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Track & field at 2019 Outdoor NCAA West Prelims (Sacramento, CA; May 23-25)

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The competition keeps getting stronger as 25 Buffs head off to (possibly toasty) Sacramento CA to compete May 23rd- 25th as they try to qualify for the NCAA Championships finals to be held in Austin June 5th - 8th.

Also, BIG congrats to heptathletes Michaela Wenning and Maja Wichhart-Donzo, who both ended up with top 24 scores nationally in their events, so already have qualified for the finals!



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/5/16/...etes-entered-for-ncaa-west-preliminaries.aspx

"
By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID
Release: May 16, 2019


INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Colorado track and field program will be sending 25 athletes to the 2019 NCAA Track and Field Championships West Preliminaries next weekend in Sacramento, Calif.

15 women will be entered in nine events, while the men will bring 10 athletes in seven sevens (events). In addition, both Michaela Wenning and Maja Wichhart-Donzo have qualified straight-through to the 2019 NCAA National Championships in the heptathlon. Wenning will also compete in the high jump at the West Preliminaries. This is the first time in school history that CU has qualified numerous multis to the national championships.

The women's distance squad qualified individuals in every event 800-meters and up. Elissa Mann is the eighth-fastest qualifier in the 800 at 2:04.35, while Annie Hill and Karina Mann are the 29th and 33rd-fastest qualifiers in the 1,500, respectfully. Val Constien is the eight-best qualifier in the steeplechase. The women's 5,000 is the largest competed event for Colorado with Makena Morley (10th), Dani Jones (16th), Kaitlyn Benner (18th) and Tabor Scholl (32nd) all qualified. Benner, Morley and Scholl will all double up in the 10,000 as well.

Another large group for CU is the 400 hurdles. Gabby Scott is the third-fastest qualifier at 56.82 seconds. Eriana Henderson and Valerie Welch qualified as well as the 21st and 26th-best competitors. Those three will join forces will Dani Johnson on the 4x400-meter relays as well that is 10th in qualifying.

In the field events, Kylee Harr will join Wenning in the high jump. They are also joined by Elisa Grandemange in the hammer throw.

For the men, the 5,000 is the largest competed event with three competitors. Ryan Forsyth, John Dressel and Ethan Gonzales all qualified, with Forsyth 13th and Dressel 16th. Both Dressel and Forsyth will double in the 10,000 as well.

Gabe Fendel and Eduardo Herrera finishes out the distance squad in the 1,500. Fendel qualified 33rd overall with Herrera as the 43rd-best competitor.

The Buffaloes will also have a pair of 400 runners with Jon Maas in the 400-meter dash and Aaron McCoy in the 400 hurdles. Maas is the 15th-best competitor while McCoy is the 30th-qualified competitor. Both will run on the 4x400-meter relay as well with Kendal Smith and either Duane McClurkin Jr. or Nathan Hoy.

Freshman Jeremy Cody will be the lone field event athlete for the men. He is the 37th-best qualifier in the high jump.
"
________________________________________________________________________

Some links -

Page with links to almost if not all of the resources below (For both West and East Prelims, as well as the Championships Finals) - http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor19/

Digital Program (For both preliminaries) - https://www.ncaa.com/DIOutdoorTFRegionals

"Road to the Championships" webpage (Includes description of the qualifying process) - https://www.ncaa.com/championships/trackfield-outdoor/d1/road-to-the-championships
(Per that, "Twelve competitors from each individual event and twelve teams from each relay event advance from each Preliminary Round site. " (to the finals in Austin).)

Schedule of events (West Prelims only) - https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ch.../2018-19D1XTO_ScheduleOfEvents-Sacramento.pdf

Entries (West Prelims only) -
Women's
- http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor19/west_women_declared.htm
Men's - http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor19/west_men_declared.htm

Heat sheets/ Start Lists -
Women's
- http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor19/west_women_start.htm
Men's - http://www.rtspt.com/ncaa/d1outdoor19/west_men_start.htm

Live Results - https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/West/index.htm

Live Video Coverage - Believe it will only be available for those with Flotrack premium subscriptions (link at https://www.flotrack.org/live/12512-2019-di-ncaa-west-preliminary-round/signup ).
 
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Article from last week on Buff star hurdler Gabby Scott heading into this week's West Prelim's. (The 1st round race for her (and fellow-Buff qualifiers Eriana Henderson and Valerie Welch) individual event, the 400M Hurdles, is the 1st event on the track, scheduled to start Thursday at 5:30 PM MT (4:30 PM Sacramento time).)



