Colorado track and field concluded its indoor home season Saturday picking up eight wins during the track portion of the Colorado Invitational.
CU’s men’s distance took the meet and ran away with it in the mile and men’s 3,000. Charlie Sweeney led a trio of CU men in the 3,000, picking up the win in 8:08.23. Close behind was Austin Vancil in second at 8:08.66, while Jace Aschbrenner finished third in 8:10.47. All three men’s altitude converted times were good enough for top-10 in the NCAA before today, but are 12th, 14th and 21st in the NCAA as of 4 p.m. Saturday.
The distance crew started things off with the seeded versions of the miles where Eduardo Herrera took the win with ease at 4:03.53. His mark is good for 16th in the NCAA thus far. For the women, Emily Covert took the win in the 3,000 in 9:26.32 which puts her 16th in the NCAA as well.
One of the most anticipated events was the women’s 400 and it proved to be what was expected. CSU’s Lauren Gale took the win in a facility record and NCAA leading time 51.53, but closely behind her was Abbey Glynn in 53.00 and Emma Pollak in 53.76. Glynn was also under the previous facility record held by CU alum Gabby Scott.
With those astonishing marks, Glynn and Pollak slide into second and third in CU history, both passing previous school record holder Leona Russell. In the past three seasons, CU has had three women under the previous school record that stood since 1996. Glynn was just a hundredth of a second off of Russell’s mark of 54.00 as a freshman, dropping over a second off her previous indoor best. This was the first open 400 for Pollak in her young CU career. Glynn now sits 17th in the NCAA while Pollak is 28th.
The men’s 400 was also a huge showdown as Tyler Williams came up just short to CSU’s Tom Willems who won in a facility record 46.54 seconds. Williams’ time of 46.97 was also under the previous record of 47.10 by CU alum Duane McClurkin Jr., and with the new mark Williams moves to third all-time in CU history. The CU men took three of the top-four spots in the open event with Aaron McCoy in third at 47.41 and Garrett Nelson in fourth at 48.00. Williams’ mark is top-30 in the NCAA at 29th.
Both set of quarter-milers performed well with second-place finishes as the men’s team of Ian Gilmore, McCoy, Nelson and Williams ran 3:09.69 to finish second by two-tenths of a second. Their time is good for third in CU history. McCoy had the best split at 46.62 on the second leg, while Williams closed in 46.97. Nelson was just under 47.5 for his split while Gilmore was under 48.5. The mark is good enough for 25th in the NCAA.
The women’s quartet of Grace Jenkins, Pollak, Jaida Drame and Glynn ran 3:37.77, good for second in CU history as they finished just behind CSU who broke the facility record. Both teams were under the previous best which was a CU school record at the time it was run. Glynn did all she could and anchored with a 52.28 split while Pollak ran under 53 with a 52.83 second split. Drake, who hadn’t run yet this season, split out just under 55 seconds while Jenkins opened in 57.5. The women are now 21st in the NCAA.
Two Buffs took home a pair of titles today, Luc Andrada in the men’s 60 and 200, and Avery McMullen who won the 60 hurdles to join her high jump win from yesterday. Andrada won at the line in the 60-meter dash in 6.74 and tied the 10th-best mark in the 200 at 21.50. McMullen dropped another huge personal best in the hurdles to win in 8.37, good for third in CU history. She also finished third in the 200 to move to fifth in that event in CU history with a time of 24.27.
Micaela Degenero made her season debut to win the women’s 800 in a time of 2:10.61, good for eighth in CU history.
The meet was an incredible one with six total facility records falling, including all of the women’s sprint records. Colorado heads to Spokane for the Washington State Combined Events Open and Invitational, while the rest of the team will compete at the Invitational At The Peak hosted by Air Force.
