The Colorado Buffaloes track and field teams celebrated Senior Day with record-breaking performances at the Colorado Last Chance meet, held Friday at the CU Ford Practice Facility. The event honored 18 graduating seniors before two school records were broken on the track.
Avery Pearson set a new school record in the women’s 800 meters, finishing with an altitude-adjusted time of 1:59.98 (2:00.76 raw), surpassing the previous mark of 2:02.54 set by Sage Hurta in 2021. On the men’s side, the distance medley relay team—Justine Kipkoech, Danny Tragarz, Drew Costelow, and Isaiah Givens—ran a converted time of 9:19.00 (9:28.63 raw), breaking last season’s program record of 9:38.14.
“It was a fantastic last chance meet for our kids,” said Sean Carlson, Director of Cross Country and Track & Field. “The men’s DMR ran really, really well — the first three legs were flying. The mile always gets a little tactical, but we still ran well and that should be an NCAA qualifying mark. And then Avery in the 800 — just lights out. Two-flat at altitude is really, really impressive. That sets her up well heading into the Big 12s and nationals.”
The men’s distance medley relay placed third in a competitive race featuring Brigham Young University and Northern Arizona University; all three teams are expected to qualify for the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships based on their times from Friday’s meet.
Pearson’s performance comes just weeks after she ran a time of 2:03.21 at Boston University’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Her latest result ranks her seventh nationally this season and third all-time at altitude among collegiate athletes.
Other notable results included Ernest Campbell winning the men’s 60-meter dash in 6.80 seconds and Kole Mathinson taking first place in the men’s mile with a time of 4:07.85. Freshman Linda Weigang finished second in the women’s mile with a personal best of 5:05.92.
The Buffaloes will next compete at the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Feb. 27-28 in Lubbock, Texas.
