The Pokes traveled down to Boulder, Colorado for the Colorado University Invitational on April 7, where, despite seeing the toughest and biggest field of competition they have seen so far in outdoor competition, they faired well across the board. The distance runners, however, contributed the most major points for the team.
“I thought they competed really well and took advantage of some good competition,” distance coach Scott Dahlberg said.
In fact, according to Wyoming Athletics’ Nate Lake, three distance runners marked UW all-time top 10 times at the meet. Daniel Hintz, who placed sixth in the 1500 meters, Harry Ewing, who placed second in the 3000 steeplechase, and Kacey Doner, who took home first place in the women’s 3000 steeple chase, all broke into the top 10. They broke into the record books at fifth all-time, ninth all-time, and fourth all-time, respectively.
“I ran PR (personal record), so you can’t be disappointed with a PR,” Doner said. “But, I think there’s a lot of room for improvement, which is exciting still, to know that there is a lot of time I could cut on, like, the water jump, and the fifth and sixth lap I found I really need to work on.”
Other distance runners did very well in a huge field of solid competition in Boulder. Christopher Henry was victorious in the 3000-meter race, with teammate Michael Downey not too far behind him in sixth place. Ricky Faure contributed with a third-place finish in the 800-meter race, followed by fellow Cowboy Bryce Ailshie in sixth place. Then, in the 1500 meter-race, the lone Cowboy to compete in the event took home a 41stplace finish, showcasing the large numbers at the meet.
“Overall, I thought it was really good,” Henry said. “I learned a lot and gained some confidence in my ability to close a race, which is going to be really important as I’m racing the 10k which is a lot longer. I just take it almost like one lap at a time, I’ll try not to think about what I have left, I’ll just race with the people, instead. So then, as other racers try to break away, I just move myself up and stick with them. So I kind of just go with the flow of the race, and when it gets to the end of the race, I’ll see what I have left and try to use it all before it’s over.”
UW sprinters were few and far between at the meet, but those who did compete took care of their business. Jackson Wood took sixth place in the 400-meter dash, followed by Jace Marx in 12thplace, with Kevin Blackett and Jacob Harthun rounding out the race for the Pokes with a 26thand 27thfinish, respectively. Harthun was then joined by Calum Kepler, Faure and Hintz in the 4 x 400- meter relay, in which the quad was placed second.
McCade Johnson and Brandon McGuire were the only men hurdlers in the field for Wyoming, but they held their own in the 400 hurdles, finishing fifth and 14th, respectively. In long jump, William Nolan took second place, while teammate Caleb Seeton, who has been consistent with all of his long jumps, followed behind in third place. Kyle Alexander rounded out the long jump with an eighth-place finish.
The men were completed by their four throwers. Garrett Lynch competed in both discus and the hammer throw, in which he placed third and 12th, respectively. Teammate Damon Unland got the better of Lynch in the hammer throw, as Unland’s throws landed him in first place. But Lynch got him back in discus, for Unland placed ninth in the event. Kirk Unland followed right behind his brother in hammer throw, taking home second place. Hap Frketich rounded out the men’s scoring with a 10thplace finish in the hammer throw.
For the women, once again, sprinters were sparse. Melina Harris and Savannah Phillips were the sole sprinters, earning themselves eighth place and 23rdplace, respectively, in the 400-meter race. To make up for the lack of sprinters in competition at the CU Invitational, there were a gaggle of distance runners up to the task of making up for losses.
Kerry White placed third in the 800-meter race, with Ashley Urman behind in 34thplace. Six Cowgirls competed in the 1500-meter race. Lauren Hamilton placed 11thin the event, followed by Emily Person in 14th, Quinn DeStefano in 18th, Solana Quistorff in 30th, and rounded out by Ashley Bock in 31stplace. White, Hamilton, Quistorff and Person came together for the 4 x 400-meter relay to take third place.
“We’re gonna keep most of (the distance runners) out of competition this coming weekend, and then the following week, we’re going to go down to California and really get some good competition down there, and hopefully we can walk away with a handful of personal bests and maybe even get a few more guys into the top 10 or NCAA first round qualifiers – that’s kind of the goals right now.”
In hurdles, Ariana Williams dominated for the Cowgirls, finishing fourth in the 100 hurdles, and fifth in the 400 hurdles. Teammate Heidi Pfoor was the only one UW athlete to top Williams, as Pfoor finished fourth in the 400 hurdles, followed by Marie Doherty in seventh place.
Regan VanDepol followed closely behind fellow Cowgirl Doner, to earn a fifth place in the steeplechase. Anissa Warner was the lone Cowgirl to compete in the high jump, finishing in 14thplace. Meanwhile, Ja’la Henderson reclaimed her long jump crown with a leap of 18 feet, 10.75 inches.
For the throwers, senior Hannah Carr led all cowgirls with a fourth-place finish in shot put and a third-place finish in discus. Teammate Addison Henry placed fifth in shot put, 10thin discus, and 10thin the hammer throw, with Emelda Malm-Annan ahead of her in fifth place. Tori Sleep rounded out the scoring with a 15thplace discus finish.
“Looked like everyone competed real hard. For distance, it was some pretty good weather, for some other events it might have been on the cooler side, but I still think everyone went out and gave it all they had,” Dahlberg said.
Most of the Pokes, save for some distance runners, will head down to Greeley once again next Saturday for Colorado State’s NOCO Challenge. As for the distance runners, who did so well in Boulder, most of them will be waiting for California to compete once again.
“We’ll be competing in California in two weeks, so I’m kind of exciting to race there,” Doner said. “I’ve only done one track race ever at sea-level, so I’m kind of excited to see where my time will compare to racing at altitude.”
