History made at Colorado’s Potts Invitational

Colorado distance runner Juliette Forstrom participated in a record-breaking weekend of Buffaloes track and field at the Potts Invitational. (Photo by Tyler Phillips/Sko Buffs Sports)

Whether it be in the weight throw or mile race, history was made for both CU and the state of Colorado at the Buffaloes’ Potts Invitational.

The meet started with field events on Friday, when the Buffs had three athletes compete: Alaini Fantaski in the shot put, Amanda Opp and Lucas Williams in the weight throw.

Williams had quite the day. His throw of 19.45 not only beat out all other collegiate competitors but moved him into third place on Colorado’s all-time weight throw performance list.

Fantaski made her collegiate debut in the shot put and posted a throw of 7.42 meters, which was good for 18th place. Opp placed 5th at the meet with her season-best throw of 16.69 meters.

Sparks flew on day two, both literally and metaphorically. Pyrotechnics were brought out to announce the highlight event, the mile invitational. Last year, Isaiah Givens was one of the first two people to run a sub-four-minute mile while in the state of Colorado. 

This time around, he didn’t just break the four-minute mark. Givens’ time of 3:57.52 was the fastest mile run ever recorded on Colorado soil. 

Outside of Givens, the rest of the men’s mile team showed a lot of promise with Kole Mathison running a 4:00.74, and TJ Hansen making his collegiate mile debut with a 4:01.52. Just behind them, Lukas Haug captured a personal best 4:02.03, and Grady Rauba ran his personal best with a 4:03.14. 

There’s already improvement on the sprinting side of things this year for CU. Antonio Votour placed third with an 8.09, and Teagan Malcom ran sixth with an 8.37 time. 

In the middle distance events, Avery Pearson (1:28.79) and Riley Burkey (1:33.77) placed second and third, respectively, in the women’s 600-meter race, while Ty Cook (1:17.39) and Drew Costelow (1:18.13) placed second and third in the men's 600-meter. 

In the first home meet of Director Sean Carlson’s second year coaching, the Colorado track and field team has already shown not just promise, but improvement in different stages of the sport.

Up next is the Colorado Invite this Friday and Saturday at the Ford Practice Facility.