Colorado University Athletics
Friday, March 13
Albuquerque, N.M.
All Day
Colorado
vs
Day 1
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Photo by: Dan Madden
Colorado Set For 2020 National Championships
March 10, 2020 | Track and Field
BOULDER – The University of Colorado track and field program is sending seven individuals to the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., beginning Friday, March 13, and running through Saturday, March 14.
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The meet will be televised on ESPN3 beginning at 5 p.m. MT on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday. Live results are available here along with start lists and team scores.
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Dani Jones' pursuit in the 800 and mile kicks off the championship action as she runs the mile semifinal at 5:35 p.m. Friday and the 800 semifinal at 7:10 p.m. Jones will look to finish top-four in her heat to advance to the finals in the mile, then top-3 in the 800 in her heat. In both scenarios, the next two best times outside the automatic qualifying positions advance to finals.
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Jones is the first CU athlete to attempt an 800/mile double or even a double including an 800 (i.e. 800/1,500). She is the first CU woman in the 800 at a national championship since Lee Ballenger at the 1979 outdoor championships. The last Buff to line up for an individual 800 in a national championship was Mike Macinko 30 years ago in the 1990 indoor championships.
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Just 10 minutes after Jones finishes the 800 semifinals, Joe Klecker and Makena Morley will begin their first of two event finals. Klecker is up first in the men's 5,000 where he will match up against Edwin Kurgat for the third time this season. Kurgat won the cross country individual title but was far from Klecker's finish at the Millrose Games in the 3,000. They will also face off with Tyler Day of Northern Arizona and his teammate Luis Grijalva. Klecker enters the race as the sixth seed.
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Morley will be up on the track next in the women's 5,000 where she will look to chase top-seeded Katie Izzo of Arkansas and the cross country national champion on her home track in Weini Kelati. Both ran under 15:15 this season, but after Morley is in a tight pack with Bethany Hasz of Minnesota and Carmela Cardama Baez of Oregon. The three women are separated in the seedings by less than a second before there is a large 11-second drop off.
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The final event on the track for Colorado in the first day of action is the women's distance medley relay team of Annie Hill, Karina Mann, Rachel McArthur and Valerie Welch. BYU has the top time in the nation at 10:53.95, followed by Stanford, Washington, Arkansas and Oregon. Colorado hopes their altitude training will propel them up the field.
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Saturday will be the final test piece in the Jones double. Beginning at 4:20 p.m., Jones is the heavy favorite in the mile with the top-seed time of 4:27.88. BYU's Whittni Orton had the second-best time at 4:29.76 but scratched to focus on the 3,000. Kelati also dropped at 4:32.66 to focus on the 5,000, leaving Penn State's Danae Rivers as the second-seeded time at 4:32.95.
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Less than 80 minutes after that Jones will line up again in the women's 800. She enters with the fifth-best time at 2:03.58, an altitude adjusted time from her school-record performance at the Colorado Invitational. Nia Akins of Penn is the top-seed at 2:00.71 along with a freshman from Washington and a pair of seniors from Georgia and Delaware.
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Klecker's second round of competition begins at 6:10 p.m. in the 3,000. Grijalva has the top time at 7:43.73, followed by his teammates Geordie Beamish and Day. Oregon's Cooper Teare is the fourth seed, followed by Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame and James West of Oregon. Kurgat is also in the field, making for a loaded field in the men's 3,000. Klecker is the seventh-seed entering the final.
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Morley's second round is also a stacked field with Orton of BYU leading at 8:49.63. Behind her is the defending national champion Alicia Monson of Wisconsin, Kelati, Ella Donaghu of Stanford and Izzo of Arkansas. Morley enters as the 10th seed at 9:00.36, an altitude converted time from her mostly solo effort at the Colorado Invitational.
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The meet will be televised on ESPN3 beginning at 5 p.m. MT on Friday and 4 p.m. on Saturday. Live results are available here along with start lists and team scores.
