Buffs Tie For Ninth At NCAA Championships

EUGENE – The University of Colorado women's track and field team put up 16 points here Saturday at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, finishing with 21 points and tied for ninth in the team standings.
 
The team matches the second-best finish by the 2019 team that finished ninth and trail only the 2000 squad that finished tied for eighth with 26 points for the best finish in CU history. The combined 11th-place finish at indoors and ninth-place finish outdoors is the second-best combination in CU history, second only to 2017 when the women were seventh indoors and 12th outdoors.
 
The Buffs were led by First Team All-American finishes from Micaela DeGenero in the 1,500-meter run, Madie Boreman in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Abby Nichols in the 5,000-meter run.
 
DeGenero was the top points getter for the Buffaloes, finishing as the NCAA runner-up with a second-place finish at 4:09.62. The NCAA Indoor Mile National Champion duplicated CU alum Sage Hurta's accomplishments from last year, taking the mile title and finishing as the runner-up in the 1,500.
 
Off the start, DeGenero fell into 11th at the back of the pack. She bounced out to the top four on the homestretch at the first 300-meter mark. She began to drop off in the race as the women came around through 700 meters. With 800 left she was around 10th, then with 650 to go she began to move up again. With 500 remaining, DeGenero sat ninth holding onto the back of the pack when the bell hit at 3:07. DeGenero held to the back of the pack around the curve then moved outside on the backstretch and blasted to the front with 200 meters remaining. Ole Miss's Sintayehu Vissa, the NCAA mile runner-up, kept the lead after the move as DeGenero worked to pass her on the homestretch, but was unable to catch her in the last few meters, giving CU back-to-back runner-up finishes. DeGenero's 4:09.62 was just a few tenths of a second off her personal best set at the NCAA 1,500 semifinals last year.
 
The next race on the track saw Boreman back in the steeplechase final for the second time in her career. The 2017 NCAA runner-up went straight to the front off the gun, sitting fifth behind BYU's Courtney Wayment. Boreman held the inside position in third, following safely behind Wayment and Auburn's Joyce Kimeli as the race formed up. She fell to sixth with four laps to go as Wayment put on a 20-meter lead. Boreman moved up a spot with three laps remaining, then moved up to fourth as she helped lead the chase pack, then took the lead in the chase pack, running third with 900 meters left. Boreman finished the race fourth overall in 9:33.02, dropping a huge personal best and earning a fourth-place finish. Her mark moves her past NCAA Champ and Olympian Shalaya Kipp to third in CU history.
 
Following the steeplechase, the Buffs were tied for second in the team standings with 18 points.
 
Heptathlete Avery McMullen continued her second day of competition in the morning, starting out the day in the long jump, placing fourth on her final jump at 5.98 meters (19-7.5). She followed that up with a 15th place in the javelin at 35.67 meters (117-0). She remained in eighth heading into the final event, the 800-meter run.
 
In the 800, McMullen started out conservatively in the back, running around 35 seconds in her first 200. She went through the first quarter in 72 seconds before closing in 73 seconds for a 2:26.06 finish, good for 17th and 743 points. She finished the event with 5600 points even, dropping her to 12th for a Second Team All-American finish.
 
The final race for the Buffs was the women's 5,000 with Nichols along with Emily Covert and India Johnson doubling up from the 10,000-meter run. Off the gun, Nichols, Covert and Johnson all grouped up as NC Stat's Katelyn Tuohy took the lead. Nichols moved up to fifth through the first 800, with Covert around 12th and Johnson at the back of the pack. Nichols quickly got on the 10K champ, Alabama's Mercy Chelangat's shoulder in fourth as the pack formed.
 
Nichols sat fourth through nine and a half minutes with Covert in 14th in the middle of the pack that broke out following the leaders. A pack of five with all the top contenders including Nichols as Florida's Parker Valby took the lead followed by Tuohy, Nichols, Chelangat and Oklahoma State's Taylor Roe. Nichols was passed by Roe with three laps remaining as Valby began stretching out the race. With 1000 left, Nichols was fifth as Chelangat went by her as she began to get pushed by the leaders and lose contact with the pack. Nichols was about 10 meters back from the top four with 800 meters remaining. Valby and Tuohy broke out from the other two as Tuohy worked to take the lead with 600 left. Nichols hit the bell in fifth with Covert in 12th and Johnson in 23rd. Nichols fell one spot in the finish, placing sixth in 15:33.09. Covert finished 14th in 15:52.99 while Johnson finished 23rd in 16:16.09.
 
Colorado had the top-10 finish secured before the start of the 4x400-meter relay while NCAA National Champion Florida had the title wrapped up with 74 points. Texas finished as the runner-up with 64 points.
 
QUOTES
Head Coach Mark Wetmore
On The Finish
"We're very pleased with that finish. It's high. It's very high for us. It's in our top two or three ever. A little higher than we were ranked going in. I think we were ranked 11th going in, so excellent runs for the people today. We're happy, tired and happy."
 
On DeGenero's Finish
"She's done well from the back of the pack in the past, and we have discussed not getting addicted to that particular style. But it worked well today. She made a big move with 300 to go, working probably from 10th or so to all the way up to second. Then the woman held her off a little bit but very good run for her. We're very pleased."
 
On Boreman Returning To The NCAA Final
"Madie had a great run today. She's worked very hard the last 10 months, the hardest ever. Her time was wonderful today. Big, big personal best in the fastest race you've ever seen at the NCAA. I think last place was 9:41. It was hard the whole way. I could tell with two laps that she was right on the edge but she fought and fought and had a wonderful result at the end."
 
On Nichols
"Abby had a long hard year. A lot of miles, a lot of races. We felt she was very ready for today. She did look a little tired with about three laps to go, but those are only good runners in front of her."
 
On McMullen
"Avery had a good weekend. A couple of heptathlon personal bests, just needed an 800 at the end but wasn't there."
 
On Johnson And Covert Doubling Back
"Anybody who does the 10,000 and 5,000 double at the conference and the regionals and nationals is playing with fire. I think those two are just a bridge too far as they say. One race too many."

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