TRACK RESULTS
Men’s 60: 1. Luc Andrada (COLO) 6.74 (6.731); 10. Aidan Christiansen (COLO) 7.15; 14. John Swabik (COLO) 7.43; 16. Nick Bianco (COLO) 7.56
Men’s 200: 1. Luc Andrada (COLO) 21.50; 6. Ian Gilmore (COLO) 22.12; 10. Kellen Monestime (COLO) 22.45
Men’s 400: 1. Tom Willems (CSU) 46.54 (FACILITY RECORD); 2. Tyler Williams (COLO) 46.97; 3. Aaron McCoy (COLO) 47.41; 4. Garrett Nelson (COLO) 48.00; 7. Nick Nuhfer (COLO) 49.49; 12. Nick Bianco (COLO) 51.17; 13. John Swabik (COLO) 51.23
Men’s 800: 1. Cameron Ross (CSU) 1:51.96
Men’s Mile: 1. Luke Combs (AF) 4:11.46; 2. Caleb Niednagel (COLO) 4:11.65; 16. Ryan Lindrud (COLO) 4:22.48
Men’s Seeded Mile: 1. Eduardo Herrera (COLO) 4:03.53; 8. Noah Hibbard (COLO) 4:12.17
Men’s 3,000: 1. Charlie Sweeney (COLO) 8:08.23; 2. Austin Vancil (COLO) 8:08.66; 3. Jace Aschbrenner (COLO) 8:10.47; 6. Shaw Powell (COLO) 8:17.46; 12. Jake Derouin (COLO) 8:24.22; 13. Alec Hornecker (COLO) 8:25.07; 25. Kashon Harrison (COLO) 8:40.44; 26. Josh Torres (COLO) 8:40.72
Men’s 60 Hurdles: 1. Liam Mather (CSU) 8.17; 5. Nick Bianco (COLO) 8.52; 6. John Swabik (COLO) 8.54; 7. Noah Bouchard (COLO) 8.58
Men’s 4×400: 1. CSU (Stark, Fulton, Cauble, Willems) 3:09.59; 2. COLO A (Gilmore, McCoy, Nelson, Williams) 3:09.69; 3. COLO B (Nuhfer, Monestime, Andrada, Lindrud) 3:18.86
Women’s 60: 1. Marybeth Sant-Price (UNAT) 7.14 (FACILITY RECORD); 3. Kaleah Ruff (COLO) 7.81
Women’s 200: 1. Jessica Ozoude (CSU) 23.45 (FACILITY RECORD); 3. Avery McMullen (COLO) 24.27; 7. Kaleah Ruff (COLO) 25.81; 12. Elise Gillett (COLO) 26.93
Women’s 400: 1. Lauren Gale (CSU) 51.53 (FACILITY RECORD); 2. Abbey Glynn (COLO) 53.00; 3. Emma Pollak (COLO) 53.76; 5. Grace Jenkins (COLO) 56.10; 10. Reese Renz (COLO) 60.18
Women’s 800: 1. Micaela Degenero (COLO) 2:10.61
Women’s Mile: 1. Anna Shults (COLO) 5:07.29; 7. Bailey Nock (COLO) 5:16.23
Women’s Seeded Mile: 1. Val Constien (UNAT) 4:38.30; 3. Rachel McArthur (COLO) 4:52.14
Women’s 3,000: 1. Emily Covert (COLO) 9:26.32; 2. India Johnson (COLO) 9:38.95; 4. Kaitlyn Barthell (COLO) 9:45.90; 11. Gabrielle Orie (COLO) 9:51.46; 15. Kyla Christopher-Moody (COLO) 10:05.88; 20. Joelle McDonald (COLO) 10:16.89; 24. Karina Andersen (COLO) 10:24.11; 26. Alisa Meraz-Fishbein (COLO) 10:33.08; 30. Whitney Valenti (COLO) 10:49.83
Women’s 60 Hurdles: 1. Avery McMullen (COLO) 8.37; 3. Jada Green (COLO) 8.65; 4. Reese Renz (COLO) 8.91; 5. Elise Gillett (COLO) 8.94; 6. Kylee Harr (COLO) 9.45; 7. Allie Routledge (COLO) 10.14
Women’s 4×400: 1. CSU A (Johnson, Ozoude, Goldsworthy, Gale) 3:36.28 (FACILITY RECORD); 2. COLO (Jenkins, Pollak, Drame, Glynn) 3:37.77