Â
Dani Jones' pursuit in the 800 and mile kicks off the championship action as she runs the mile semifinal at 5:35 p.m. Friday and the 800 semifinal at 7:10 p.m. Jones will look to finish top-four in her heat to advance to the finals in the mile, then top-3 in the 800 in her heat. In both scenarios, the next two best times outside the automatic qualifying positions advance to finals.
Â
Jones is the first CU athlete to attempt an 800/mile double or even a double including an 800 (i.e. 800/1,500). She is the first CU woman in the 800 at a national championship since Lee Ballenger at the 1979 outdoor championships. The last Buff to line up for an individual 800 in a national championship was Mike Macinko 30 years ago in the 1990 indoor championships.
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Just 10 minutes after Jones finishes the 800 semifinals, Joe Klecker and Makena Morley will begin their first of two event finals. Klecker is up first in the men's 5,000 where he will match up against Edwin Kurgat for the third time this season. Kurgat won the cross country individual title but was far from Klecker's finish at the Millrose Games in the 3,000. They will also face off with Tyler Day of Northern Arizona and his teammate Luis Grijalva. Klecker enters the race as the sixth seed.
Â
Morley will be up on the track next in the women's 5,000 where she will look to chase top-seeded Katie Izzo of Arkansas and the cross country national champion on her home track in Weini Kelati. Both ran under 15:15 this season, but after Morley is in a tight pack with Bethany Hasz of Minnesota and Carmela Cardama Baez of Oregon. The three women are separated in the seedings by less than a second before there is a large 11-second drop off.
Â
The final event on the track for Colorado in the first day of action is the women's distance medley relay team of Annie Hill, Karina Mann, Rachel McArthur and Valerie Welch. BYU has the top time in the nation at 10:53.95, followed by Stanford, Washington, Arkansas and Oregon. Colorado hopes their altitude training will propel them up the field.
Â
Saturday will be the final test piece in the Jones double. Beginning at 4:20 p.m., Jones is the heavy favorite in the mile with the top-seed time of 4:27.88. BYU's Whittni Orton had the second-best time at 4:29.76 but scratched to focus on the 3,000. Kelati also dropped at 4:32.66 to focus on the 5,000, leaving Penn State's Danae Rivers as the second-seeded time at 4:32.95.
Â
Less than 80 minutes after that Jones will line up again in the women's 800. She enters with the fifth-best time at 2:03.58, an altitude adjusted time from her school-record performance at the Colorado Invitational. Nia Akins of Penn is the top-seed at 2:00.71 along with a freshman from Washington and a pair of seniors from Georgia and Delaware.
Â
Klecker's second round of competition begins at 6:10 p.m. in the 3,000. Grijalva has the top time at 7:43.73, followed by his teammates Geordie Beamish and Day. Oregon's Cooper Teare is the fourth seed, followed by Yared Nuguse of Notre Dame and James West of Oregon. Kurgat is also in the field, making for a loaded field in the men's 3,000. Klecker is the seventh-seed entering the final.
Â
Morley's second round is also a stacked field with Orton of BYU leading at 8:49.63. Behind her is the defending national champion Alicia Monson of Wisconsin, Kelati, Ella Donaghu of Stanford and Izzo of Arkansas. Morley enters as the 10th seed at 9:00.36, an altitude converted time from her mostly solo effort at the Colorado Invitational.
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| Time | Event | Round | Athlete | Place | Time |
| 5:35 PM | Women's Mile | Semifinal | Dani Jones | ||
| 7:10 PM | Women's 800 | Semifinal | Dani Jones | ||
| 7:20 PM | Men's 5,000 | Final | Joe Klecker | ||
| 7:55 PM | Women's 5,000 | Final | Makena Morley | ||
| 8:45 PM | Women's DMR | Final | Annie Hill, Karina Mann, Rachel McArthur, Valerie Welch |
||
| 4:20 PM | Women's Mile | Final | Dani Jones | ||
| 5:40 PM | Women's 800 | Final | Dani Jones | ||
| 6:10 PM | Men's 3,000 | Final | Joe Klecker | ||
| 6:25 PM | Women's 3,000 | Final | Makena Morley |
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