Stephen Pifer

Position:
Distance
Height:
6-0
Class:
Senior
Hometown:
Edwardsville, Ill.
High School:
Edwardsville

STEPHEN PIFER

Distance

Senior, 4L/3L

Edwardsville, Ill. (Edwardsville)

PERSONAL BESTS

Indoor:

Mile: 3:59.55 (2006, school record)

3,000-Meter: 7:59.32 (2006)

Outdoor:

800-Meter: 1:50.43 (2006)

1,500-Meters: 3:40.51 (2005)

5,000-Meters: 13:43.04 (2007)

BIG 12 SCORING

2004 (I) Mile Run, 2nd (4:04.32)

2005 (I) Mile Run, 4th (4:05.06)

2005 (I) 3,000-Meters, 4th (8:11.39)

2005 (O) 1,500-Meters, 6th (3:48.30)

2006 (I) Mile Run, 2^nd (4:02.73)

2006 (I) 3,000-Meter Run, 7^th (8:12.37)

2006 (O) 1,500-Meter Run, 1^st (3:40.70)

2006 (O) 5,000-Meter Run, 2^nd (14:10.15)

2007 (I) Mile Run, 2^nd (4:00.86)

2007 (I) 3,000-Meter Run, 4^th (8:10.22)

2007 (O) 1,500-Meter Run, 2^nd (3:42.16)

2007 (O) 5,000-Meter Run, 2^nd (14:25.95)

NCAA MIDWEST REGION CHAMPIONSHIP SCORING:

2005 1,500-Meter Run, 2^nd (3:45.32)

2006 1,500-Meter Run, 4^th (3:43.95)

2007 1,500-Meter Run, 2^nd (3:40.78)

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SCORING:

2006 (I) Mile-Run, 5^th (4:14.81)

2007 (I) Mile-Run, 3^rd (4:00.93)

HONORS:

2006 Indoor Mile-Run All-American

2007 Indoor Mile-Run All-American

2007 Outdoor 1,500-Meter All-American

2008 OUTLOOK: Stephen has been one of the most accomplished runners ever at CU and hopes to help us at the Big 12, advance to nationals and also the Olympic Trials.

2007: Pifer has been one of CU’s top distance runners during his time at CU, but his focus has been on the mile and 1,500. Pifer’s first race of 2007 was the mile at the Air Force Invite. He won the event in a mark of 4:14.87. Pifer ran the 3k at the Husky Classic and placed 12^th overall (8:07.69). His next meet would be the conference championship and he would score in both the mile and 3k. Pifer earned a provisional qualifying mark during the finals of the mile. He placed second in 4:00.86. He was fourth overall in the 3k, finishing the race in 8:10.22. At the national meet, he placed third overall (4:00.93) and was the only CU athlete to score and earn All-American status for the Buffs. Pifer didn’t start his outdoor season until the end of April at the Oregon Invite. He placed first in the 1,500 with a regional time of 3:41.77. Two weeks later, he recorded a pr of 13:43.04 in the 5k at the Stanford Invite. Pifer competed in both events at the conference championship. He was second in both the 1,500 (3:42.16) and 5k (14:26.95). Pifer moved on to regionals in the 1,500 and earned another trip to nationals by placing second with a time of 3:40.78. He qualified for the finals after racing to a seventh-place finish in the prelims, but he fell short in the finals and placed 11^th. Pifer did earn All-American status. Pifer didn’t end his season there and decided to compete at the USATF Championship. He ran his third best time of the year, 3:41.83, in the prelims, but it wasn’t enough as he placed 17^th overall.

2006: Pifer became the first Buff to record a sub four-minute mile on Feb. 2 at the Husky Classic. He ran a mark of 3:59.55, to record the school record and a provisional qualifying mark, while taking fifth. Pifer owns three of the top six marks in CU history. He also ran a mark of 4:02.68 (fifth) at the NCAA Indoor Championships during the preliminary round and a time of 4:02.73 (sixth) at the Big 12 Championship where he took second overall. Pifer earned a fifth-place finish at nationals for his first track All-America honor (4:14.81). Pifer set a provisional qualifying mark and a pr of 7:59.32 in the 3k at the University of Washington Open and took first. At the league championship, he placed seventh in 8:12.37. Pifer mainly concentrated on the 1,500 in the outdoor season, but ran the 800 and the 5k. He took second in the 800 at the Colorado Invitational while setting a regional qualifying time of 1:50.43 (after the altitude adjustment). In the 5k, he recorded another regional qualifying mark and pr of 13:48.45 at the Cardinal Invitational. He placed second at the Big 12 Championship (14:10.15) behind teammate Bret Schoolmeester. Pifer recorded a Hart Patterson Track & Field Complex record in the 1,500 as he won the race in 3:40.70. At the regional meet, Pifer placed fourth in 3:43.95. He recorded a mark of 3:53.00 and placed 23^rd at nationals, largely due to a fall at the beginning of the race.

