The Colorado Buffaloes achieved six podium finishes on Feb. 28 during the second day of the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock, Texas, with Avery Pearson winning the women’s 600-yard race and setting a new meet record at the Sports Performance Center.
The event was marked by strong performances across multiple events for the Buffaloes. Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Sean Carlson said, “Avery winning the 600 and setting the meet record again was a fun race and will set her up with great momentum going into NCAAs. Our milers all came back and scored in a tactical final, with Givens bouncing back and getting some confidence for NCAAs. Drew ran a great 1k after the DMR last night. Tanner had the best race of his career in the 3k and I am excited about the runner he is continuing to develop into.”
In the men’s mile final, Isaiah Givens finished third with a time of 4:05.90 after making a late surge over the final stretch. Kole Mathison placed seventh at 4:07.69, while TJ Hansen finished eighth at 4:07.87; all three secured podium spots in what was described as a tactical championship race.
Avery Pearson’s performance in the women’s 600 yards stood out as she led from start to finish, breaking her own meet record from Friday’s preliminaries with a time of 1:17.48. This result keeps her ranked No. 3 on the NCAA all-time list for this event.
Drew Costelow contributed another podium finish by placing fifth in the men’s 1000 meters after competing in both that event and the distance medley relay (DMR) on consecutive days. In addition, Tanner Newkirk delivered what was called a breakthrough performance by moving up steadily through his field to finish sixth in the men’s 3000 meters.
Jessie Secor narrowly missed reaching another podium spot for Colorado by finishing ninth in a competitive women’s 3000-meter field.
With these results, Colorado’s track and field team now prepares for participation in the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships.
