Constien and Scott Punch Tickets to Austin

SACRAMENTO – Two more Colorado track and field women are through to the NCAA National Championships after the second day of competition, bringing the CU total to eight athletes with tickets punched to Austin, Texas.

Gabby Scott and Val Constien both automatically qualified, Scott in the 400 hurdles and Constien in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Constien's weekend is done, while Scott will anchor the women's 4x400-meter relay tomorrow evening.

Constien closed out the night for the Buffs and did so in spectacular fashion. She took control of the race from the gun, immediately taking the inside rail position and leading the race to wear out the competitors. Two other athletes stuck with Constien's lead through 2,600 meters, but by the bell the three automatic spots were decided. Constien's pace had given the three athletes a 50-meter cushion and at that point she let the two other athletes pass and remained safely behind the duo. Constien crossed the line in a new personal best of 9:44.51, moving her to fourth all-time in school history in the event.

With Constien moving on in the women's steeplechase so does CU's dominance in the event. Since the event was added to the NCAA Championships in 2001, Colorado has always had a woman at the national championships. Eight women have made up 23 qualifiers over 19 years, and with her third trip Constien joins Natalie Florence, Jenny (Barringer) Simpson, Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp as the only Buffs to make it three or more times.

The women's 400 hurdles second heat was one for the record books for Colorado as Scott and Eriana Henderson became 1-2 in the school's top-performers list. The duo was next to one another in the second heat and battled through 300 meters before Scott took over to take the heat in a new school record of 56.51. She had the second-fastest time in qualifying and becomes the first CU women's sprinter or hurdler to qualify for nations since Hannah Cooper in 2002. She is also the first female 400-meter hurdler for the Buffs to qualify in more than 20 years, joining Leona Russell in 1996, Deborah McClendon in 1980 and Brenda Chambers in 1979 as the only CU women to compete in the event at nationals.

Henderson finished fifth in the heat and held the final qualifying spot until the last heat when she was bumped out by two-tenths of a second to finish 13^th. Henderson's time of 57.67 takes over the second-best position and passes former school record holder Russell in the process. She dropped more than a full second off her previous best time this weekend.

Elissa Mann closed out her career with a 15^th place finish in the women's 800. The senior ran a smart race and was out in the top-two for three-quarters of the race but was boxed in on the rail in the final 200 and couldn't kick out the field and finished sixth in her heat. She had the last qualifying spot through two heats, but the third heat featured the fastest time in the NCAA this season that picked up the rest of the pace of the field and booted Mann from the final time-qualifying position.

In the men's 400, Jon Maas ran 47.09 to finish 22^nd. The sophomore finished seventh in the final heat but was more than a second from the final time qualifying spot after the first two heats got all three spots.

Tomorrow will begin with Jeremy Cody in the men's high jump at 5 p.m. (MT), and will finish up with the 1,500 finals, 5,000 finals and the 4x400-meter relays.

	2019 NCAA WEST PRELIMINARIES
DAY/TIME (MT)	EVENT	ATHLETE	RESULT	PLACE
Thursday
4:30 PM	Women's High Jump	Kylee Harr	NH	T44th
5:00 PM	Women's Hammer Throw	Elisa Grandemange	57.79m (189-7)	31st
5:30 PM	Women's 400 Hurdle Prelims	Gabby Scott	57.79	3rd (Q)
		Eriana Henderson	58.42	11th (Q)
		Valerie Welch	1:00.47	30th
6:00 PM	Men's 400 Hurdle Prelims	Aaron McCoy	51.72	26th
6:30 PM	Women's 1500 Prelims	Annie Hill	4:23.66	29th
		Karina Mann	4:16.89	5th (Q)
7:00 PM	Men's 1500 Prelims	Gabe Fendel	3:46.61	24th
		Eduardo Herrera	3:45.20	12th (Q)
8:45 PM	Men's 400 Prelims	Jon Maas	47.47	33rd (Q)
9:10 PM	Women's 800 Prelims	Elissa Mann	2:06.28	8th (q)
10:00 PM	Women's 10,000 Final	Makena Morley	33:44.72	9th
		Kaitlyn Benner	33:44.70	8th
		Tabor Scholl	34:23.83	18th
10:40 PM	Men's 10,000 Final	John Dressel	29:00.98	9th
		Ryan Forsyth	29:03.07	12th
Friday
6:45 PM	Men's 400 Finals	Jon Maas	47.09	22nd
7:30 PM	Women's 800 Finals	Elissa Mann	2:05.40	15th
8:00 PM	Women's 400 Hurdle Finals	Gabby Scott	56.51	2nd (Q)
		Eriana Henderson	57.67	13th
9:20 PM	Women's 3000 Steeplechase Final	Val Constien	9:44.51	4th (Q)
Saturday
5:00 PM	Men's High Jump	Jeremy Cody	2.11m (6-11)	T17th
7:30 PM	Women's 1500 Final	Karina Mann	4:22.87	19th
7:45 PM	Men's 1500 Final	Eduardo Herrera	3:41.35	5th (Q)
9:05 PM	Women's 5000 Final	Dani Jones	15:46.93	11th (Q)
		Makena Morley	15:42.55	7th (q)
		Tabor Scholl	16:13.62	25th
		Kaitlyn Benner	16:22.35	29th
9:45 PM	Men's 5000 Final	John Dressel	14:07.98	20th (Q)
		Ryan Forsyth	14:21.63	35th
		Ethan Gonzales	14:15.08	29th
10:25 PM	Women's 4x400 Final	Welch, Johnson, Scott, Henderson	3:34.92	8th (Q)
10:45 PM	Men's 4x400 Final	Maas, Smith, Hoy, McCoy	3:11.89	22nd

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Players Mentioned

Kaitlyn Benner

Jeremy Cody

John Dressel

Gabe Fendel

Ryan Forsyth

Ethan Gonzales

Elisa Grandemange

Kylee Harr

Eriana Henderson

Eduardo Herrera

Annie Hill

Dani Jones

Jon Maas

Elissa Mann

Karina Mann

Aaron McCoy

Makena Morley

Tabor Scholl

Gabby Scott

Valerie Welch