This article will be updated through the weekend as new performances are added.
Thursday, June 26
Colorado's day at Thursday's session of USA Outdoor Nationals was something of a mixed bag, but the day finished much better than it started.
Colorado failed to advance any entries in the preliminary round of the 800s. In the women's 800, Bethany Praska ran 2:04:17, missing an advancement to semifinals by only two places. In the men's 800, Colorado was represented by Mark Husted and Robin Butler. Mark Husted's 1:49.47 was actually before than a few of the times that advanced to semifinals, but did not finish high enough in his heat to advance. Robin Butler was well out of position required to advance.
The women's triple jump saw Toni Smith finish in 8th with a best jump of 42-9. Smith's best mark came on her first jump, and she ranked as high as fourth in early rounds, but would gradually slip to eighth as other jumpers improved their marks from early rounds.
Two Colorado high school and University of Colorado alums were entered in the prelims of 100. Joe Morris's meet would end early with a false start, while Jeremy Dodson's 10.81 was well out of the 16 times that would advance to semifinals.
It was in the preliminary round of the women's 3000 meter steeplechase that Colorado's day took a turn for the better. Emma Coburn would advance to finals with the top time of 9:39.26. Although neither is a Colorado high school alum, Shalaya Kipp and Sara Vaughn have become well known to Colorado fans of track and field in recent years, and both had times that easily advanced them into finals as well. And, finally, Alicia Nelson's 9:48.91 earned her the next-to-last qualifying position for finals.
The 10,000 meter finals would also see some success for Colorado high school alumni. Kara Lubieniecki earned a ninth-place finish in the women's race with a time of 33:09.84. Aaron Braun would earn a fifth in the men's race with a time of 28:34.43. Also running in the men's race was CU alum Andy Wacker, who finished with a time of 30:31.96.
Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28
Colorado's contingent at USA Outdoor Nationals has been busy the last two days.
We'll start with Friday's results. The trio of Mason Finley, Russ Winger, and Casey Malone went 3-4-15, with Finley's 200-3 leading the way among Colorado's high school alums. Trevor Brown qualified for semis in the 400 hurdles with the third-best prelims time of 50.44. Janay DeLoach advanced out of 100 hurdles prelims with a time of 13.00. Later in the day, the men's 3000 steeple saw Tabor Stevens, Billy Nelson, and Aric Van Halen qualify for finals. Van Halen and Nelson scored the last two qualifying times out of prelims. Tyler Curtis missed the cut for finals. Jenny Simpson and Katie Mackey both advanced to the 1500 meter finals, with Simpson's 4:08.36 marking the best time into finals. To close out the evening, Jessica Tebo took 10th in the womens 5000 with a time of 15:50.02, while Joe Bosshard, Tyler Pennel, and Scott Dahlberg went 7-9-14 in the mens 5000, with Bosshard owning the best Colorado time of 13:38.19.
Saturday's action saw Janay DeLoach get squeezed out of the 100 hurdles finals. Joe Morris advanced to 200 semis with a time of 20.72, but Jeremy Dodson did not make the cut to advance. Janay DeLoach and Toni Smith placed 10th and 12th in the long jump, respectively. Trevor Brown continued his stellar season with an advancement to the finals of the 400 meters with a time of 50.17.
But, the biggest splash of the day for Colorado came in the womens steeple. Emma Coburn took the win in 9:19.72, while Shalaya Kipp, Alicia Nelson, and Sara Vaughn would work their ways into places 7, 11, and 12, respectively.
Sunday, June 29
Nick Frawley finished in a tie for seventh in the pole vault at 17-8.5. Valarie Allman posted the best discuse throw of those with Colorado connections, finishing 12th with a throw of 170-1. Behind her, Jessica Sharbono and Alexis Cooks finished at 15th and 17th, respectively. Joe Morris ran 20.37w, but did not make the cut to advance to finals of the 200. Susan Jackson finished seventh in the high jump at 6-0.75. Aric Van Halen, Tabor Stevens, and Billy Nelson logged finishes of eighth, 11th, and 12th in the finals of the steeplechase.
But, after all of this, the biggest finishes of the day were still waiting to happen. Those began when Trevor Brown finished fourth in the 400 hurdles at 50.21. Jenny Simpson and Katie Mackey would give the Colorado connections a 1-3 finish in the 1500, with Simpson's time of 4:04.96 claiming the win. In the final event of the competition, David Oliver proved he's still a force to be reckoned with in the 110 hurdles, with a 13.23w that was good enough for third.