PUEBLO, Colo. – The 2018-19 outdoor season has officially begun for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Track & Field program as the Mountain Lions competed in the Colorado State University-Pueblo Early Bird Meet at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colo.

The Mountain Lions ended the season opener with 10 event winners and one provisional mark in two days of competition.

In the women's 100m dash, UCCS dominated with eight of the top-10 finalists wearing the black and Vegas gold. Sophomore Kayla Zink picked up right where she left off in finals with a first place finish, and a time 12.18s. Deshon Elcock also recorded a first place finish in the 100m dash as he sprinted to a time of 10.96s.

UCCS women's team repeated their same 100m dominance in the 200m as they registered five runners in the top-10. This time, sophomore Kaija Crowe led the way with a first place time of 25.20s. Elcock finished with another great finish in the men's 200m with a second place time of 21.44s.

Long distance runners Hannah Ellis and Meg Super claimed top finishes in the 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase respectively. Ellis was able to finish ahead of five other competitors as she raced to a time of 38:23.00, and Super just beat out teammate Natalie Church with a time of 12:20.99. In the men's 3,000m steeplechase, Mark Simmons finished with the second best time of 31:19.03, which currently ranks as the fastest time in all of DII.

Coming fresh off a national championship, senior Skylyn Webb continued to get the job done with a provisional qualifying time of 2:07.49 (currently ranks first in DII) to claim first place in the women's 800m. Junior Aleksandra Anderson sprinted ahead as the event winner in the 400m hurdles with a time 1:03.76.

As for field events, UCCS was able to notch three of their 10 event winners with Derek Valdez, Celia Smith, and Will Ross taking first in their respective events. Valdez took the top spot with a mark of 7.16m in the long jump, Smith grabbed first with a mark of 1.60m in the high jump, and Ross cemented the top spot with a 14.15m mark in the triple jump.

As the outdoor season continues, UCCS will now look ahead to Saturday, Mar. 23 as they compete in the Colorado State University Invite in Fort Collins, Colo.