Christian Martin came in right behind Gonzales clocking a PR time of 8:35.96. On the women's side Tayler Tuttle (10:10.31), Eryn Blakely (10:12.00) and Annie Kelly (10:15.75) placed second through fourth, respectively.

In the 60-meter hurdles, three Buffs finished in the top-five. Senior Kodie Artner entered the finals in the No. 7 spot after racing a time of 8.45 in the prelims and dropped .23 seconds to earn a PR of 8.23 while finishing third. Eriana Henderson went into finals as sixth and with a solid run, dropped her time to finish second with (8.82). Maja Wichart-Donzo captured a 8.90 time to add a fourth place finish for the Buffs.

Tashay Brown had an outstanding day that included two top-three finishes. In the 60, Brown clocked a 7.72 to come in third. She added a second-place finish in the 200-meter with a time of 24.95 coming in behind unattached teammate Alexandria Peters (24.72). In the 60 on the men's side, Austin Mitsch came in third-place with a 6.96 mark.

THE RELAYS:
Colorado shined in both 4x400-meter relays winning both event titles. The women comprised of Henderson, Gabby Scott, Elissa Mann, and Karina Mann recorded a 4:48.67 to win the event. On the men's side Jaron Thomas, Trenton Stringari, Isaiah Kaiser and Darrin Haynes clocked a 3:16.55 to finish first.

FIELD EVENTS:
Teammates Wichart-Donzo and Sarah Hopkins put together a strong showing in the triple jump, placing third and fourth, respectively. Wichart-Donzo hit her mark of 38-2.25 on the second attempt, which put her in second place behind Colorado State's McKenzie Wright (38-6). Freshman Hopkins came out with a solid start hitting a 38-2 mark in her third attempt and coasted to her fourth place finish. The 38-2 mark gives Hopkins indoor PR in the event.

NEXT TIME:
The Buffs will be back in action next weekend at the Air Force Invitational in U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.

QUOTABLE (CU Head Coach Mark Wetmore):
I'm wearing two hats here today. The associate meet director hat along with Casey Malone, and the head coach hat by myself. As an associate meet director, I'm very happy the meet went off on time. There were no big mistakes, nobody got run over, we managed the crowd pretty well. We were trying really hard to keep the infield clear so that the fans could see the races without having to look over people milling around. I feel really happy with how the meet went logistically and management-wise.

In my head coach's hat, I'd have to say we didn't look really good. We're just back from four weeks of Christmas break and we looked it. We have big things coming in a month with another meet here in three weeks and some sea-level trips in a month. A lot of people have a lot of work to do.

There were good individual performances. I'm always happy with individual wins. Duane's [McClurkin Jr.] 400, that was a good run. Karina Mann won in the 800, nice for a sophomore. [She's] quite a bit ahead a year ago at this time. Ethan Gonzales, a local guy with his whole family here, won in the 3,000. There were some highlights, but there were some 'meh'-lights. We have a lot of work to do.