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/5/15/track-and-field-cus-scott-takes-aim-at-ncaas.aspx

"
BOULDER — Colorado senior Gabby Scott can look back now at her first-ever hurdles race and smile.

At the time, however, she couldn't manage much more than a grimace.

Scott, who now holds the CU 400-hurdles record (56.82) as well as the school's open 400 marks (indoor and outdoor), made her hurdles debut as a college freshman at the Texas Relays.

It was, she says with a laugh, a less-than-resounding success.

"For starters, the Texas Relays are intimidating as is, never mind that it's my first race," Scott said this week. "Big crowd and I'm out in lane 9, way out there all by myself. I really didn't know what I was doing. I just kind of ran — stuttered and jumped over a hurdle for 10 hurdles. It was definitely something to remember."
Scott finished that first 400-meter hurdles race in 1 minutes, 6 seconds. If you're doing the math, that's 10 seconds slower than her current personal best — and a virtual eternity in the event.

But she persevered. In her very next race, she shaved four seconds off her debut time, and over the next few years steadily improved under the tutelage of hurdles coach Burke Bockman.

Now, Scott has a legitimate chance of becoming the first-ever CU woman to advance to the NCAA Championships finals in the event. Currently holding the fifth-best time in the nation, she will run next week in the NCAA West Preliminary meet in Sacramento, Calif., with an eye on advancing to the June 5-8 NCAA Championships.

If she can advance to the championships, she will finish her CU career in Austin, Texas — on the same track where she made her college hurdles debut.
"Now I use that first race as an example to show younger athletes not to be afraid of trying something new," Scott said. "I can show them how I improved and and use it to encourage other people to keep at it and keep working."

Scott has firmly imprinted her name in the CU record books. She owns the school records in the indoor 400 (52.34) and outdoor 400 (also 52.34), as well as the outdoor 400 hurdles (56.82). She broke the records previously held by Leona Russell, who established the marks in 1996, and she is also part of CU's record-setting 4x400 relay team. Her seventh-place finish earlier this year at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the open 400 made her CU's first-ever All-American at the distance (indoor or out).

"It was a great feeling," Scott said of breaking records that were set before she was born. "First the indoor 400 record, then the 400 hurdle record by the same woman. That was kind of cool. Having your name in the record books really makes it fun."

Scott was a successful quarter miler at Westview High School in San Diego when she was recruited to Colorado, and she chose CU for several reasons — not the least of which is that it offered her a chance to pursue an excellent business degree.

"I was pretty average in high school but I felt I was finally coming into my own — what they call a late bloomer physically," she said. "It offered me a chance to grow, a place where I wouldn't be a really small fish in a big pond. When I came here, I absolutely loved my visit. The mountains were beautiful, the campus was great and it's only a 21/2-hour flight from home. And at the end of the day, it was the Leeds Business School that made the biggest difference. I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur and explore different business opportunities, and I knew Leeds offered that opportunity."

When Scott arrived on campus, Bockman had just taken the job as CU's sprints and hurdles coach.
...
"
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Also, see there's now a link to live results (https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/West/index.htm), and I've added it to the OP.
 
With action starting today (Thursday; 2:30 MT 1st Buff- competed field event; 5:30 PM MT 1st Buff event on the track), the official cubuffs.com article is available -


Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/5/22/track-and-field-colorado-prepped-for-ncaa-west-preliminaries.aspx

"
By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID
BOULDER –
The University of Colorado track and field program will send 24 student-athletes to the 2019 NCAA West Preliminaries at Sacramento State University starting tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. (MT).

CU will compete in 16 total events with the goal to place in the top-12 in the events and advance to the NCAA National Championships in Austin, Texas. 14 women and 10 men compete with the men featured in seven events and the women in nine.

Colorado has three women ranked inside the top-12 in the NCAA West going into this weekend in their respected events. Elissa Mann is the eighth-ranked individual in the 800-meter run, Gabby Scott is fourth in the 400 hurdles and Val Constien is eighth in the steeplechase.
...

Action begins for the Buffaloes tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. (MT) with the women's high jump. Freshman Kylee Harr is entered in the event after jumping 1.75 meters (5-8.75) at the first meet of the season. Her mark is tied for 10th in school history. She will be joined in the field events by Elisa Grandemange in the hammer throw. On the track, 400 hurdle prelims begin at 3:30 p.m. for the women and at 4 p.m. for Aaron McCoy on the men's side. Thursday's action will also include prelims in the 1,500, 400, 800 and the 10,000 finals.

