The University of Colorado's Jenny Barringer, left, hits the water in the women's 3000-meter Steeplecase at the US Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis, Thursday, June 21, 2007. Barringer will compete in the Big 12 Championships in Boulder this weekend.

The University of Colorado will host the Big 12 Track & Field Championships this weekend at Potts Field. It's the first time CU has hosted the event, one that will draw hundreds of athletes and thousands of fans into Boulder, and one that will help shed some much deserved light on one of the most successful track & field programs around.

Entering the meet the Buffs, who took fourth (men) and tenth (women) place overall in 2007, have several returning individual Big 12 Champions.

For the men, ranked No. 11 in the latest USTFCCCA rankings, seniors Brent Vaughn and Billy Nelson return to defend their 2007 titles in the 5,000-meters and steeplechase, respectively. In 2006, Vaughn, Pete Janson and Stephen Pifer each won titles in the 10,000m, steeplechase and 1,500m, respectively, and will all be back.

On the women's side Jenny Barringer will return to defend her Big 12 steeplechase title, and she will possibly try for more hardware in the 1,500 and 5,000-meters.

Last season's Big 12 team champions, Oklahoma (men) and Texas A&M (women) both return to the competition. Texas A&M's men's and women's squads are currently ranked No. 1 and No.3, respectively, by the USTFCCCA.

Events begin today at 10 a.m. with the heptathlon where CU senior Chelsea Haverty and junior Troi Smith will look to get the Buffs off to a good start. The heptahlon and decathlon events will continue throughout Friday while CU senior James Begley competes in the hammer throw final. The day's events will conclude with the men's and women's 10,000-meters, beginning at 7 p.m. CU senior Chris Pannone is the only Buffs to have run the 10,000-meters this year and he recorded an NCAA provisional mark of 28:49.96.

Saturday the heptahlon and decathlon will finish up while several field events, such as the shot put and long jump, will hold their finals from noon until 5 p.m. and track will run preliminary races from 4-7 p.m.

Sunday will be a day of finals in both the track and field events, with the Team Championship Awards Presentation to be held at 6:45 p.m.

Among those looking to compete for Big 12 titles on Sunday are sophomore javelin thrower Kevin Fasing and Begley, in the discus. In track events, the men's 4x100 relay team should contend, and at 3:15 the steeplechase will be held where CU's Billy Nelson and Jenny Barringer are each back to defend their titles, as is '06 champ Pete Janson.

One of the top races to watch may be when CU's Pifer squares off against Texas' Leo Manzano for the fourth time in the men's 1,500-meters at 3:45 p.m. Manzano has won two of the last three Big 12 titles in the event, with Pifer taking the honors in 2006 while setting a Big 12 record of 3:40.70. CU junior Kenyon Neuman will compete for the men as well.

For the women, Sara Vaughn, wife of Brent, will also run in the 1,500m where she took third in 2007 and is looking for a qualifying run of at least 4:34.34 in order for her to compete at the NCAA regionals May 30-31. Barringer may also choose to run.

Hurdles and sprint finals will be run from 4-5:30 p.m. CU junior Jeremy Dodson owns regional marks in both the 100 and 200-meters and is ranked fourth in the Big 12 in each. CU's twin freshmen, Toi and Joi Windham, will compete in the women's 400m hurdles along with sophomore Sara Price.

The 5,000-meter run, an event that CU has won 10 of 11 titles (men's and women's) in since the Big 12 began in 1997, will feature one of CU's Olympic hopefuls, Brent Vaughn. Having already clocked the fastest collegiate time in the nation at 13:18.36, Vaughn will be joined by teammates Pifer, Pannone, Neuman and freshmen Matt Tebo and Richard Medina. Potts Field has undergone a massive reformation for this event, with new bleachers, a new throwing cage, pole vault area and other improvements totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. The hope is to make Boulder a site where other major athletic events will feel comfortable holding their competitions, as well as spur interest in the CU program overall.

Tickets for the Big 12 Track & Field Championships may be bought online at www.cubuffs.com or at the ticket booth at Potts Field.

Contact Eliot Dempsey about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 112 or sports@coloradodaily.com