McMullen Earns First Team All-America Honors

BIRMINGHAM – The University of Colorado track and field pentathlete Avery McMullen concluded a historical indoor season here Friday by earning the first NCAA All-America honors for Colorado in the pentathlon at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championship.
 
McMullen, who set the CU school record in the pentathlon earlier this season, finished eighth overall with a score of 4,176 points. She was the first CU woman to compete in the pentathlon at the NCAA level and the first at a national championship since the days of the AIAW.
 
The sophomore started the day off with a personal best 8.28 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, just a hundredth of a second from tying the school record in the event. She followed that up with her best performance of the day in the high jump where she placed second with a clearance of 1.75 meters (5-8.75). McMullen was in third overall following two events.
 
Moving to the shot put, McMullen finished eighth in the event with a toss of 11.97 meters (39-3.25), continuing her third place overall position. She did not have her best day in the long jump as she was unable to jump greater than six meters for the first time this season. She finished 10th in the event with a jump of 5.76 meters (18-10.75) which dropped her down to fifth after four events.
 
In the final event, the 800-meter run, McMullen started in the back of the race but finished with a personal best 2:24.94 seconds. She finished the pentathlon tied for seventh with Duke's Isabel Wakefield, but due to Wakefield winning the hurdles McMullen took home the eighth-place honor.
 
The next Buffaloes on the track was a trio of women in the mile prelims. Rachel McArthur and Micaela DeGenero raced in the first heat, while Madie Boreman raced in the second. All three women made it to the 12-women final Saturday.
 
DeGenero took the early lead for Colorado in the first heat, running fourth through the first 800-meters. She and McArthur dropped down to sixth and seventh at the three-minute mark as McArthur began to make her move. At the bell, McArthur moved up to fifth while DeGenero sat in seventh. McArthur held onto the pack down the backstretch, then moved out wide and moved up to the final automatic qualifying position in fourth at the line, finishing in 4:33.25. DeGenero crossed the line in sixth at 4:34.19 and sat as the final time qualifier with the second heat still to go.
 
Moving to the second heat, Boreman took the early lead from the start and led for the first half of the race. Strategically, Boreman slowed down the heat to the point that halfway through the race the heat was six seconds behind the first heat. Boreman held the lead until the bell where she moved to second. She finished in that position, crossing the line in 4:36.23.
 
The Buffs will be the only team with multiple runners in the final and will make up a quarter of the field. McArthur finished as the fourth seed, while DeGenero is in sixth and Boreman is in ninth.
 
The final race of the evening featured Emily Covert in the women's 5,000-meter run. Covert sat ninth halfway into the race and held that position with a mile to go. As the lead pack moved to seven women with a couple of laps remaining, Covert fell to 11th overall. She made up one position in the final lap, finishing in 15:56.66 seconds for 10th overall. She earns her first indoor All-America honor as a Second Team All-American.
 
The lone CU male at the championships, Eduardo Herrera, takes to the track tomorrow in the 3,000-meter run final at 4 p.m MT. The trio of Buffs in the women's mile will race the final at 6 p.m. Both races will be televised on ESPN3.
 
RESULTS
Women's Pentathlon: 1. Anna Hall (FLORIDA) 4,586 points; 8. Avery McMullen (COLO) 4,176 points
Women's Mile Prelims: 1. Sintayehu Vissa (OLE MISS) 4:33.13 Q; 4. Rachel McArthur (COLO) 4:33.25 Q; 6. Micaela DeGenero (COLO) 4:34.19 q; 9. Madie Boreman (COLO) 4:36.23 Q
Women's 5,000-meter Final: 1. Courtney Wayment (BYU) 15:30.17; 10. Emily Covert (COLO) 15:56.66
 
Women's Team Score: 1. Florida 22 points; T21. Colorado 1 point
Men's Team Score: 1. Princeton 20 points

 [SW1]