Friday's action with begin with the finals in the 400, 800, 400 hurdles and end with the steeplechase, while Saturday features the men's high jump, 1,500 finals, 5,000 finals and the 4x400-meter relays. All three days of competition will be streamed on FloTrack.

2019 NCAA West Prelim outdoor Track and Field Competition_Buff athletes sched.png
"
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Cubuff.com Prelim Notes - https://cubuffs.com/documents/2019/5/22//CU_2019_NCAA_West_Prelim_Notes.pdf
 
The times listed in the above post listing detail times for the various Buff T & F athletes' events seems off, as I believe it was subtracting an hour from the start times listed in the official schedule rather than adding an hour, which it should have done since the schedule is in the local (Pacific) time for Sacramento.

The article now has the below corrected list, what looks to be accurate start times:

2019 NCAA West Prelim outdoor Track and Field Competition_Buff athletes sched_CORRECTED.png
 
Nice start on the track for the Buffs, as it looks like 2 of 3 women competing have advanced to Friday night's quarterfinals in the 400M hurdles. With all 6 heats in (and top 2 3 in each heat auto-qualifying), senior Gabby Scott won her heat in what is the 3rd fastest time overall, while junior Eriana Henderson finished 2nd in her heat. (Her time is also looking solid, 11th overall, which, if I'm seeing things right, was a good 0.4 second PR for her, and moves her up to #3 all-time in the Buff record book.)
Edit- Just noticed the 3rd Buff in the 400M hurdles, sophomore Valerie Welch, in one of those "game of inches" common sometimes in all sports, just missed the 3rd auto-qualifying spot in her heat by .01 seconds.
 
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And, looks like a VERY nice job by senior Karina Mann, who came into her 1500M heat with one of the slower times of the 12 runners, but finishes 4th while setting her season best (and assume maybe PR?) by 6-7 seconds. With that performance, She qualifies for Saturday's 2nd round (AKA quarterfinals), as the top 5 in each heat automatically advance.
 
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Sophomore Eduardo Herrera becomes the 4th Buff to advance to a 2nd (quarterfinal) round race, as he finishes 4th in his heat of the men's 1500M with what looks like a 1+ second season's best.
 
Doesn't look like near his best time at the distance, but sophomore Jon Maas joins the group of Buffs moving on to the next round, as he gets the 3rd (last) qualifying spot in his 400M heat!
(Edit - With all the heats now completed, looked like he ended up in the perfect heat, as he ended up the slowest qualifier time-wise by 0.5 seconds, but qualifying is qualifying.)
 
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And junior Elissa Mann joins her twin sister Karina in qualifying for the 2nd/ quarterfinal round, in her case in the 800M. She missed out from earning an auto berth by finishing 4th, but easily qualifies on time is the fastest runner outside of the top 3 heat (auto-qualifying) finishers. (Her heat was a FAST one, as her time ended up being #8 overall.)

Next up at the top of the hour are the 1st races where the top 12 finishers advance directly to the NCAA Championships in Austin, with the women's 10000M (3 Buffs competing) scheduled to start at 10:00 MT, then the men at 10:40, with 2 Buffs scheduled to toe the line.
 
Unfortunately, Live Results, which had been working well, broke before the women's 10K, so don't have any detail on what happened, but looks like a couple Buff women are going to Austin from their 10K performances!
(Both are also scheduled to run in the 5K race this Saturday.)

 
And the men distance runners end a solid overall day for the Buffs as both running in the 10000M qualify for Austin!



(Looks like it may have been a rather contained run, as all 12 qualifiers finished less than 4 seconds of each other, which would NEVER happen in an all-out race (https://dt8v5llb2dwhs.cloudfront.net/West/008-1.pdf). Forsyth from CU was the 12th finisher; he did have a decent (7+ second) gap over the 13th place finisher.)

Note- the women's 10000M is now showing under protest. Hopefully nothing that will negatively effect the 2 Buff qualifiers.
 
Article on yesterday's action, with a view to today's. The quiestest day with only 6 competing, but all of today's races give the opportunity to advance to Austin for those who finish in the top 12.

(Note- With 6 already having advanced to the Championships in Austin (4 in the 10000M and 2 in the heptathlon) after day 1, the Buffs have already qualified as many as qualified last year. Hopefully they'll be able to get to or beyond the 9 that qualified in 2016 and 2017.)



