UCCS Back at Mines for Second Straight Weekend

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The University of Colorado Colorado Springs women's indoor track and field team will compete to improve times before the start of the championships season when the Mountain Lions compete in the Joe Davies Open at Colorado School of Mines on Saturday. Action in Steinhauer Fieldhouse in Golden begins at 10 a.m.

It's the second straight weekend for the Mountain Lions at Colorado Mines after a series of season-best performances last weekend at the Mines Twilight Collegiate Open. The performance moved UCCS to No. 10 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association South Central Regional Team Index this week.

Unlike the UCCS men, the women will not field a team in the distance medley relay this weekend. The team of Melanie Diep, Jessica Todd, Alexa Urban and Megan Burrell broke the program record with 12 minutes and 15.41 seconds last Saturday, and the altitude and track adjusted time of 11:51.10 ranks second in the RMAC and eighth in Division II. With two weekends left to qualify, including this weekend, that time puts the Mountain Lions in position to qualify for the national indoor championships March 8-9 in Birmingham, Ala.

Diep and Burrell will be the only members of that relay team to be in action this weekend, and will compete in two different events for UCCS. Diep will join Sam Bauer in the mile run at 11:45 a.m. Burrell provisionally qualified in the 3,000-meter run last weekend with an adjusted time of 10:04.56, but will need to improve on her time tomorrow to qualify for the national meet. She runs at 1:45 p.m. along with Veronica Sandoval, Angie Martell, Alyssa Andrews and Alyssa Wendt.

The 3,000-meter run will be the second event of the day for Sandoval, who begins with the 800-meter run at 12:45 p.m. It will be her first 800-meter run of the season, and her first indoor 800 since 2011. Amber McAfee ranks No. 13 in the conference for the 800 with an adjusted time of 2:23.61 from the New Mexico Classic.

Jessica Todd and Briana Alley will pull double duty in the 400-meter and 200-meter dashes at 12:15 p.m. and 1:20 p.m., respectively. Sara Kettelkamp will compete for the first time during the indoor season in the 200-meter dash, while Michael Mansfield will join Todd and Alley in the 400-meter dash. Saturday will be the first time for the 200-meter dash for the UCCS women this season.

Alex Colvin, the RMAC and regional leader in the pole vault at 11 feet, 11 ¾ inches, will open the competition on Saturday at 10 a.m. She has a four inch advantage against the nearest conference pole vaulter, but will be looking to improve her standings in the national performance lists for a chance to qualify. The national committee selection criteria recommend at least 16 student-athletes in each field, and an improvement of 1 ¾ inches will put her into a tie for No. 14.

UCCS Schedule at Joe Davies Open
10 a.m. - Pole vault (Alex Colvin)
11:45 a.m. - Mile run (Melanie Diep, Sam Bauer)
12:15 p.m. - 400-meter dash (Jessica Todd, Briana Alley, Michaela Mansfield)
12:45 p.m. - 800-meter run (Amber McAfee, Veronica Sandoval)
1:20 p.m.  - 200-meter dash (Jessica Todd, Briana Alley, Sara Kettelkamp)
1:45 p.m. - 3,000-meter run (Megan Burrell, Veronica Sandoval, Angie Martell, Alyssa Andrews, Alyssa Wendt)