Colorado University Athletics
Friday, March 8
Birmingham, Ala.
All Day
Colorado
at
NCAA Indoor Championships
Photo by: Dan Madden
Colorado Prepares for NCAA Championships this Weekend
March 06, 2019 | Track and Field
BOULDER – The University of Colorado track and field program will send five individuals to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama.
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The three women entered in the meet are Tabor Scholl in the mile, Makena Morley in the 3,000-meter run and 5,000 and Gabby Scott in the 400-meter dash. The men will be John Dressel and Joe Klecker with both running in the 5,000 Friday evening and Klecker competing in the 3,000 Saturday.
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Colorado enters the national championships with three marks in the top-eight in the nation. Scott dropped her personal best by nearly another second in the 400 to move from 18th to sixth in the nation. She will be the first athlete on the track for CU when she runs in the semifinals of the 400 at 5:27 p.m. (MT). The other marks inside the top-eight in the nation belong to Klecker who ran the fastest indoor 3,000 in the state at 8:01 to put himself fourth on the list after altitude conversion. He is also fifth in the 5,000 after setting a school record at 13;35.
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Scholl comes into the race ranked ninth in the mile. She ran an altitude converted mark of 4:34.98 earlier this season at the Colorado Invitational. The nation's best time comes from Hannah Meier of the University of Michigan at 4:32.46. There are three women under 4:33, three more under 4:34 and the final three are separated by two-tenths of a second.
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"I think she has a pretty good shot," said head coach Mark Wetmore at Scholl placing in the top-eight. "She was imperfect at the Mountain Pacific and we had to stop her for a couple of days to try and get her fixed up. She is feeling better now. There is always attrition at this time of the year so I can't predict what will happen with other teams, but she is back to training well and feeling good and first goal is to make the final."
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"Everybody has to try the first one and see if there is a second one, so the rules are fair for everyone," said Wetmore on the difficulties on prelims in the mile. "From heat to heat there might turn out to be different strategies, you never know. Frankly the women are a little more diverse in their strategic approaches then the men. There will be multiple heats, two heats, and they can run completely different ways. A runner needs to be ready to do it either way, whether out fast or pedestrian with a big close, I don't know we will have to wait and see. I hope Tabor is ready for either one."
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In the women's 3,000, Morley enters the race ranked 14th with a time of 9:02.47 that she ran at the MPSF Championships. The field is led by Alicia Monson of Wisconsin who ran 8:45.97, the third-fastest time in NCAA history. Also in the race was Jessica Hull of Oregon who ran 8:53.91 at the Husky Classic. The field has nine women under the nine-minute barrier.
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Moving to the 5,000, Morley is again ranked 14th at 15:37.23. New Mexico's Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati are the top-two women in the race at 15:14.78 and 15:15.24.
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"She is definitely in the best March shape of her life," said Wetmore on Morley. "The NCAA keeps getting better and better and better though and she is hitting some really fast and deep races. She is gutty and pretty fearless so again our hope is to get on the podium in one or both."
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Scott enters the meet sixth in the nation at 52.34. She trails Lynna Irby of Georgia who reclaimed the national lead at the SEC Championships in a time of 52.02. Scott was in the same race at the MPSF Championships as Kyra Constantine of USC who is second in the nation at 52.07.
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"Scott has made some big changes in her approach to track this year and it has shown," said Wetmore. "She is in the best shape of her life by a lot. She continues to surprise us from one weekend to the next. Everybody is the field has run in the 52s, so we will have to see how she handles the chaos and the aggression of other people. The early pace in the race is likely to be very fast. I would like to see her make the final and beat some people."
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The only event with multiple Buffaloes in it is the men's 5,000. Klecker and Dressel enter the race ranked fifth and 15th. Both men ran their times at the Husky Classic at 13:35.97 and 13:41.00. Tyler Day of Northern Arizona has the national lead at 13:31.36.
