(CU Independent graphic/Adam Milner)
For the second straight year, CU track and field struggled to keep pace with the rest of the Big 12 track and field heavyweights.
Despite a few promising first day performances at the Lied Recreation Center in Aims, Iowa, Colorado failed to capitalize at event finals on day two.
After qualifying for finals in the mile-run on Friday, sophomore Emma Coburn raced to a sixth-place finish on Saturday with a time of 4:43.87.
It was the last time the Buffs would score in the 2010 Big 12 championships.
“I didn’t think I was going to have to run a 4:43 to score points for the team,” Coburn said in a news release. “I thought maybe I would go 4:46 or so. I was a little surprised that I had to run that fast. This was my third race in two days and so I was really surprised how fast I had to and did run. It was fun.”
On the men’s side, junior Alex Von Hagen had a personal record-breaking day in the heptathlon with a point total of 5,082. He finished ninth-place, however, and failed to score.
Also in the 3000 meter-run, senior Aldo Vega nearly replicated his eight-place finish in the 5000 on Friday, placing ninth in the 3k with a time of 8:15.35.
The combined score of 12 points, is the lowest ever for CU in the championship meet.
CU head coach Mark Wetmore knows they have much to work on before the outdoor season begins this spring. He expressed his concern in a news release.
“This is the lowest combined score on both sides,” Wetmore said. “It’s nothing for us to feel good about and definitely something for us to think about.”
Texas A&M, with 130.5 points, and Oklahoma, 114, won the women’s and men’s team titles, respectively.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Gino Figlio at Gino.figlio@colorado.edu.
