The Colorado women’s track team put together an impressive showing to conclude CU’s 2023-24 athletics calendar.
Distance runners Bailey Hertenstein and Ella Baran punctuated the final day of competition for the Buffaloes at the NCAA outdoor track and field finals, with both runners posting top-seven finishes in the 5,000-meter run while recording personal-best marks at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Mead High graduate Abbey Glynn finished eighth in the 400 hurdles for the second consecutive year, while Avery McMullen finished 11th in the heptathlon.
Hertenstein, who claimed dual Pac-12 championships in the 5K and the 10,000 at the league final a month ago, finished third in her first appearance at the NCAA outdoor championships, posting a personal-best mark of 15 minutes, 10.98 seconds. Hertenstein finished less than a second behind runner-up Hilda Olemomoi (15:10.04) in a fast race, as the top three finishers all surpassed the 16-year old meet record of 15:15.08. Florida’s Parker Valby won in 14:52.18, while Baran finished seventh with a mark of 15:28.43.
Baran finished 22nd in the 5K final a year ago.
In her final collegiate race, Glynn finished the 400 hurdles in 55.75 seconds, improving on her efforts at the NCAA West Preliminaries (56.25) and her mark during Thursday’s semifinals (56.07) while finishing a few decimals behind the team-record mark Glynn posted while finishing second at the Pac-12 championships (55.31). That Pac-12 race was won by USC’s Jasmine Jones, who won the national championship on Saturday with a team and meet record time of 53.15. It was the second-fastest time in the women’s 400 hurdles in NCAA history.
McMullen finished with a mark of 5,771 points, earning the third top-12 finish of her career at nationals. McMullen placed 10th in the heptathlon last year and 12th in 2022.
