Chaston Comes Out With Mile Win

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BOULDER, Colo. – Welcome back.

After a long deserved break from competition, Colorado State's track and field team was once again complete with the addition of the distance crew, fresh off a successful fall of cross country, which saw both teams qualify for the NCAA Championships. An escape was needed. An immediate leap into the indoor track season was not, with the national championship race on Nov. 19 and the opening meet for indoor a few weeks later on Dec. 2.

So, distance coach Andrew Epperson delayed his group's start to the season in regard to training and later competition. After the holiday break hit the mark. Saturday's second day of the Potts Invitational at Colorado was a perfect fit to start leaving some marks.

"The fall is really busy with a lot of milage, racing and intensity, so it's really important we spend late November and early December just focusing on recovering and building back into things – not a lot of structure until after finals," Epperson said. "That's obviously a huge mental task as well. Heading into winter break and early January, they're doing training similar to what we did in cross where it's a lot more strength based. With them all over with family and a lot of events to do, it's more about getting an effort in and seeing how the body feels. Today, it was remembering what it's like to race. It's not easy, it's painful, so reminding them of that but keeping them in a groove from training so in two weeks they'll be a little more sharp."

Taking a step further, Epperson had most of his crew running shorter versions of their races, in some cases entering them in events they don't normally run, such as the mile. A chance to gain a feel for racing again, pick up some speed work and not put any undo pressure on the first showing.

Then again, Emily Chaston proved she's not one for following the plan to a T, going out and surprising herself by winning the women's mile meters in a time 4:59.62. Normally a runner who attacks a 3,000 or longer, topping the field was not on her bingo card. It was a good race for a lot of Rams, as Lauren Neugeboren placed third, Lily Tomasula-Martin fourth and Quinn McConnell eighth.

"It was a huge surprise. I did not expect that, generally because I don't have a great kick," Chaston said. "Usually, I need to go with a lot more to go, like with Lily. I don't know what happened today. We had a good workout on Tuesday, and it gave me a lot of confidence in my kick, so I went for it."

Which was all Epperson really wanted his group to gain from the day, a bit of a pick-me-up to put in their back pocket moving forward, not just for the indoor season, but the outdoor schedule which awaits.

He did also want them to have some recall, that races hurt when they push themselves, how to set up a move and stick with a strategy.

"It's doing the uncomfortable. It's improving on attributes of yourself that you're not good at," said Mason Brown, who prefers to run nothing shorter than a 5K. "I don't run the mile; I don't have a lot of speed, and it's something everyone can improve. The fastest 10k runners have a lot of speed. Doing something you're bad at is the best way to improve overall as a runner."

Exiting the day, Brown felt the plan played out perfectly. Not just the front end, but the reemergence into competition. He felt good physically, even if he was charting new waters, which will help his headspace just as much as the time away.

For him, both sides served a very important purpose.

"Mentally, it was a lot better. Physically, it felt perfect. We felt well rested," he said. "Most of us took two weeks off and were ready to roll. We lost a little fitness, but we got it back really quickly. Mentally, you need to refresh and really just go over everything that happened this cross country season, what we can improve on and everything that went well. I think we were ready to compete."

Epperson requested all of them take two weeks away from running. Not all of them followed the rules.

Chaston just couldn't. Her mental health wouldn't allow her.

"I always get really antsy, but I take it really easy. If I was supposed to take two weeks, I don't know; I'd go nuts," she said.
"The break was great. I took off seven days, no running at all, and then I started running every other day for a while. I went back home to Colorado Springs, and I was running a lot of milage and kinda tweaked my Achilles' running on the hills so quickly because Fort Collins is so flat.

"I've been cross training the past couple of weeks, so I think that helped reset my legs so I could get an aerobic base back, but my legs aren't ready to be tired. Running the mile today was less about hitting a certain time and more but remembering how to hit that turnover again. Cross country is a lot of hills and grass, and this is how fast you can get your legs going fast again."

The Rams posted some strong results on the day, with newcomer Taye Raymond placing third in both the 60 and 200 meters. Jahzara Davis was third in the hurdles and Sarah Carter was second in the 3,000.

For the men, a pair of runner-up finishes highlighted the Rams' session, Ryan Birkmeier in the 800, Tyler Colwell in the 200. The team had some others qualify for finals but were pulled for rest reasons.

Potts Invitational
CU Indoor Facility
Day 2 Results
CSU Top 3 Finishes

Women's 60m Hurdles
3. Jahzara Davis, 8.68

Women's 60m
3. Taye Raymond, 7.73

Women's Mile
1. Emily Chaston, 4:59.62
3. Lauren Neugeboren, 5:03.08

Men's 800
2. Ryan Birkmeier, 1:52.13

Men's 200
2. Tyler Colwell, 51.57

Women's 200
3. Taye Raymond. 24.65

Women's 3,000
2. Sarah Carter, 9:38.40

- STALWART -

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Ryan Birkmeier

Mason Brown

Sarah Carter

Emily Chaston

Tyler Colwell

Jahzara Davis

Quinn McConnell

Lauren Neugeboren

Lily Tomasula-Martin