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Buffaloes Win Final Big Eight Women's Title
 Leona Russell won the 1996 Big Eight 400 meters and anchored the winning 1,600 meter relay squad which clinched the league crown |
The final Big Eight Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 1996 were a historic one for the Colorado women’s track team. The Buffaloes became CU’s first track team (men’s or women’s, indoor or outdoor) to win a conference championship. In the process, the Buffaloes snapped host Nebraska’s 16-year run as conference champion.
The following is a wrap of the final day of the 1996 Championships, as reported by the Boulder Daily Camera.
May 22, 1996
Camera Staff Reports
Compiled by CU Sports Information Student Assistant Cole Mickelson
LINCOLN, Neb. – The streak is dead.
For 16 years, the Nebraska women’s track & field team had no peers in the Big Eight Conference. But in the last meet in conference history, the Colorado Buffaloes ended Nebraska’s reign at the league Outdoor Track & Field Championships Tuesday.
The Buffs wrapped up their first title in style as the 1,600-meter relay team of Tasha Ward, Tamara Ards, Heather Sterlin and Leona Russell shattered the school record by eight seconds with a 3:34.47. The time also was a Big Eight record, beating Oklahoma’s 1989 time of 3:36.03.
All four of the Buffs ran personal-record times during the legs of the race.
After the performance, the final standings read: CU 195.2, Nebraska 191.
“There was a lot of magic out there for us,” said CU women’s distance coach Toby Jacober. “Every single person on the team believed we could achieve this. It was remarkable the way we supported each other.
“Before the final race, the whole stadium was silent. You could almost feel the other teams pulling for us. It is a huge upset to beat Nebraska on its home turf.”
The Buffs didn’t necessarily need a victory in the final event because freshman high-jumper Melinda Mounsey finished in a four-person tie for eighth with a season-best 5-3. It was only the third time this season Mounsey had competed in a meet.
The effort earned Mounsey the nickname “point-two,” for the two-tenths of a point she added to the team total. Mounsey’s finish in the high jump gave CU’s 1,600 relay team the comfort of knowing even a second-place finish would win the team title.
Still, Russell went on to win and make history.
“I knew that if we were a place behind them, we would win,” Russell said. “I knew Nebraska could win, or at least I thought they would. We’ve been trying for so long. This was the last year we could do it.”
 Heather Sterlin won the 1996 Big Eight Heptathlon, Long jump and was a member of the 1,600 relay team. |
The Buffs received outstanding performances all-around as Sterlin won the heptathlon with 5,391 points. She capped off the win with a first-place in the long jump (19-11 1/4).
Russell’s day also included a victory in the 400 hurdles (58.13) and a third place finish in the 100 hurdles (13.92). Her teammates Yvonne Scott and Mandi Farquhar made it a 1-2-3 sweep in the event.
Scott set a Big Eight record with a time of 13.35, while Farquhar ran a 13.46, which was one-one hundredth of a second better than the old record (13.47).
Kelly Smith repeated as the 1,500 champion with a 4:21.46, while teammates Shayne Wille (4:21.58) and Carrie Messner (4:25.18) were second and fourth respectively. Smith also placed second in the 800 by running a 2:09.67.
Senior Natalie Raveling added the 5,000 title to go with the 3,000 she won on Monday. Raveling finished the race in 16:51.29. CU’s Heather Burroughs was third (17:02.79), Amy McNitt fourth (17:07.13) and Kristina Dahlberg sixth (17:17.42).
On the men’s side, the Buffs finished third with 117 points, CU’s highest finish in 50 years, according to head coach Mark Wetmore.
Nebraska won that half of the meet with a league-record 213.5, and Iowa State was second (143.5).
CU sprinter James Davis was a double winner in the 200 (20.73) and 400 (45.67). Davis also anchored the Buffs’ second-placed 1,600 meter relay team.
Matt Lepsis, CU’s starting tight end, gave the Buffs another victory in the discus with a winning throw of 182-3.
Alan Culpepper and Adam Goucher finished second and fourth in the 1,500 with times of 3:39.77 and 3:41.96.
Wetmore, in his first year running the program, was quick to credit former head coach Jerry Quiller, now at Army. Quiller, along with other former Big Eight head coaches, were invited to the last league meet. Quiller attended the final day and missed his flight back to New York to see the Buffs’ victory.
“(Quiller) assembled this team, and the staff,” Wetmore said. “We just carried the baton on the anchor leg. It’s been the greatest year ever for CU track.”
 Colorado Buffaloes, 1996 Big Eight Women's Outdoor Track & Field Champions |