Erin Clark made her return to her hometown of Eugene, Ore., and , ready to race on Thursday in her first ever NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field championship.
The redshirt freshman’s event, the 3,000 meter steeplechase, didn’t go as well as she would have liked. Running in the first heat, she struggled to hang on with the main pack early and miscued on at least one hurdle and water jump. She fell off the back later in the race and finished eighth in Heat 1 in 10:15.83 — well off her fastest mark — and 15th overall, which earned her second-team All-America honors.
Still, the Pac-12 freshman of the year accomplished her goal, which was always just to make it back to the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field for the biggest meet in collegiate track and field. She was Colorado’s top runner at the cross country championships this season, finishing 31st.
Luckily, she has three more years at Boulder, whose coaches and program have a history of churning out steeplechase winners — Jenny Barringer-Simpson, Emma Coburn and Shalaya Kipp, all of whom still train in Boulder.
In the women’s 1,500, Colorado’s Sara Sutherland and former Niwot runner Elise Cranny, now at Stanford, advanced through.
Sutherland and Cranny tucked into the pack for much of the race, a wise strategy considering the windy conditions at the track. Sutherland, a Dallas native, moved up on the last lap and finished second in 4 minutes, 16.97 seconds. Defending NCAA champion Shelby Houlihan won the heat in 4:16.87.
Cranny’s fate was much more in doubt. She finished fifth to advance to the final automatically, and her time alone would have been enough to also advance had she not finished in the top five.
Both women will race in the final on Saturday at 3:15 p.m.
In the heptathlon, junior Abrianna Torres ended up 20th with 5,483 points after appearing in the NCAA championships for the first time. Torres jumped 19 feet, 2 inches in the long jump, threw 123’8″ in the javelin and ran 2:26.18 in the 800 meters — the last of the seven-event competition. Torres recorded her best ever Day 1 score (3,317 points) in the heptathlon on Wednesday and sat in 21st overall.
Kansas State’s Akela Jones won the heptathlon with 6,371 points. Heptathletes and decathletes are scored on a table based on the quality of their performances in individual events: farther distances and faster times equate to more points.
Colorado State senior Kiah Hicks, who finished 15th in the hammer, threw 192-11 (she competes next in the discus at 2:35 p.m. Saturday, streamed live on ESPN 3). In the shot put, CSU’s Aaliyah Pete struggled through back and hip injuries to finish 18th in the shot put on Thursday, throwing 51-4.5.
On Wednesday, Colorado junior Pierce Murphy finished fifth in the 10,000 to earn All-America honors after running 29:15.18. Murphy has been awarded All-America status indoors in the 5K (this past season) and twice more in cross country. Many of the races at NCAAs turn in to slow-moving tactical contests, where the goal for athletes is to win an individual title or finish high enough to score the team points. Records and personal bests aren’t typically set at this meet.
On Friday, Air Force senior Zach Perkins — who won his semifinal heat in the 1,500 in 3:45.63 — competes in the final at 5:45 p.m. That same day, CU’s Morgan Pearson will race in the 5K at 7:30 p.m.
Colorado sent seven athletes to the championships, Air Force three and CSU two.
Daniel Petty: 303-954-1081, dpetty@denverpost.com or twitter.com/danielpetty
Results from Colorado’s Collegiate Runners
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| ATHLETE | SCHOOL | EVENT | PLACE | HEAT (PL) | MARK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sara Sutherland | Colorado | 1500 meter semi | 3rd | 1 (2) | 4:16.97 |
| Elise Cranny | Stanford | 1500 meter semi | 8th | 1 (5) | 4:17.87 |
| Erin Clark | Colorado | 3000 steeple semi | 15th | 1 (8) | 10:15.87 |
| Zach Perkins | Air Force | 1500 meter semi | 10th | 1 (1) | 3:45.63 |
| Pierce Murphy | Colorado | 10,000 meters | 5th | 1 (5) | 29:15.18 |
| Ben Saarel | Colorado | 1,500 meters | 19th | 1 (9) | 3:47 |
| Connor Winter | Colorado | 3,000 steeple semi | 23rd | 1 (12) | 9:04.37 |
| Kiah Hicks | Colorado State | Hammer throw | 15th | 1 (6) | 192-11 |
| Dylan Bell | Air Force | Pole Vault | 16th | 1 (16) | 16-10 ¾ |
| Abrianna Torres | Colorado | Heptathlon | 20th | N/A | 5,483 points |
| Hannah Everson | Air Force | 10,000 meters | 21st | 1 (21) | 35:16.09 |