2016 POTTS INDOOR INVITE
Sklar Family Track (Boulder, Colo.)
(Complete results are available at CUBuffs.com)

Track Events – CU Athletes only
PRELIMS Men's 60-M Hurdles: (1. Jalen Hunter, CSU, 8.10) 2. Jaron Thomas, 8.11; 7. Kodie Artner, 8.45; 9. Andrew Ghizzone, 8.50; 14. Aaron Carmichael, 8.81; 17. Nate Gravelding, 9.68
PRELIMS Women's 60-M Hurdles: (1. Lorenda Holston, CSU, 8.18) 2. Eriana Henderson, 8.94; 5. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 8.99; 15. Drianna Mustin, 9.62
PRELIMS Men's 60-M: (1. Zach Johnson, Air Force, 6.81) 3. Jaysean Skrine, 6.98; 4. Austin Mitsch, 7.03; 8. Abdiel Agramonte Moreno, 7.12; 13. Davis Butte, 7.39; 17. Dionne Taylor, Jr., 7.52; 18. De'Jour Plunkett-Elliott, 7.55; 19. Aaron Carmichael, 7.62; 20. Nate Gravelding, 7.75
PRELIMS Women's 60-M: (1. Lorenda Holston, CSU, 7.48); 4. Rajon O'Quinn, 7.71; 5. Tashay Brown, 7.78
Men's Mile: (1. Cole Rockhold, CSU, 4:08.20) 9. Phillip Rocha, 4:22.02; 14. Eduardo Herrera, 4:25.33; Chris Herrick, 4:26.52
Women's Mile: (1. Madison Boreman, 4:56.29) 4. Cayla Seligman, 5:00.44; 7. Kaleigh Kroeker, 5:03.55;
FINALS Men's 60-M Hurdles: (1. Jalen Hunter, CSU, 8.09) 3. Kodie Artner, 8.23
FINALS Women's 60-M Hurdles: (1. Lorenda Holston, CSU, 7.48) 4. Rajon O'Quinn, 7.71; 5. Tashay Brown, 7.78
Men's 400-M: (1. Duane McClurkin, Jr., 47.78) 7. Darrin Haynes, 48.97; 8. Trenton Stringari, 49.28; 10. Andrew Ghizzone, 49.48; 16. Isaiah Kaiser, 50.44
FINALS Women's 400-M: (1. Rajon O'Quinn, 56.36) 2. Gabby Scott, 56.72; 5. Drianna Mustin, 58.41; 6. Maja Wichhart-Donzo, 58.54
FINALS Men's 60-M: (1. Zach Johnson, 6.74) 3. Austin Mitsch, 6.96; 6. Abdiel Agramonte Moreno, 7.13
FINALS Women's 60-M: (1. Leah Fair, CSU, 7.53) 3. Tashay Brown, 7.72
Men's 800-M: (1. Patrick Monaghan, CSU, 1:53.33) 2. Connor Dunne, 1:54.23; 3. Justice Ramos, 1:54.73; 4. Luke Sheesley, 1:55.35; 6. David Merkel, 1:56.39; 8. Justin Miller, 1:58.33
Women's 800-M: (1. Elissa Mann, 2:10.59) 3. Karina Mann, 2:13.56; 9. Abigail Regner, 2:19.29
Men's 200-M: (1. Zach Johnson, Air Force, 21.33) 2. Duane McClurkin, Jr., 21.77; 8. Jaysean Skrine, 22.43; 10. Austin Mitsch, 22.67; 11. Abdiel Agramonte Moreno, 22.69
Women's 200-M: (1. Alexadria Peters, Unattached-Colorado, 24.72) 2. Tashay Brown, 24.95;
Men's 3000-M: (1. Ethan Gonzales, 8:30.88) 3. Christian Martin, 8:35.96; 8. Sal Capeltillo, 8:51.22; 9. Jared Borowsky, 8:53.02
Women's 3000-M: (1. Darby Gilfillan, CSU, 10:04.13) 2. Tayler Tuttle, 10:10.31; 3. Eryn Blakely, 10:12.00; 4. Annie Kelly, 10:15.75; 6. Val Constien, 10:27.76
Men's 4x400-M Relay: (1. Colorado (A), 3:16.55) 2. Colorado (B), 3:19.33
Women's 4x400-M Relay: (1. Colorado, 3:48.67)
Men's Distance Medley Relay: (1. Air Force, 10:10.03)

Track Events – CU Athletes only
Men's Shot Put: (1. Darby Maier, Air Force, 56-2.25/17.12M) 14. Austin Swanson, 40-10.00/12.44M
Women's Shot Put: (1. Aaliyah Pete, CSU, 49-4.75/15.05M)
Men's Triple Jump: (1. Scott Carter, Wyoming, 51-1.00/15.57M) 5. De'Jour Plunkett-Elliott, 45-6.50/13.88M
Women's Triple Jump: (1. McKenzie Wright, CSU, 38-6/11.73M) 3. Maja Wichart-Donzo, 38-2.25/11.64M; 4. Sarah Hopkins, 38-2/11.63M