Buffs Set For U.S. Track And Field Championships

BOULDER — Twelve former and current University of Colorado athletes are scheduled to compete this week in the U.S. Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

The meet begins Thursday and will conclude Sunday, with portions of the meet to be televised on CNBC and NBC, as well as streaming available at USATF.TV. 

Eight women and three men from Mark Wetmore's CU program will be vying for a spot on Team USA in the July 15-24 world championships, with another athlete competing in the U20 USA Championships in Eugene this week as well.

The worlds will also be held at Hayward Field — the first time ever the worlds have been contested on American soil.

The top three finishers in the U.S. Championships will earn a berth on the USA worlds team. 

Two former Buffs, Joe Klecker in the 10,000 and Gabby Scott (competing for Puerto Rico) in the 400, have already both punched their tickets to the world championships. Klecker, a 2020 Olympian, won the U.S. 10,000 title in late May to earn a berth while Scott finished second in the Puerto Rico championships (first among Puerto Rico competitors) in May to claim her berth.

The CU contingent in Eugene will be competing in eight different events, with the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase offering perhaps the best chance for more Buffs to advance to the world championships.

Three CU competitors — Emma Coburn, Val Constien, and Madie Boreman — are among the top 10 qualifiers. Coburn and Constien are both Olympians, with Coburn owning a bronze medal in the event in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, as well as gold and silver medals in the world championships.

Also with a top-10 qualifying time is Sage Hurta, who qualified for the national championships in the 1,500 and 800. She  will focus her efforts on the 800 this week.

A list of CU competitors this week in Eugene:

Tyler Williams, 400 meters — Enters the meet with 28th fastest time in the field (45.78). Finished 5th in Pac-12 400 this year, qualified for NCAA preliminaries and also ran on Colorado NCAA prelim and championships 4x400 team

Aaron McCoy, 400-meter hurdles — Has 23rd fastest time (50.85) in the field. Finished third in the Pac-12 400 hurdles this year and also ran on CU's 4x400 relay. 

Sage Hurta, 800 meters — Won two national titles at CU (indoor DMR and mile), was the 2021 outdoor Pac-12 800 champ and finished second in NCAA outdoor 1,500. She is a six-time All-American and CU record holder in 800, and owns the 10th fastest time in the field this year (1:59.59). She is currently ranked 22nd in world in 800

Dani Jones, 1,500 meters — A four-time NCAA champion at CU and 12-time All-American, she won an individual NCAA cross country title in 2018 when Colorado women also won the team title. She is in the top three in CU record books in seven events and is currently 48th in the world in the 1,500. She has the 18th fastest time in the USA championships field (4:06.06). 

Micaela DeGenero, 1,500 meters — She is coming off an outstanding collegiate season, when she won the NCAA indoor mile title and finished second in the NCAA outdoor championships. She has the 24th fastest time in the field (4:09.38) this week.

Eduardo "Lalo" Herrera, 5,000 meters — Has the 18th fastest time in the field this week (13:20.30) and is currently ranked 88th in the world in the 5,000. A two-time All-American at CU he owns the fastest 1,500 in CU history and was Pac-12 cross country champ in spring 2021. 

Abby Nichols, 5,000 meters — Had an outstanding spring for Buffaloes, winning a grueling 5,000/10,000 double at the Pac-12 championships before finishing sixth in the NCAA championships 5,000. A Pac-12 cross country champ last fall, she is ranked 17th in this field this week.

Abbey Glynn 400-meter hurdles  — Has the 20th fastest time in the field (57.05) this week. She finished third in the Pac-12 400 hurdles this year and qualified for the NCAA championships. She also ran on CU's NCAA 4x400 relay team and has a top-five time in CU history in the 400 hurdles.

Emma Coburn, 3,000-meter steeplechase — One of most decorated track athletes in CU history, she has starred on the world stage and is probably the best bet of this week's competitors to join Klecker and Scott at the world championships. Coburn is a three-time Olympian, including a bronze medal in 2016 at Rio. She also won a world championship gold medal in 2017 and a silver in 2019 … She is currently ranked 10th in the world and has the second-fastest time in the U.S. championships field. She won three NCAA titles at CU and was a five-time All-American.

Val Constien, 3,000-meter steeplechase — She has the fourth-fastest time of qualifiers this year (9:18.34). She finished 12th at the 2020 Olympics and is currently ranked 19th in the world. A two-time All-American at CU, she ran on the Buffs' 2018 women's national champion cross country team.

Madie Boreman, 3,000-meter steeplechase — She owns the U.S record for under-20 age group steeplechase (9:46.48) and is the third Buff in the top 10 qualifiers this year, with the ninth-best time of 9:33.02. She finished fourth in this year's NCAA championships steeplechase after winning the Pac-12 title. She also finished second in the 2017 NCAA championships and is a three-time All-American.

Emma Pollack, U20 400-meter hurdles — She has the fifth-fastest qualifying time in the Under-20 field this week.

For more information on the entire meet schedule, entrants and broadcast coverage, go to https://buffs.me/3zMbXC1.

Schedule for CU entrants (all times Mountain):

THURSDAY, June 23

5:25 p.m., Women's 800 first round – Sage Hurta

5:50 p.m., Women's 400 hurdles first round – Abbey Glynn

7:53 p.m., Women's 1,500 first round – Dani Jones, Micaela DeGenero 

8:36 p.m., Men's 400 first round — Tyler Williams

FRIDAY, June 24

4:46 p.m., Women's U20 400-meter hurdles first round — Emma Pollak

7:05 p.m, Women's 3,000 steeplechase first round – Emma Coburn, Val Constien, Madie Boreman

7:35 p.m., Men's 400 hurdles first round — Aaron McCoy

8:04 p.m., Women's 400 hurdles semifinals

9:02 p.m., Women's 800 semifinals 

9:46 p.m., Men's 400 semifinals

SATURDAY, June 25

2:22 p.m., Men's 400 hurdles semifinals

2:40 p.m., Women's 1,500 final 

3:31 p.m., Men's 400 final

3:51 p.m., Women's 400 hurdles final

5:34 p.m.  — U20 Women's 400 hurdles final
 

SUNDAY, June 26

2:18 p.m., Women's 5,000 final – Abby Nichols

2:40 p.m.,  Men's 400 hurdles final

2:54 p.m.,  Women's 800 Final

3:03 p.m., Men's 5,000 final – Eduardo Herrera

3:23 p.m., Women's 3,000 steeplechase final