Buffs Open Season Across Front Range

Thursday, December 6

Golden, Colo.

All Day

Colorado

Day One

Photo by: DC

December 04, 2018 | Track and Field

Mines Live Results Mines Live Stream Mines Meet Schedule

By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID

BOULDER – After a long preseason, the University of Colorado track and field program will compete across the Front Range this weekend with hurdles and multi-event athletes attending the Mines Alumni Classic & Multi in Golden while the throwers head south to the Air Force Holiday Open Friday.

The first day of competition at Mines will primarily serve as a multi-competition day for the pentathlon and heptathlon. The women's event will start at 1 p.m. and finish that evening. The men's event will start shortly after and conclude Friday. The long jump will also happen Friday evening starting between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. with all other events going on Saturday. The throws at Air Force will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday.

The women's team will send 10 athletes; two throwers, three hurdlers, three multis and duo of jumpers. The men will compete a pair of throwers, three jumpers and a multi duo.

On the women's side, multis Drianna Mustin, Michaela Wenning and Maja Wichhart-Donzo will kick things off on Thursday in the pentathlon at the Colorado School of Mines. The trio led the team last season in an impressive showing at the MPSF Championships with all three placing in the top-10. Wichhart-Donzo led the squad with a fifth-place finish and a score of 3,805, while Wenning was right behind her in sixth with a score of 3,752. Mustin rounded out the Buffs with a ninth-place finish with a score of 3,509.

Wichhart-Donzo is the highest-returning multi with her mark earning her the 59^th-best mark in the nation last season. Wenning is the team's best returning high jumper with a season-best of 5-feet, 7¾-inches (1.72m) last indoor season.

Another top-returner is Valerie Welch in the hurdles. She will be joined Friday afternoon by Eriana Henderson and Kylie Davis. Welch was a finalist and scorer at MPSFs with an eighth-place finish. Henderson is the best-returning 200-meter runner from last season, while freshman Davis will begin her career with a race in the 60-meter hurdles, a race she ran in high school in 8.82 seconds.

Cheyenne Cheshier and Sarah Hopkins will both triple jump Friday at Mines. Last season Wichhart-Donzo posted the best triple jump mark for the etam at 38-8¾ (11.80m), but Cheshier marked a jump of 38-6¼ at this venue for her season-best. Hopkins came with the third-best mark with a leap of 38-5 (11.71m) a week later at the Air Force Academy.

The final set of women competing this weekend are throwers Elisa Grandemange and Mariah Walker. Grandemange will throw the weight Friday at 3 p.m., the event she is the top-returner in with a season-best last season of 54-6¾ (16.63m). Walker will throw both the weight and shot put but will be someone to watch in the shot as she is returning a team-best 47-7 (14.5) mark from last season.

On the men's side, multis Davis Butte and freshman Josh Farmer will begin action at 1:10 p.m. in Golden. Butte is returning from a fifth-place finish as a sophomore at MSPFs with a score of 4,617 in the heptathlon. Farmer, a freshman from San Diego, Calif., will begin his collegiate career as well with the heptathlon. This will be his first heptathlon, but he has scores or 6,963 in the decathlon and 3,632 in the pentathlon so a score between 4,200 and 5,000 is nowhere out of the question.

Another performer to watch is Gunner Rigsby. The sophomore will return after leading the team in both horizontal jumps last season with marks of 24-0.25 (7.32m) and 48-0 (14.63m). Both of those marks Rigsby set at this meet last season.

The vertical jumpers for this weekend will be Giancarlo Narvarte and freshman Jeremy Cody. Narvarte returns with a team-best 6-7½ (2.02m) mark in the high jump last indoor season. Cody comes to Boulder from Pueblo where he was a two-time 4A State Champion in the event with a personal best of 6-10½ (2.09m).

The final competitors for the men will be Caleb Penner and Brock Knechtel. The two throws will head to the Air Force Academy with Penner scheduled to throw the weight and Knechtel to throw both. Penner threw a season-best mark of 49-7¾ (15.13m) last season at the Air Force Invitational. Knechtel competed outdoors his freshman season with marks of 160-9 (49.00m) and 161-2 (49.12m) in the discus and hammer, respectfully.