Heading into Saturday's Potts Invitational, Stephen Pifer had not raced since the end of November, when he earned All-American status by placing 34th in the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Saturday, at the 2008 outdoor season-opening Potts Invitational, Pifer shook off the rust to set a Potts Field record in winning the 1,500 meters in 3 minutes, 47 seconds.

The time is the equivalent to a 4:04 mile, and should place Pifer, a fifth-year senior, near the top of the collegiate national lists when weekend results are compiled on Monday. Pifer's time was also one of his fastest season-opening races and showed that the CU record holder in the mile is on track for a solid race when the Big 12 Championships come to Potts May 16-18."Stephen's race was the best performance of the day for us," said CU head coach Mark Wetmore. "He was a little disappointed, but it was an excellent early-season race."

Pifer's excitement at finally racing again after nearly four months could be seen in the first 200 meters of the 1,500 meters, which he ran in 28.5 seconds, already 20 meters up on the field. Pifer then passed 400 meters in 59.5 seconds.

"That was a little fast, and I felt it on the second lap," said Pifer, who passed 800 meters in 2:01. He followed that with a 61 second third lap, before finishing with a final 300 meters in 44 seconds.

Also using Saturday's meet as a rustbuster was the entire CU crew that will be putting on the Big 12 Championships. There is still a dearth of stands, and some Mondo surface that needs to be added in spots, but the new throws cage just east of the track made its debut to good reviews, and the shot ring is just about complete.

Leading the way in meet preparations are associate meet director Casey Malone, the CU throws coach, and meet director Rich Cardillo. Nicknamed "The General," Cardillo retired as CU associate athletic director 1999. He came out of retirement to oversee the meet.

"Today was a big step forward for us," Cardillo said. "This was the first step; the next step comes at the April 12 (CU Invitational) meet; and the third step is Big 12s. We have a lot of good people working on this and we learned a lot today."

Wetmore was glad to see Cardillo out there, saying, "We could not put on the Big 12 Championships without him."

There were several other good results for Colorado, including a 200-meter win by Jeremy Dodson. The sprinter won the 200 after catching his coach, former NCAA champ Brandon Couts, after the first 100 meters.

The final event of the day was the 4x400 meter relay, highlighted by a scintillating leg turned in by Longmont's James Davis. The ex-Buff is coming off a gold-medal run on the U.S. 4x400 meter squad in the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Saturday, he ran a hand-time 45.9 seconds, leading his team of international runners to the relay win.

"I would run here again if there were more meets," said Davis. "This is a good track."

Pifer agreed, saying, "This track is fast. I think we are going to be OK for Big 12s. It is going to be a good event."

Potts Invitational

(All events in meters)

WOMEN

100 -- 1, Janay DeLoach, CSU, 11.86. 2, Tenesha Johnson, CSU, 12.07. 3, Cassie Hirshfeld, CU, 12.32.

200 -- 1, Tanesha Johnson, CSU, 24.73. 2, Emily Pearson, CSU, 24.78. 3, Maricel DaCosta, UW, 24.80

400 -- 1, Justine Sanderfeld, UNC, 56.01. 2, Dyamond, CU, 56.40. 3, Jullian Hoblitt, UNC, 58.47.

800 -- 1, Lisa Drew, UNC, 2:19.12. 2, Allie Eckert, CU, 2:19.34. 3, Emily Hanenburg, CU, 2:21.91.

1,500 -- 1, Michaela Susa, OSU, 4:46.83. 2, Laura Thweatt, CU, 4:47.87. 3, Gretchen Johnson, UW, 4:55.93.

3,000 -- 1. Morgan Ekemo, Unattached, 10:14.40. 2, Tone Hjalmarsen, OSU, 10:39.05. 3, Natalia Kovtun, OSU, 10:41.95.

100 Hurdles -- 1, Emily Pearson, CSU, 14.01. 2, Shaylee Babbitt, UW, 14.03. 3, Kelly Coomes, UNC, 14.60. 3, Jennifer Schmitz, UW, 14.60.

400 Hurdles -- 1, Cathleen Campbell, Unattached, 62.48. 2, Ashley Stec, UNC, 64.48. 3, Toi Windham, CU, 64.48.

3,000 Steeplechase -- 1, Allison Sawyer, CU, 11:43.03. 2, Heather West, CU, 12:08.18. 3. Natalia Kovtun, OSU, DNF.

4x100 Relay -- 1, UW, 'B', (Allie Childers, Andrea Frary, Maricel DaCosta, Janel Garver) 48.27. 2, MSC, 'A', (Stephanie Litsheim, Danielle Rose, Brandy Deimling, Stephanie Dumas) 50.60.

4x400 Relay -- 1, UNC 'A' (Jillian Hoblitt, Lauren Iseman, Ashley Stec, Justine Sandersfeld) 3:56.75. 2, CU 'A' (Joi Windham, Veronica Maul, Toi Windham, Dyamond Seay) 3:59.45. 3, UNC 'B' (Keira Moczulski, Brianna Spletstoser, Shannon Hageman, Lisa Drew) 4:10.89

High Jump -- 1, Rachel Stevens, UNC, 1.65m (5-05). 2. Katie McConnell, UNC, 1.60m (5-03). 3, Stephanie Clark, UWY, 1.55m (5-01).

Pole Vault -- 1, Ashleigh Morton, CSU, 3.50m (11-5.75). -- 1, Kate Colvin, CSU, 3.50m (11-5.75). 3. Jackie Welch, CC, 2.60m (8-6.25).

Long Jump -- 1, Janay DeLoach, CSU, 5.85m, (19-2.5). 2, Tali Slafter, UNC, 5.46m, (17-11). 3, Brianna Plombon, UNC, 4.88m, (16-0.25)

Triple Jump -- 1, Ashley Knight, UW, 10.74m, (35-3). 2, Lindsey Fuller, UW, 10.47m, (34-4.25). 3, Brittney Moore, CC, 9.89m,

Shot Put -- 1, Jennifer Ugocukwu, CSU, 13.23m (43-05.00). 2, Chynna McCall, CU, 11.91m (39-01.00). 3, Shaina Afoa, Unattached, 11.79m. (38-08.25).

Discus Throw -- 1. Missy Faubus, CSU, 166-02; 2. Courtney Gougler, Wyo., 166-00; 3. Stacey Robben, CSU, 142-10; 4. Hillary Fraser, CSU, 139-07

Hammer Throw -- 1, Meagan Berg, CSU, 56.97m (186-11). 2, Kate Burton, UWY, 55.38m (181-08). 3, Amanda Johnson, CSU, 52.99m (173-10).

Javelin -- 1, Hannah Warfield, Unattached, 48.70m, (159-09). 2, Emily Pearson, CSU, 42.30m (138.09). 3, Jennifer Picucci, CSM, 28.50m, (93-06).

MEN

100 -- 1, Jeremy Dodson, CU, 10.62. 2, West Vashone, UW, 10.73. 3, Terrence McGaughy, UNC, 10.76.

200 -- 1, Jeremy Dodson, CU, 21.23, . 2, Terrence McGaughy, UNC, 21.40, . 3, De'on Waynewood, Unattached, 29.95,

400 -- 1, Drew Morano, CSU, 47.02. 2, Keith McMillan, US Elite, 48.36. 2, Tyler Hoerner, UNC, 48.36.

800 -- 1, Adrian Gomez, CU, 1:56.63, 2, Shawn Lindbom, MSCD, 1:57.64. 3, Travis Stanford, UNC, 1:58.02.

1,500 -- 1, Stephen Pifer, CU, 3:47.75. 2, Patrick Sullivan, Unattached, 3:57.83. 3, Rick Bogatay, MSCD, 4:00.80.

3,000 -- 1, Patrick Sullivan, Unattached, 8:42.10. 2, Rob Thayer, CU, 8:42.92. 3, David Juliano, BDP, 8:48.11.

110 Hurdles -- 1, Tyler Flattum, SDT, 15.02. 2, Kevin Johnson, CSU, 15.23. 3, Jeff Vaden, UNC, 15.40.

400 Hurdles -- 1, Nigel Joseph, CSU, 54.00. 2, Marty Wittmer, UNC, 55.24. 3, Logan Boccard, CC, 56.35.

3,000 Steeplechase -- 1, Christian Thompson, CU, 9:42.27. 2, Michael Trahan, NoCo, 9:49.13. 3. Matt Herzl, CU, 10:02.36. 4. Ryan Woodman, NoCo, 11:08.31.

4x100 Relay -- 1, UNC, 'A' (Richard Mattison, Collin Effler, Tyler Hoerner, Terrence McGaughy) 41.50. 2, CSU 'A' , 42.02. 3, CU, 'A' (Sam Pincock, Shane Micheel, Shane Cronin, Matthew McCatherine) 42.57.

4x400 Relay -- 1. Phenetix International 3:15.55. 2, Northern Colorado 'A' (Tyler Hoerner, Travis Stanford, Josh Keahey, Collin Effler) 3:23.336. 3, Northern Colorado 'B' (Hunter Hoekstra, Cody Harper, Joe Pummer, Marty Wittmer) 3:29.74.

High Jump -- 1, Todd Ipsen, Unattached, 1.90m (6-2.75), 2, Tony Michaelis, UW, 1.85m (6-0.75)

Pole Vault -- 1, Chandler Caldwell, South Dakota Tec, 4.75m, (15-07.00).

Long Jump -- 1, Jeff Vaden, UNC, 6.69m, (21-11.50) 2, Travis Corrow, UW, 6.56m, (21-06.25) 3, Richard Mattison, UNC, 6.49m, (21-03.50).

Triple Jump -- 1, Parker Fales, CU, 13.68m, (43-6). 2, Tyler Short, UNC, 12.58m, (41-3.25)

Shot Put -- 1, James Begley, CU, 16.28m (53-5) 2, Patrick Berg, UNC, 15.97m (52-04.75). 3, Nick Zehring, CSM, 14.39m (47-02.50).

Discus -- 1, Brian Trainor, Unattached, 200-00. 2, James Begley, CU, 165-07. 3, Patrick Bachmann, CU, 160-09.

Hammer -- 1, Chase Mullen, Unattached, 56.69m, (186-00). 2, Chase Dukes, CU, 52.93 (173-08). 3, James Begley, CU, 52.74m (173-00).

Javelin -- 1, Kevin Fasing, CU, 62.22m (204-02). 2. Brandin Williams, CU, 59.52m (195-03). 3. Chase Dukes, CU, 55.98m (183-08).