Just to extend what I noted about Buff coaching in post #37 above, wanted to highlight (as also noted in the article quoted below) that Mr. Klecker is also coached by a #ForeverBuff great, Dathan Ritzenhein. (As was 1st noted in an a May Allbuff thread, it was recently announced Mr. Ritzenhein is going to be one of this year's class for induction into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame.)
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Article on yesterday's racing-
Direct link -
https://cubuffs.com/news/2021/6/18/track-and-field-klecker-makes-usa-olympic-team.aspx
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EUGENE – It didn't take long for a Colorado track and field alum to make their way onto the Team USA 2020 Olympic Track and Field team after
Joe Klecker finished third in the men's 10,000-meter run finals here Friday evening at the first day of the USATF Olympic Trials.
Klecker had to drop a 54.54 second final quarter-mile in the 6.2 mile long race to earn his spot on the team. After the 4,000-meter mark, Klecker never left the top-10 and was in second to start the final 2,000-meters of the race. He dropped to third with 1,200-meters remaining but covered the final 800-meters in 1:58.36 to secure his spot on his first Olympic team.
Nike's Woody Kincaid, a native of Colorado, won the race in 27:53.62, while Grant Fisher finished second in 27:54.29. Klecker finished right on Fisher's heels, a place he stayed at for most of the race, finishing in 27:54.90.
Klecker becomes the first male Buff to run at the Olympics in the 10,000 since his professional coach and former Buff legend Dathan Ritzenhein did in London in 2012. He becomes the fourth CU alum to run the 10k at the Olympics, joining Ritzenhein's two appearances, Jorge Torres' 2008 appearance and Kara Goucher's 2008 appearance.
The Buffs now own two of the first three Pac-12 Olympic positions this year as Morgan Pearson was the first for the men in the triathlon and Klecker is the third following Fisher's finish .61 seconds ahead of him. Galen Rupp, Jake Riley and Abdi Abdirahman are also conference representatives after qualifying in the marathon in February of 2020 where the Conference of Champions swept the men's spots.
The Buffaloes also favored well in the women's 1,500 first round with
Jenny Simpson and
Dani Jones advancing to the semifinals. Simpson was the top qualifier in 4:11.34 out of the first heat while Jones ran 4:13.47 to place second in the second heat and advance. Micaela Degenero finished 26th overall in 4:18.33 and will not advance.
Also for the former CU athletes, both Maddie Alm and Carrie Verdon moved on to the finals in the women's 5,000 out of the first heat. Alm ran the third-best time today in 15:31.43 while Verdon finished with the ninth-best mark at 15:32.87.
The women's 5,000 semifinals continue tomorrow at 7:40 p.m. MT while the women's 5,000 finals start Monday at 6:40 p.m. The women's steeplechase will be the next event for the Buffs to join in on the action with the first round starting Sunday at 7:35 p.m. with Emma Coburn, Val Constien, Sara Vaughn and
Madie Boreman all competing.
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(Aztecbuff- In the last paragraph quoted above, I believe the 1st sentence is incorrect. It should say "The women's
1,500 semifinals continue tomorrow at 7:40 p.m.".)