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/5/24/...qualifies-four-to-nationals-in-first-day.aspx

"
By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID
Release: May 24, 2019


SACRAMENTO – It was a busy day in Sacramento for Colorado's track and field program, but the final event of the day qualified four Buffaloes to the NCAA National Championships in the 10,000-meter run.

The women were the first up for 25 laps of racing, and it was Kaitlyn Benner and Makena Morley that persevered. The two stuck with the lead pack of 11 women a majority of the race until the leader decided to leave the pack in the final 1,600 meters. Eight women remained in the chase pack, allowing Benner and Morley to stick with it to do just enough to qualify to nationals. The two crossed the finish line side-by-side in 33:40.70 and 33:44.72 with Benner placing eighth and Morley ninth.

Next up were the men where John Dressel and Ryan Forsyth found themselves in a much larger group than the women faced. With seven laps to go Dressel was right behind the leader in an enormous pack of half of the field of 48 athletes. Forsyth remained in the top-12 through to 1,600 meters left when Forsyth moved up to 10th and Dressel moved right behind him. BYU athletes pushed the pace and it wasn't until the start of the final lap that a clear qualifying group formed as seven athletes fell off the final pack of 13. Dressel and Forsyth found themselves near the back of the pack with 100 meters left but another athlete had fallen off pace in the backstretch, allowing the Buffs to cruise in to the qualifying spots. Dressel finished ninth in 29:00.98 and Forsyth finished 12th in 29:03.07. Both men ran personal bests in the race.

The four 10,000 runners that qualified will all have tomorrow off but will return Saturday evening for the finals of the 5,000.

The very first event on the track for Colorado produced the highest qualifying times with Gabby Scott and Eriana Henderson moving onto the next round in the women's 400 hurdles. Scott ran 57.79 seconds on her way to a win in the fifth heat and the third-fastest time of the day. Henderson ran a new personal best of 58.42 seconds and automatically qualified for finals after finishing second in the second heat. She has the 11th-best time going into the 12-person final. Henderson's time moves her to third in school history in the event.
...

Tomorrow action begins with Maas looking to finish in the top-12 in the men's 400 finals at 6:45 p.m. (MT). Elissa Mann and the 400 hurdle women will also compete in finals before Val Constien takes to the track in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase final at 9:20 p.m.
...
"
 
We have our 1st Buff advancing this evening (out of 4 who have competed) to Austin, as senior Gabby Scott wins her heat of the 400M hurdles quarterfinals, and also lowers her personal best (and CU record) time, running 56.51. Her time was 2nd among all athletes competing in her race in Sacramento tonight.

Fellow 400M hurdler Eriana Henderson ends up in the agonizing 13th position (so 1st non-qualifier). However, the junior set another BIG PR this evening, 57.67, so she looks primed for a BIG senior season. (With that time, she moves to #2 in the Buff all-time list, behind only Ms. Scott.)

The only Buff left to compete this evening is senior Val Constien, who is in heat #1 of the steeplechase. She should be starting in around 45 minutes.

 
The 1st heat of the steeple has just completed (at least in live timing), and senior Val Constien has already qualified for Austin as she finishes 3rd in her heat, with the top 3 in each heat auto-advancing. Looks like she was in control throughout, as she was leading (at least at the end of each lap) for the 1st 6 times around the track, and finishes only behind (and CLOSE behind) a couple runners who are considered some of the top 3-5 favorites or so for the overall championship in Austin. Ms. Constien also set a new personal best at 9:44.51 (~3 seconds better than the mark she set at last year's Championships final), which moves her #4 all-time on the CU record books in what is one of (if not THE) the Buffs' stronger events.

That moves the # of Buff qualifiers for the Championships to 8 this year, with obviously one more day of competition remaining.

Edit-
 
Article on today's action.



Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/5/24/track-and-field-constien-and-scott-punch-tickets-to-austin.aspx

"
By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID
Release: May 24, 2019


Constien extends CU’s steeplechase streak

SACRAMENTO – Two more Colorado track and field women are through to the NCAA National Championships after the second day of competition, bringing the CU total to eight athletes with tickets punched to Austin, Texas.

Gabby Scott and Val Constien both automatically qualified, Scott in the 400 hurdles and Constien in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Constien's weekend is done, while Scott will anchor the women's 4x400-meter relay tomorrow evening.

