Colorado Relay Advances To NCAA Championships

FAYETTEVILLE – At the 11th hour, the University of Colorado men's track and field team secured a bid to the NCAA Championships here Friday night in the men's 4x400-meter relay.
 
The men originally finished fifth in the first heat, running the second-best time in CU history of 3:05.50 seconds. After the three heats finished, CU sat 13th overall and was looking at the first NCAA Championships without a CU man since 1991. A late protest disqualified UCLA and BYU from the first heat for stepping outside the lane line, moving the Buffs up to the third automatic qualifying spot in the heat.
 
Facing the end of the team's season, the final attempt to earn a spot in Eugene came down to the quartet of Tyler Williams, Ian Gilmore, Garrett Nelson and Aaron McCoy. After the first handoff the Buffs held the lead with Williams handing off to Gilmore. Gilmore held the lead until the final 30 meters when he was passed as the Buffs fell to fourth handing to Nelson. Nelson was passed on the backstretch and handed off in sixth after having to battle by teams. McCoy took the stick on the anchor in sixth but was unable to catch the front pack as the top four teams all finished under 3:04. McCoy finished fifth in the heat as the Buffs ran 3:05.50.
 
Williams opened the race running 46.45 on the lead off leg, followed by a 46.24 second split by Gilmore. Nelson was clocked at 47.05, followed by McCoy anchoring with a blistering 45.51 split.
 
The men's 4x400-meter relay is the first men's relay to advance to the NCAA Championships since the 2010 men's 4x100-meter relay.
 
McCoy and Williams both ran earlier in the day in the individual quarterfinals as well. Williams went first in the men's 400-meter dash, finishing 20th overall in 46.13 seconds. McCoy finished 16th in the men's 400-meter hurdles in 51.26 seconds.
 
The highest individual finishers for the men were Andrew Kent and Eduardo Herrera in the first heat of the men's 5,000. The two went out in the first heat and took the early lead with Kent and Herrera trading leads for the first six minutes. The Buffs lined up shoulder-to-shoulder to help box out some of the athletes moving up on the outside, but they continued to drop. At the 10:30 mark, Kent made a move to the front with Herrera following behind him. They held that until with 500-meters remaining Herrera took the lead. He was passed on the homestretch as the men fell down to sixth and seventh with Kent running 13:39.32 for sixth in the heat and 13:39.49 for Herrera in seventh.
 
The second heat went out much faster with Sweeney working to stay on the back of the lead pack. With 800 remaining, the pack picked up the pace as Sweeney crossed 14th in his heat and 28th overall in 13:55.27. Kent and Herrera were bumped out of the time qualifier, falling to 14th and 15th, respectfully.
 
Also for Colorado, Noah Bouchard cleared 2.05 meters (6-8.75) in the men's high jump to finish tied for 36th.
 
The women take to the track tomorrow already with three tickets punched to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The women will have a pair in the high jump, 1,500 and steeplechase and three in the 5,000. Abbey Glynn will also compete alone in the 400 hurdles before finishing the meet in the 4x400-meter relay.

SCHEDULE/RESULTS