This weekend the Buffs competed in the Mt. San Antonio College (SAC) Relays in Walnut, Calif. In one of the biggest meets of the outdoor season, the Buffs came out looking strong Thursday night, a theme they would carry throughout the entire weekend.
Day one was comprised entirely of distance events. In the men’s 1500-meter run, sophomore transfer Jake Hurysz kicked his way to a second place finish. Running unattached, Hurysz made a big move on the final back stretch to pass seven competitors before the finish. His final quarter mile was a blazing 55 seconds, good enough for first in his heat and second overall, finishing in a time of 3:43.56. Senior Andy Wacker also competed in the 1500, placing second in his heat and 20th overall with a time of 3:48.40.
Freshman sprinter Eileen Gehring accelerates just after recieving the baton from fellow freshman teammate Lindsy Mattson during the women's 4x400-meter race on March 17 at Potts Field in Boulder. Over the weekend Gehring took 10th in the women's 400-meter dash and second in the women's 4x400 meter relay. (Robert R. Denton)
Junior Aric Van Halen showed great improvement in the 3000-meter steeplechase, running in Thursday’s Olympic Developmental heat. Van Halen crossed the line in 8:42.79 for third overall. His time was a 10 second improvement over his former personal best, and also makes him the sixth fastest Buff in CU history. Hugh Dowdy and Jonathon Stevens also competed in the event. Dowdy, competing in the “C” heat, finished with a personal best time of 8:57.62. Stevens ran in the “B” heat and also ran a personal best of 9:06.86.
Also competing in the steeplechase were junior Courtney Bouchet and sophomore Diana George. The pair showed great improvement over their previous personal bests, finishing in 10:42.32 and 10:42.79, and crossing the line in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Junior Ryan Savercool made his outdoor 10,000-meter debut, competing in the “B” section. Savercool finished 24th overall in a time of 31:59.64.
Friday saw the most action for the Buffs, the most impressive being the outdoor debut of Jessica Tebo (formerly Pixler). Tebo, competing in her first race in over a year, ran in the Elite Invitational section of the women’s 1500-meter run. Tebo led the race going into the final lap but faded in the last 100 meters to finish in fifth place in a time of 4:15.15. Tebo’s time is the 10th fastest ever run by a Buff, making her the sixth fastest woman in CU history.
Junior Shalaya Kipp made a strong 2012 debut running in the Olympic Developmental heat of the women’s 5000-meter. Kipp, an All-American in the steeple chase, finished in 12th place with a personal best time of 16:00.40.
Freshman sprinter Eileen Gehring returned to form this weekend, competing in the open 400-meter dash. Gehring finished in a time of 54.21, good enough for 10th place.
Later in the day, Gehring, Bridget Sweeney, Brianne Beemer and Lindsy Mattson ran the 4×400 meter relay. Beemer, running the third leg, brought the Buffs into first place as she handed the baton to the anchor, Mattson. She battled with a runner from North Dakota State University for the entire last lap and was narrowly edged to finish in an impressive second place. Their time makes them the seventh fastest Buffs in school history at that event.
On the men’s side, junior Joe Morris looked strong competing in the open 200-meter dash. Morris got out of the blocks strong, leading coming out of the curve, and managed to hold on for a time of 20.91. His time was fourth in his heat and sixth overall.
The Buffs left Mt. SAC with a handful of personal bests, top ten performances and a few new names on the All-Time lists. The track and field team will be back in action next weekend at Stanford’s Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational and at Colorado State’s Jack Christiansen Invitational.
Statistics courtesy of the University of Colorado Sports Information Department.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Ryan Sterner at Ryan.sterner@colorado.edu.