Constien closed out the night for the Buffs and did so in spectacular fashion. She took control of the race from the gun, immediately taking the inside rail position and leading the race to wear out the competitors. Two other athletes stuck with Constien's lead through 2,600 meters, but by the bell the three automatic spots were decided. Constien's pace had given the three athletes a 50-meter cushion and at that point she let the two other athletes pass and remained safely behind the duo. Constien crossed the line in a new personal best of 9:44.51, moving her to fourth all-time in school history in the event.

With Constien moving on in the women's steeplechase so does CU's dominance in the event. Since the event was added to the NCAA Championships in 2001, Colorado has always had a woman at the national championships. Eight women have made up 23 qualifiers over 19 years, and with her third trip Constien joins Natalie Florence, Jenny (Barringer) Simpson, Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp as the only Buffs to make it three or more times.

The women's 400 hurdles second heat was one for the record books for Colorado as Scott and Eriana Henderson became 1-2 in the school's top-performers list. The duo was next to one another in the second heat and battled through 300 meters before Scott took over to take the heat in a new school record of 56.51. She had the second-fastest time in qualifying and becomes the first CU women's sprinter or hurdler to qualify for nations since Hannah Cooper in 2002. She is also the first female 400-meter hurdler for the Buffs to qualify in more than 20 years, joining Leona Russell in 1996, Deborah McClendon in 1980 and Brenda Chambers in 1979 as the only CU women to compete in the event at nationals.

Henderson finished fifth in the heat and held the final qualifying spot until the last heat when she was bumped out by two-tenths of a second to finish 13th. Henderson's time of 57.67 takes over the second-best position and passes former school record holder Russell in the process. She dropped more than a full second off her previous best time this weekend.
...

Tomorrow will begin with Jeremy Cody in the men's high jump at 5 p.m. (MT), and will finish up with the 1,500 finals, 5,000 finals and the 4x400-meter relays.
...
"
 
At least based on times this season, looks like a nice surprise qualifying effort, and impressively so, for Buff redshirt sophomore Eduardo Herrera, who finishes 2nd in his heat of the 1500M 2nd round/ quarterfinals, with the top 5 of each heat auto-advancing to Austin!

His time, 3:41.35, looks to be a BIG PR, and moves him into the #5 time all-time position in the Buffs' record book. (Looks like his prior PR, from last season, was 3:43.92.)

Edit -

________________________________

Earlier, a nice effort by Buff frosh high jumper Jeremy Cody, who jumped the same height as some of the 12 qualifiers to Austin (6'11"), but he is listed in a tie for 17th, I assume due to the number of total misses he had, so won't advance. Still, a great sign for his jumping future with the Buffs.

Edit-
 
And it's 2 more Championships qualifying efforts by Buffs, this time the women's 5000M:
  • In heat one, redshirt junior Makena Morley follows up her qualifying effort in the 10000M by earning the 1st of 2 time qualifying times after finishing 6th in heat one. (That heat ended up quicker overall than #2, so her time was faster than the 6th place finisher in the 2nd heat. Note - I assume Ms. Morley probably at MINIMUM probably tied some Buff record for # of championships events earned, as this is her 4th earned over the track seasons, as she also qualifeed (and scored points) in 2 indoor distances (the 5000M and 3000M). If you include cross country, where she was the 2nd Buff finisher, that would be 5 championships finals for which she'll have competed in this academic year.)
  • In heat 2, redshirt junior Dani Jones, who is concentrating on the 5K this outdoor season as she gets her strength back after dealing with an injury, finished 3rd, so earned one of the 5 auto-qualifying spots.
 
And, looks like redshirt junior John Dressel, in heat one of the men's 5000M, also qualified (in a THRILLING manner)-




This is Mr. Dressel's 2nd qualifying run for Austin, as he qualified a couple days ago in the 10000M.

(One Buff is also in the 2nd heat, which is in process now.)
 
Unofficially, looks like the Buff women have auto-qualified with a 3rd place finish in the 4X400M relay, always the grand finale at college meets, and a great rallying event for the whole team. This is also cool in that senior Gabby Scott is the only 1 of the 4 who qualified in an individual event, so will give the rest of the team (the 3 are a sophomore (Valerie Welch) and 2 juniors (Eriana Henderson and Dani Johnson)) an experience in the championships environment, which hopefully will come in handy when they qualify in later years.


 
Article after the final day of prelims-


Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2019/5/26/...ado-closes-out-west-prelims-on-high-note.aspx

"
By: Shaun Wicen, Assistant SID
Release: May 25, 2019


SACRAMENTO – The University of Colorado track and field program put together an outstanding final day at the NCAA West Preliminaries, adding four more events qualified to the NCAA National Championships.