2005: Pifer continued to be a strong mile runner for the Buffs during the indoor season. He ran a 4:02.04 mile at the Husky Classic, which was good for a fourth-place finish, an NCAA preliminary qualifying mark and a personal record, just shy of the school record. He also ran a 8:05.90 in the 3,000-meter race at the Husky Classic for a sixth-place finish. He strung together another solid showing in the outdoor campaign, racing in the 800, 1,500 and 5,000-m. He was the first to cross the tape at the Colorado Invitational with a time of 1:51.87 in the 800. In the 1,500, Pifer made it all the way to the NCAA Championships and finished seventh in the preliminaries with a pr of 3:40.51. Three days later he claimed a 12^th-place finish in the NCAAs. He finished third at the Big 12 Championships with a time of 3:52.18. In the 5k, he set a pr of 14:32.26 at the Big 12 Championships, earning himself a ninth-place finish.

2004: Pifer was the team’s strongest miler, posting a provisional time of 4:02.59 at Washington’s Last Chance Meet for the victory. At the Big 12 Championships, he earned scoring points for CU with his second-place finish in 4:04.32. He also finished fourth (4:18.82) at the Air Force Invite. During the outdoor campaign he only ran one race, which was an 800-m competition at the Arizona State Invitational by clocking a 1:51.76 to finish as the runner-up.

CROSS COUNTRY: In his redshirt freshman season in ’04, Pifer had a season-best ninth place finish at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and lettered after running all three postseason races finishing 17^th at the Big 12, 26^th at the NCAA Mountain and 44^th for All-American honors at the NCAA Championships. He once again ran all three postseason races in 2005, finishing fifth at the Big 12 Championship, seventh at the NCAA Mountain Regional Championship and 37^th at the NCAA Championships. His finish at the NCAA was good enough to earn him All-American status for the second year in a row. Pifer also earned all-conference and all-region accolades during his sophomore campaign. Pifer continued to add to his honors by earning all-conference, all-region and All-America status in 2006. During the postseason, Pifer never finished below 20^th. He was CU’s No. 2 at nationals and was instrumental in helping CU to its second title in three years. It was also Pifer’s second national title. He also placed seventh at Big 12’s and 14^th at regionals. Pifer continued to help lead the Buffs into his senior campaign in 2007 and was CU’s No.1/2. He started off the season with a third-place finish at the Rocky Mountain Shootout (second CU racer). Pifer took third at pre-nats as well, leading the Buffs. Pifer earned his fourth All-Big 12 honor by taking fourth at the conference meet and it was the only meet he was CU’s third scorer. Pifer earned his third all-region nod with a sixth-place finish as he crossed the finish just ahead of teammates Brent Vaughn and Kenyon Neuman. Pifer also earned his fourth All-American honor at nationals, posting a 34^th-place finish and capping off an amazing career.

HIGH SCHOOL: Pifer became the first runner since 1972, and just sixth overall, to win the “Triple Crown” of distance running, by capturing the Class AA cross country, 1,600-m and 3,200-m titles during the 2002-03 school year. In the 2002 postseason, he finished seventh at the Midwest FootLocker Regionals (15:42) before a 14^th place effort at nationals (15:22.0). His progression towards his cross country state title began his sophomore season, finishing 22^nd and improving to third as a junior before claiming the individual crown as a senior. In the meantime, he helped guide the Tigers to four Madison County, Southwest Conference and Southern Sectional team titles in cross (two conference titles in track). On the track, he was a three-time Class AA Illinois State Champion (two-time 1,600-m champion and 2003 3,200-m title) and two-time All-American (in the distance medley relay as a junior and mile as a senior). He graduated from Edwardsville with school records in the 1,600-m (4:05), 3,200-m (8:57) and 3-mile (14:20) and as a member of the 3,200 and distance medley relay teams.

ACADEMICS: Pifer is a geography major at Colorado.

PERSONAL: Born Dec. 7, 1984 in Edwardsville, Ill., Stephen Wayne Pifer is the son of Chris Pifer of Glen Carbon, Ill., and Tamika Rettle of Edwardsville. He is the older brother of Anthony Flamer, Ashley Flamer and Jack Pifer. His hobbies include swimming, camping and hanging out with friends.