Colorado Set For NCAA Championships

EUGENE – Colorado track and field sends eight student-athletes to the 2021 NCAA Championships Wednesday through Saturday at the newly renovated Hayward Field in Eugene.
 
The Buffs will compete one man in the championships, John Dressel, who start things off in the 10,000-meter final late Wednesday night at 8:38 p.m. MT. Dressel is the 17th-ranked individual based on time but is a seasoned veteran that will give a strong push for an All-American finish in his final race on the track as a CU athlete.
 
Following Dressel's performance, the show turns to the seven CU women in eight events on Thursday and Saturday. Colorado will have an off day Friday in Eugene as there won't be any men competing.
 
The first action on the track for the women is the 1,500-meter prelims. Sage Hurta comes into the championships seeking to become just the eighth woman in NCAA history to complete the 1,500 and mile national championship double. She owns the No.1-ranked time in the nation this season and will have the added bonus of having Micaela Degenero in the first of two heats. Their heat has four runners that have run under 4:10 this season, compared to just two in the second heat. Degenero owns the fifth-best time in her heat and will need to hit that mark or better to advance to the finals. Rachel McArthur is in the second heat where she has the advantage of knowing what time she needs to run to get into the finals based on finishing top-five or the next two fastest times. She is the sixth-fastest athlete in her heat this season. Those races begin at 4:46 p.m. MT on Thursday.
 
Right after the 1,500, Madie Boreman will start off her journey in the steeplechase. She has the luxury of going in the second heat while seeking a top-five finish in the steeplechase prelims or two next fastest times. She is the sixth-fastest athlete in her heat that includes Courtney Wayment of BYU who is ranked No.1, Aneta Konieczek of Oregon who is ranked two, and Gabrielle Jennings of Furman who is ranked sixth. Boreman is seeking her first NCAA final since finishing as the National Runner-Up in 2017. Her race begins around 5:13 p.m. MT.
 
In the 400 hurdles, Eriana Henderson is out in lane nine in the first heat seeking a top-two finish in her heat or next best two times. She will likely need to break the 57-second barrier for the first time to move on with two SEC runners under that barrier in her heat. Abbey Glynn is in the following heat and drew the fifth lane. She is next to Pac-12 Champion and former NCAA Champion Anna Cockrell of USC and has her work cut out for her. There are five athletes under 57 seconds, including one under 56 and Cockrell's best of 54.77. They will begin action at 6:30 p.m.
 
Abby Nichols owns the 10th-best 10k mark this season in the nation and is the first athlete looking to score for the women. She is seventh in the heat in terms of times and will look to hold onto the top-three athletes as long as possible. This is her first of two races but she is positioned strongly to pick up her first All-American finish for the Buffs. She is 16th in the 5k in terms of best times so she will look to hold on for the double and try to pick up some extra points for Colorado as the final athlete at the NCAA Championships in the black and gold.
 
All of the days and events will be televised and streamed on the ESPN app in some form. Dressel will be on ESPNU Wednesday evening or ESPN2 depending on delay. Thursday's women's action is all on ESPN2, and the final day of action on Saturday will be on ESPNU. Live results will also be available here.