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"John's in good shape," said Wetmore. "His workouts indicate that he still looks fresh and feels fresh. They will have each other to talk to in the warmup and staging areas, which is maybe better than standing around alone thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I think it is an advantage to have a teammate around."
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Colorado's best mark is Klecker's 3,000 which is fourth when converted to 7:48.32. Stanford's Grant Fisher has the nation's best time in that event at 7:42.62, trailed closely by Wisconsin's Morgan McDonald at 7:42.76. There are five men under 7:50 in the race with the rest of the field close between 7:50.17 and 7:51.91.
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"I think he has a very good chance to be high in the 5,000," said Wetmore on Klecker's weekend. "There are some formidable opponents in there, I think he can be fairly high on the podium in the men's 5,000. A number of people will also be returning the next night. The 3,000 will be probably half somewhat tired people, either people from the 5,000 or people from the first day of the mile that did not advance. Maybe people ran the distance medley and are now running the 3,000. The 3,000 is chaotic. I haven't looked at the entries to see who will be in there fresh. It is the deepest 3,000 ever, you had to run 7:51 to be invited which is really fast. He is as good running tired as anyone else is at running tired."
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This is the third-straight year the women have qualified individuals to the NCAA Indoor Championships. The women placed seventh in 2017 but were unable to score points last year. The men have sent individuals for the eighth-straight season and have scored at the meet for the past four trips.
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"Our team expectations are to get on the scoreboard in both genders and see how high we can get," said Wetmore. "With two men and three women it is not going to be astronomical, but we are excited to see what happens."
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The Championships will be live on ESPN 3 at 4:30 p.m. (MT) on Friday and at 3 p.m. (MT) on Saturday.
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The three women entered in the meet are Tabor Scholl in the mile, Makena Morley in the 3,000-meter run and 5,000 and Gabby Scott in the 400-meter dash. The men will be John Dressel and Joe Klecker with both running in the 5,000 Friday evening and Klecker competing in the 3,000 Saturday.
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Colorado enters the national championships with three marks in the top-eight in the nation. Scott dropped her personal best by nearly another second in the 400 to move from 18th to sixth in the nation. She will be the first athlete on the track for CU when she runs in the semifinals of the 400 at 5:27 p.m. (MT). The other marks inside the top-eight in the nation belong to Klecker who ran the fastest indoor 3,000 in the state at 8:01 to put himself fourth on the list after altitude conversion. He is also fifth in the 5,000 after setting a school record at 13;35.
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Scholl comes into the race ranked ninth in the mile. She ran an altitude converted mark of 4:34.98 earlier this season at the Colorado Invitational. The nation's best time comes from Hannah Meier of the University of Michigan at 4:32.46. There are three women under 4:33, three more under 4:34 and the final three are separated by two-tenths of a second.
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"I think she has a pretty good shot," said head coach Mark Wetmore at Scholl placing in the top-eight. "She was imperfect at the Mountain Pacific and we had to stop her for a couple of days to try and get her fixed up. She is feeling better now. There is always attrition at this time of the year so I can't predict what will happen with other teams, but she is back to training well and feeling good and first goal is to make the final."
Â
"Everybody has to try the first one and see if there is a second one, so the rules are fair for everyone," said Wetmore on the difficulties on prelims in the mile. "From heat to heat there might turn out to be different strategies, you never know. Frankly the women are a little more diverse in their strategic approaches then the men. There will be multiple heats, two heats, and they can run completely different ways. A runner needs to be ready to do it either way, whether out fast or pedestrian with a big close, I don't know we will have to wait and see. I hope Tabor is ready for either one."
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In the women's 3,000, Morley enters the race ranked 14th with a time of 9:02.47 that she ran at the MPSF Championships. The field is led by Alicia Monson of Wisconsin who ran 8:45.97, the third-fastest time in NCAA history. Also in the race was Jessica Hull of Oregon who ran 8:53.91 at the Husky Classic. The field has nine women under the nine-minute barrier.
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Moving to the 5,000, Morley is again ranked 14th at 15:37.23. New Mexico's Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati are the top-two women in the race at 15:14.78 and 15:15.24.