After the three days Colorado qualified 13 total student-athletes to the NCAA Championships, tying the second-most individuals at an outdoor championship in school history with the 2007 and 1999 squads. 10 women will compete in five events, while the men get three through in three events. CU will compete in 13 total competitions in Austin in two weeks.

"Before each year at this meet I make a projection chart and think if we all have a brilliant day how many get through and if we have an excellent weekend how many get through and I would have to say we exceeded my optimistic projection," said head coach Mark Wetmore.

The men had a strong evening led by John Dressel in the men's 5,000. The junior put his body on the line for the chance to compete in the double at Austin. Dressel went out in a slow first heat of the men's 5,000 and kept himself in the chase as he stuck around sixth with 14 men in the peloton with 800 left. The group dropped the hammer with 700 meters left and Dressel moved into fifth in the final turn. Down the homestretch he was on the verge of getting caught when he dove from two meters out to move from nearly caught in sixth to fourth in the heat and automatically qualifying. His time ended up 14:07.972, flying past BYU's Clayton Young by five-thousands of a second for fourth.

"It was breezy here tonight and there were a lot of tired people in the race that had run other events, either the steeplechase or the 10,000 so they didn't want to lead," said Wetmore. "The people that were fresh felt let's leave it until the sprint because I have fresh legs and so it was slow. It was very tactical and cagy and then it got winding up with a mile to go. John was among the tired people in there but he raced his heart out and dove at the tape. I'm looking for a way to find the photo, I'd love to see the photo of the finish."

For the women, the highlight of the night was the women's 4x400-meter relay going from fifth to third in the final lap to qualify for nationals for the first time since 1996. Dani Johnson and Valerie Welch led off the first half of the relay with huge personal bests of 53.74 and 53.81 unofficial splits, respectfully. Henderson had a strong third leg of 55.22 and handed off to Gabby Scott in fifth who went to work right away. She moved to fourth after just 120 meters and closed the gap on Kansas for the final auto-qualifier spot, passing the Jayhawks in the final 10 meters. She split an outstanding 51.81, sending the women to the championships with the eighth-best time of 3:34.92.

"Gabby had an excellent run the other night in the hurdles, lowering her school record once again and she was brilliant tonight on the anchor leg of the 4x4 but it takes four runners," said Wetmore. "They had to get her the stick within reach then she did her job and put them in Austin. That was the second-most exciting race of the night."

In the women's 5,000s, Makena Morley started things out with an edgy finish in the first heat. She finished sixth in her heat at 15:42.55 and held the first non-auto qualifying position with a heat left. In the second heat, Dani Jones stayed with a much slower heat and kept around sixth for most of the race until 3200 in when Weini Kelati took the lead and opened up the race. The chase pack of eight were together in the final 800 with Jones holding the fifth position. A chase for third broke with 600 left and Jones took control and sprinted to third with 300 left to qualify in 15:46.93. The slow heat proved in favor of Morley as she qualified through with the seventh-best time and Jones with the 11th.

"Makena had a wonderful race again, coming back on tired legs from the 10,000 just 48 hours ago," said Wetmore. "She fought the whole way and closed on some people and got herself into a second event in Austin, very proud of her. Dani was just being completely careful and doing what was necessary to advance. She was trying to run as easily as possible, but there was a big pack with a couple laps to go and it was nerve-racking because we couldn't tell how she felt, then she proved how she felt and just roared away and secured her spot and went for a cool down."

Eduardo Herrera booked his ticket to Austin with a spectacular finish in the second heat of the men's 1,500 final. The sophomore was seventh as he rounded the turn to the home stretch and began kicking down athlete after athlete as he closed in on an automatic qualifying position. He leveled up with Cameron Griffith of Arkansas and knew he had done it as he crossed just a hundredth of a second ahead for second in the heat. His time of 3:41.35 is a two second personal best mark and puts him fifth in school history.

"Lola (Eduardo) might have been the most exciting race of the day," said Wetmore. "He came in here probably 68th or something on the form chart but found a way through the quarterfinals into this race and then was brilliant here today. It wasn't that he took advantage of the wind or took advantage of people falling or people being cagy because the race was fast. He ran his fastest time ever, beat some really good guys and just timed his year perfectly. He is off to Austin and we are all very excited."
...

2019 NCAA West Prelim outdoor Track and Field Competition_Final results for Buffs.png
"
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A cool video of John Dressel's lunge to earn a National Championships qualifying (4th in his heat) finish in the 5000M -

 
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