Buffs Open Outdoor Season

BOULDER - Just one week after the University of Colorado competed at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Buffs will kick off the outdoor season.

The combined events area will kick off the season at the Northridge Relays today and Friday, while the rest of the Buffs will compete at the Potts Invitational on Saturday, March 22. The field events will start the day at 10 a.m. with the women's hammer throw and men's javelin. The running events are set to start at 2 p.m. with the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

The Buffs are looking forward to another exciting outdoor season after winning the men's Big 12 Outdoor Championship last season and placing 10th at the NCAA Championship.

Sophomores Matt Tebo and Richard Medina will look to return to the track after resting during the indoor season. Both scored points for CU in the Big 12 Championship last year in the 5 and 10k. Jordan Kyle, who transferred this past summer to CU, is looking to collect some points for the Buffs as well in the distance events.

Senior Jenny Barringer will embark on her final track season with the Buffs this spring. She will lead the women's distance crew as she will be able to run anywhere from the 800, 1,500, 5,000-meter runs and of course the steeplechase, which she owns the American record at 9 minutes, 22.26 seconds.

Once again senior Jeremy Dodson will be the go-to-guy in the sprints. As the outdoor record holder in the 200-meter dash, Dodson will look to reset his mark of 20.37 again this spring. He will be joined by younger brothers Quinton and A.J. Whitaker. The women sprinters will look to seniors Veronica Maul, Dyamond Seay and sophomore Cassie Hirschfeld in the 100, 200 and 400 and Joi and Toi Windham in the hurdles. Toi took sixth at the outdoor conference championship last season.    

The throwers are a young group, but they have some great leadership in Brandin Williams, Chase Dukes, Kevin Waldron, Kaity Kark and Chynna McCall. Williams is the lone returning Big 12 scorer for the Buffs from the throws last season (javelin).

The Buffaloes will compete against several Front Range schools this weekend. Colorado College, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State, Metro State, Northern Colorado, UC-Colorado Springs and Wyoming, as well South Dakota Tech will make up the field. The invitational is a non-team scoring meet.

CU's combined event athletes kick off their season at the Northridge Relays in Northridge, Calif. today.  Alex Von Hagen and Eddie Taylor will lead the men in the decathlon while Brianne Beemer, Troi Smith and Katie Dreher compete for the women in the heptathlon.

The Potts Invite will be the first of three meets Colorado will host this spring. The Buffs will also host the CU Invite on April 11 as well as the Front Range Classic on May 2 (all three fall on Saturdays).

The forecast for Saturday's meet is a high of 70 degrees, partly cloudy and a 10 percent chance of precipitation. Should inclement weather force a cancellation of the meet, such notice will be posted on www.CUBuffs.com as well as a message left on the track and field office voice mail at 303/492-5227.

The schedule of events for the Potts Invitational is listed below:

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

THROWING EVENTS

10 a.m. WOMEN'S HAMMER

            following women's hammer MEN'S HAMMER

10 a.m. MEN'S JAVELIN

            following men's javelin WOMEN'S JAVELIN

            following women's hammer WOMEN'S SHOT PUT

            following men's hammer MEN'S SHOT PUT

            following women's shot put WOMEN'S DISCUS

            following women's discus MEN'S DISCUS

JUMPING EVENTS

11 a.m. WOMEN'S POLE VAULT

            following women's pole vault MEN'S POLE VAULT

11 a.m. WOMEN'S LONG JUMP

            following women's long jump MEN'S LONG JUMP

12 p.m. WOMEN'S HIGH JUMP

            following women's high jump MEN'S HIGH JUMP

            following men's long jump WOMEN'S TRIPLE JUMP

            following women's triple jump MEN'S TRIPLE JUMP

RUNNING EVENTS

2 p.m. WOMENS STEEPLE

2:20 MENS STEEPLE

2:35 WOMEN'S 4X100 RELAY

2:40 MEN'S 4X100 RELAY

2:45 WOMEN'S 1500 METERS

2:55 MEN'S 1500 METERS

3:05 100 METER HURDLES

3:20 110 METER HURDLES

3:30 WOMEN'S 400 METER RUN

3:40 MEN'S 400 METER RUN

4:00 WOMEN'S 100 METER DASH

4:10 MEN'S 100 METER DASH

4:25 WOMEN'S 800 METER RUN

4:40 MEN'S 800 METER RUN

4:50 WOMEN'S 400 METER HURDLES

5:00 MEN'S 400 METER HURDLES

5:10 WOMEN'S 200 METER DASH

5:25 MEN'S 200 METER DASH

5:40 WOMEN'S 3000 RUN

6:00 MEN'S 3000 RUN

6:20 WOMEN'S 4X400 RELAY

6:30 MEN'S 4X400 RELAY

The schedule will be rolling in the field events and will follow the time schedule for all running events.

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