Nichols completes distance sweep
Degenero, Herrera also claim Pac-12 championship titles
Abby Nichols decided to double-up. Micaela Degenero very nearly did the same within a span of one hour on Sunday. And Eduardo Herrera made it a final day triple-play for Colorado.
The distance standouts helped the Buffaloes track and field team to complete the Pac12 Championships in style on Sunday, with Nichols placing first in the women’s 5,000-meter run and Degenero doing the same in the women’s 1,500. Herrera, who began the day at Hayward Field by finishing third in the 1,500, capped the meet by winning the Buffs’ fifth conference title of the weekend with a victory in the men’s 5K.
Nichols, who broke the CU and Pac-12 records with her winning run in the 10K on Friday night, added her 5K title on Sunday with a time of 15 minutes, 47.92 seconds. Teammate Emily Covert stayed right on Nichols’ heels and finished second in 15:48.88.
Degenero placed second in the 1,500 at the Pac-12 finals a year ago but pushed forward a notch on Sunday, winning her title in 4:13.26. Degenero endured a quick turnaround before taking off in the finals of the women’s 800, and she still had enough in the tank to finish third with a mark of 2:04.55.
Herrera ended the day with his victory in the men’s 5K, finishing in 13:33.95 in another race with a heavy and successful CU presence. Andrew Kent placed fourth in 13:37.18, while Charlie Sweeney finished ninth with a personal-best time of 13:42.05.
Among the other final-day highlights for the CU women’s team was a third-place finish for Abbey Glynn in the 400
\hurdles, as well as a fifthplace finish by Kylee Harr in the long jump. One day after winning the Pac-12 title in the women’s steeplechase, Madie Boreman rebounded to finish fourth in the 1,500.
Aaron Mccoy provided a final highlight from the men’s team with a thirdplace finish in the 400 hurdles. Garrett Nelson place fifth with in a personal-best time of 51.64 seconds. With four individual titles, the CU women finished second in the team standings with 102.5 points, trailing only Oregon (167). The CU men’s team finished eighth with 61 points.
After returning to Boulder, next up for CU will be roughly a week of preparation for the NCAA West Preliminaries, which begin May 25 in Fayetteville, Ark.
PAC-12 TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS Men
Final team standings: Oregon 161, Washington 105, USC 101, Stanford 89, Arizona State 88, Cal 85, UCLA 68, Colorado 61, Washington State 34, Arizona 27.
Sunday CU Buffs results
1,500: 3. Eduardo Herrera, 3:40.78; 12. Noah Hibbard, 3:46.38.
110 hurdles: 8. Kellen Monestime, 14.68 (PR).
400: 5. Tyler Williams, 45.78.
400 hurdles: 3. Aaron Mccoy, 51.29; 5. Garrett Nelson, 51.64 (PR).
5,000: 1. Eduardo Herrera, 13:33.95; 4. Andrew Kent, 13:37.18; 9. Charlie Sweeney, 13:42.05 (PR); 20. Brendan Fraser, 14:18.40;
23. Jake Derouin, 14:25.35;
29. Paxton Smith, 14:40.34.
4x100 relay: 8. Colorado (Luc Andrada, Tyler Williams, Ian Gilmore, Kellen Monestime), 40.93.
4x400 relay: 4. Colorado (Tyler Williams, Ian Gilmore, Garrett Nelson, Aaron Mccoy), 3:06.67.
Decathlon: 5. Nick Bianco, 6,652.
High jump: 5. Noah Bouchard, 2.05 meters.
Women
Final team standings: Oregon 167, Colorado 102.5, Cal 82, USC 78, Washington 68, UCLA 66.5, Arizona 60, Arizona State 57, Stanford 56, Oregon State 32, Washington State 29, Utah 21.
Sunday CU Buffs results
1,500: 1. Micaela Degenero, 4:13.26; 4. Madie Boreman, 4:16.93; 9. Rachel Mcarthur, 4:20.23.
800: 3. Micaela Degenero, 2:04.55.
400 hurdles: 3. Abbey Glynn, 57.62; 5. Emma Pollak, 59.80.
5,000: 1. Abby Nichols, 15:47.92; 2. Emily Covert, 15:48.88; 11. India Johnson, 16:23.73; 13. Gabrielle Orie, 16:31.63; 23. Kaitlyn Barthell, 16:52.59; 28. Kyla C h r i s t o p h e r - Moody, 17:04.56; 25. Alisa MerazFishbein, 17:29.99.
4x100 relay: 7. Colorado (Grace Jenkins, Emma Pollak, Jaida Drame, Abbey Glynn), :45.34.
4x400 relay: 5. Colorado (Grace Jenkins, Abbey Glynn, Reese Renz, Jaida Drame), 3:41.44.
High jump: 5. Kylee Karr, 1.71 meters; 13. Avery Mcmullen, 1.66 meters.