Colorado Prepared For Pac-12 Championships

BOULDER – The University of Colorado track and field program heads to the 2022 Pac-12 Track and Field Championships this Friday May 13 through Sunday May 15 at Hayward Field in Eugene.
 
Action begins Friday at 2 p.m. MT with the decathlon and heptathlon competitions, then continues through the evening with prelims on the track and close out the night with the men's 10,000 finals at 9:15 p.m. MT. Saturday will close out the multis and continue prelims before finishing up with the women's steeplechase finals at 7 p.m. The meet enters full swing Sunday with finals on the track beginning at 2 p.m. MT and running through 5:10 p.m.
 
Numerous Buffs are seeking their first Pac-12 title as Madie Boreman is the only Buff to have done so on the current team. Boreman won the 2017 Pac-12 steeplechase title and will look to repeat in her final opportunity Saturday evening. She is currently ranked third in the Pac-12.
 
The only Buff ranked as the top competitor in an event is Abby Nichols who leads the NCAA in the women's 5,000. Nichols is entered in the 5,000 final Sunday but will open the weekend in the 10,000 along with Emily Covert and India Johnson who are tied for second in the Pac-12. All three have strong chances of taking the title and will prelude the men who will be led by Charlie Sweeney and Andrew Kent. Sweeney is ranked sixth in the Pac-12 in the 10,000.
 
Other top-ranked athletes competing this weekend include 2022 NCAA Mile National Champion Micaela DeGenero who will race in the 800 and 1,500. She is ranked third in the 800 and seventh in the 1,500. Joining her in the 1,500 is Rachel McArthur and Boreman as the Buffs have four women in the top-10 in the Pac-12 1,500 rankings. Nichols, who is ranked sixth, will not race in the 1,500.
 
On the men's side, Eduardo Herrera will try at two Pac-12 titles in the 1,500 and 5,000. Herrera is ranked third in the Pac-12 in the 1,500 and second in the 5,000 this season. He will be joined by Noah Hibbard in the 1,500 and will be one of eight men in the 5,000 including Sweeney and Kent doubling back from the 10,000.
 
Two women round out Buffs ranked in the top-three with Abbey Glynn ranked third in the 400 hurdles and Avery McMullen ranked third in the heptathlon. Glynn will need to drop a second to try and win a Pac-12 title in the hurdles as two athletes from Oregon and Arizona have gone under 56.50 this season. In the heptathlon, it could take a school record performance to win the title. McMullen trails Ida Eikeng of Washington in the rankings by 250 points. The top-four women in the heptathlon all earned their marks at the Mt. SAC Relays with Eikeng in the lead at 5,916 to McMullen's 5663. The CU school record owned by Annette Tannander in 1983 is 5,863 points.
 
The women are seeking a strong finish in the Pac-12 Championship with numerous opportunities for not only championships, but points. Colorado has 18 women ranked in the top-10 in their events, not including Nichols in the 10,000 who hasn't run one yet this season, and a pair of strong relays in the 4x100 and 4x400. If the Buffs finish at their current rankings, they would finish with 79 points (excluding Nichols in the 10,000), the second-most for the CU women in the past five championships. The women since 2017 have a pair of third-place finishes, a fourth-place finish and a fifth-place finish with an average points scored at 80 with a high of 92 points in 2019.
 
Most event finals will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks, Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com. Friday's coverage will have the women's hammer throw, both javelin and pole vault competitions and the 10,000 finals. Saturday's coverage will have the men's hammer, all of the long jump and shot put finals and the steeplechase finals, while all events Sunday will be televised.
 
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS