The University of Colorado track and field program kicked off the first day of the 2019 CU Invitational Thursday in Boulder with a second-place finish in the women’s pentathlon and the leader after the first day in the men’s heptathlon.
Maja Wichhart-Donzo led a group of four Buffaloes with a second-place finish in the women’s pentathlon, scoring 3,828 points. The senior was less than 70 points from first. She was joined by Drianna Mustin who placed sixth with 3,560 points and freshman Kylee Harr with 3,231 in her pentathlon debut for 10th overall. Senior Michaela Wenning scored 2,961 points for 14th but missed out on points in the 800 after not finishing the race.
Wichhart-Donzo jumped out to a quick lead after her and Wenning tied for first in the hurdles with a time of 8.77. Moving on to the high jump, Wenning took second with a jump of 1.72m (5-7.75) while Harr jumped 1.69m (5-6.5) for third in the event. Following the scoring of the two events, Wenning was second with Wichhart-Donzo dropping to third while Ader took over the lead.
The shot put gave Wichhart-Donzo a chance to close the gap with a second-place finish. The senior threw 11.30m (37-1) to close within 30 points of Wenning and 80 from Ader after three events. She continued to push forward with a third-place finish in the long jump (5.50m | 18-0.5) to retake second place.
The final event, the 800-meter run, proved to be crucial for Mustin’s finish as she put down a blistering 2:18.04 to destroy the field by more than three seconds. The mark jumped her from ninth to sixth. Wichhart-Donzo was fifth overall in the 800 with a time of 2:25.69 to secure her second-place finish.
On the men’s side, freshman Josh Farmer has taken a comfortable first day lead while scoring 2.953 points. His teammate Davis Butte sits in ninth with 2.321 points.
