Mountain Lions add two more national qualifying marks at Potts Invitational

In the world of track & field, three plus 20+ divided by three equals the value of X. For the rest of us, that's three national qualifying marks plus over 20 school records over the course up just three meets so far in the indoor season.

The value of X is a darned good start.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs got two more provisional qualifying marks for nationals Saturday at the University of Colorado's Potts Indoor Invitational as both Colby Elliott and Brien Hopkins did so in the men's indoor heptathlon.

Elliott's 4,747 points took third in the meet, behind only Adam Salzmann and Alex Von Hagen, both from Division I Colorado. Hopkins had 4,600 points and a sixth-place finish. Both athletes plus teammate Canyon Parcell closed strong, taking third, fourth and seventh respectively in the 1,000-meter dash, to make it three-for-three in hitting the point goals set before the meet.

Anthony Cardinale won the long jump, defeating eight Division I jumpers among the field of 18. Cardinale's leap of 6.96 meters also set a new school record. The sophomore from Colorado Springs also barely missed a new school record in the 60-meter dash. His mark of 7.12 seconds was .05 behind the UCCS mark held by Dami Oladiran.

Having claimed school records in the 200 and 400 meters a week ago, Jonathan Wright inscribe his name on another school mark with his time of 1 minute, 13.41 seconds in the 600-yard run. Wright not only set a UCCS record, he also won the event in a field of 25 competitors. Teammate Travis Whitman took 10th in the same event.

Michael Souza won the high jump with a jump of 2.00 meters (5 feet, 6.75 inches), defeating six Division I athletes in the process.

Michael English took second in the 3,000-meter run. Seven other Mountain Lions were among the 20 entrants, led by Ryan Derrick's eighth-place finish.

Pole vaulter Lauren Graham won her event on Friday, giving her two wins in three meets. She's also the owner of the third UCCS national qualifying mark.

Alexa Urban nabbed two school records. She was second among Division II runners and seventh overall in the 60 meters with a UCCS-record time of 8.32 seconds. She also stretched herself out to the 600 yards, where her mark of 1:31.83 set a new school standard.

Kaitlin Frier continued to make her senior season memorable by winning the 3,000 meters by nearly 12 seconds over her nearest rival.

Other top performances included Emily Weeks (fourth in the 200 meters), Veronica Sandoval (third in the 1,000) and Chelsea Overocker (third in the triple jump). Overocker set a new school record in that same event last week.