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"She is definitely in the best March shape of her life," said Wetmore on Morley. "The NCAA keeps getting better and better and better though and she is hitting some really fast and deep races. She is gutty and pretty fearless so again our hope is to get on the podium in one or both."
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Scott enters the meet sixth in the nation at 52.34. She trails Lynna Irby of Georgia who reclaimed the national lead at the SEC Championships in a time of 52.02. Scott was in the same race at the MPSF Championships as Kyra Constantine of USC who is second in the nation at 52.07.
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"Scott has made some big changes in her approach to track this year and it has shown," said Wetmore. "She is in the best shape of her life by a lot. She continues to surprise us from one weekend to the next. Everybody is the field has run in the 52s, so we will have to see how she handles the chaos and the aggression of other people. The early pace in the race is likely to be very fast. I would like to see her make the final and beat some people."
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The only event with multiple Buffaloes in it is the men's 5,000. Klecker and Dressel enter the race ranked fifth and 15th. Both men ran their times at the Husky Classic at 13:35.97 and 13:41.00. Tyler Day of Northern Arizona has the national lead at 13:31.36.
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"John's in good shape," said Wetmore. "His workouts indicate that he still looks fresh and feels fresh. They will have each other to talk to in the warmup and staging areas, which is maybe better than standing around alone thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I think it is an advantage to have a teammate around."
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Colorado's best mark is Klecker's 3,000 which is fourth when converted to 7:48.32. Stanford's Grant Fisher has the nation's best time in that event at 7:42.62, trailed closely by Wisconsin's Morgan McDonald at 7:42.76. There are five men under 7:50 in the race with the rest of the field close between 7:50.17 and 7:51.91.
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"I think he has a very good chance to be high in the 5,000," said Wetmore on Klecker's weekend. "There are some formidable opponents in there, I think he can be fairly high on the podium in the men's 5,000. A number of people will also be returning the next night. The 3,000 will be probably half somewhat tired people, either people from the 5,000 or people from the first day of the mile that did not advance. Maybe people ran the distance medley and are now running the 3,000. The 3,000 is chaotic. I haven't looked at the entries to see who will be in there fresh. It is the deepest 3,000 ever, you had to run 7:51 to be invited which is really fast. He is as good running tired as anyone else is at running tired."
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This is the third-straight year the women have qualified individuals to the NCAA Indoor Championships. The women placed seventh in 2017 but were unable to score points last year. The men have sent individuals for the eighth-straight season and have scored at the meet for the past four trips.
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"Our team expectations are to get on the scoreboard in both genders and see how high we can get," said Wetmore. "With two men and three women it is not going to be astronomical, but we are excited to see what happens."
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The Championships will be live on ESPN 3 at 4:30 p.m. (MT) on Friday and at 3 p.m. (MT) on Saturday.
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| TIME (MT) | INDIVIDUAL | EVENT | RANKING | ENTERED TIME | RESULT | PLACE |
| Friday | ||||||
| 4:35 PM | Tabor Scholl  | Mile Prelim | 9th | 4:34.98 | 4:55.25 | 16th |
| 5:27 PM | Gabby Scott | 400-meter dash Prelim | 6th | 52.32 | 52.86 | 3rd Q |
| 7:07 PM | Makena Morley | 5,000-meter run Final | 14th | 15:37.23 | 15:41.67 | 7th |
| 7:27 PM | Joe Klecker | 5,000-meter run Final | 5th | 13:35.97 | 13:42.79 | 2nd |
| John Dressel | 5,000-meter run Final | 15th | 13:41.00 | 13:54.58 | 11th | |
| Saturday | ||||||
| 3:50 PM | Gabby Scott | 400-meter dash Final | 3rd | 52.86 | ||
| 5:10 PM | Makena Morley | 3,000-meter run Final | 14th | 9:02.47 | ||
| 5:25 PM | Joe Klecker | 3,000-meter run Final | 4th | 7:48.32 |
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