EUGENE, Ore. – University of Colorado senior-to-be Jenny Barringer will represent the United States of America at the 2008 Beijing Olympics this August.
Barringer finished third overall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Thursday night. She clocked a time of 9 minutes, 33.11 seconds.
“I’m not going to sleep tonight because I’m afraid when I wake up in the morning, none of this will have happened,” Barringer said. “It hit me with about 800 meters to go which is not the best time for something like that to hit you. I got really overwhelmed with 800 meters to go. The crowd really started going crazy and I had led most of the race. I knew what I was fighting for and, in a way that almost made it a lot harder.”
She is the second CU athlete in four years to earn the honor to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games. Dathan Ritzenhein earned a trip to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens in the 10,000-meter run.
“Jenny ran her second fastest time ever and was only beaten by a couple of professional runners from Nike,” Colorado Head Coach Mark Wetmore said. “It was an excellent, courageous and confident run for her and she got her spot on the Olympic team.”
To date, three current and former CU athletes have qualified for the Olympics: Ritzenhein (marathon), Kara Goucher (5,000-meters) and Barringer.
Barringer took to the front from the gun to lead the race and put a pace on the race to try to pull away from the field. She was content to lead the pack for the first four laps. Anna Willard stayed on Barringer’s heels, as did Michigan State’s Nicole Bush and Lindsay Anderson.
Barringer continued to look strong with three and a half laps remaining in the race. She got the front three down to herself, Willard and Anderson, all of whom where members of the 2007 U.S. World Team and owned the Olympic A Standard. Bush fell back to fourth and there was about 10 meters between her and the lead pack.
Willard took the lead from Barringer with about 700 meters remaining. Anderson moved passed Barringer with one lap to go, moving Barringer to third. Barringer would not drop any lower and clinched her spot on the U.S. Team.
“I haven’t been focusing on the fact that this is the Olympic Trials,” Barringer said. “I’m trying to be myself and convince myself that this is just another race. But it’s not; it’s not just another race. You get out there and you feel it. I’m just so happy. I know I faded but I’m still so happy.”
Carrie Messner-Vickers placed eighth overall in the race, recording a time of 9:49.93. Lesley Higgins placed 13th overall (10:04.04).
In other action for Colorado, assistant coach Casey Malone placed eighth overall to qualify of the finals in the discus. He recorded a toss of 197 feet and 11 inches in his first throw of the qualifying round. He was fifth in the second flight. The top performer of the day was Jarred Rome, who recorded a toss of 206-10.
“Casey is into the finals and we are very excited about that,” Wetmore said.
This is Malone’s fourth U.S. Trials. He competed in 1996, 2000, 2004 and now 2008. He made the Olympic team in 2004 and placed sixth in Athens.
Stephen Pifer placed 14th overall in the quarterfinals of the 1,500-meter run. He finished in a time of 3:44.05.
“I was surprised how good I felt out there,” Pifer said. “It took a lap to get back into the rhythm of the 1,500 meters. Once I got into a groove I felt really strong and really smooth. The last 150 meters we were just cruising. I knew I was in the top six so I didn’t feel like kicking it in at the end. I’m just trying to save my legs as much as I can at this point.”
Pifer started out the second section in the back of the close pack. He started to work his way up to around the 2-minute mark and took the lead at about the 2:25 mark.
Pifer and his former conference foe from Texas Leo Manzano were neck and neck in the last lap, with Pifer running on the on the outside. Pifer fell back to fifth, but that was good enough to qualify for the semi finals on Friday at 9:05 p.m.
“The pace went out really aggressive and I was happy it did,” Pifer said. “Lopez (Lomong) got it going pretty quickly and then it slowed down on the last lap. I felt like I was right at home running with (Leo Manzano and other collegians).”
“Stephen ran a nice race tonight,” Wetmore said. “He qualified for the semis tomorrow which will be run tomorrow.”
In the semi finals of the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase Billy Nelson, who recently signed with Nike and Steve Slattery both qualified for the finals. Nelson placed third overall with a personal best of 8:26.17 and Slattery finished 10th overall (8:30.49).
“Billy Nelson looked strong and left some World Championship team members behind him,” Wetmore said. “He still needs to run 8:24 (Olympic A Standard) but that looks attainable now if the race is going hard on Saturday.”
“My ultimate plan was to make the final but I think I have a good chance at making the team and being in the top three,” Nelson said. “The way these guys ran tonight in the prelim, I think the final will be fast enough to get the “A” standard. If they don’t then I’m going to have to take it out. I know what pace I need to run and stay on.”
Nelson and Slattery both moved up to the front of the pack from the gun, running third and fourth. Slattery moved up to second before the first water jump and Nelson remained in fourth.
Slattery and Nelson remained top competitors heading into the finals lap. Nelson was in fourth and Slattery in sixth. Nelson moved up into third with less than 300 remaining. He moved into second to earn an automatic spot into the finals. Slattery took sixth in the heat and qualified on time for the finals.
“I PRed and made the final; it was an exciting race for me,” Nelson said. “The pace went out pretty quick. If we were going to go out fast I was running for the “A” standard because I don’t have it yet and if I could, get it out of the way during the prelim. It wasn’t quite that fast and it settled a little bit towards the end. I PRed by over two seconds and I live to see another day. That’s all that I needed to do.”
Jeremy Dodson will take to the track for the first time in the 200-meter qualifying round on Friday at 7:50 p.m. The women’s 5,000m final is at 9:55. Former CU standouts Kara Goucher, Sara Slattery and Renee Metivier Baille will compete for three spots on the Olympic team. The men’s 10,000-meter run finals are the final event of the day and begin at 10:20 p.m. Adam Goucher will attempt to earn his spot on the U.S. team.
U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials
Hayward Field (University of Oregon)
Eugene, Ore.
Men’s 1,500-meters (quarterfinals): 14. Stephen Pifer, 3:44.05
Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase (semis): 3. Billy Nelson, 8:26.17; 10. Steve Slattery, 8:30.49
Men’s Discus (qualifying): 8. Casey Malone, 197-11
Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase (finals): 3. Jenny Barringer, 9:33.11; 8. Carrie Messner-Vickers, 9:49.93; 13. Lesley Higgins, 10:04.04
Colorado Track & Field
Courtesy: Associated Press
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