COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track and field teams competed in their first meet of the new year on Saturday as the Mountain Lions hosted Colorado State University Pueblo for the CSU Pueblo vs. UCCS Dual.

The Mountain Lions scored a combined 176 points to top the ThunderWolves as they added 10 national qualifying marks. The CSU Pueblo vs. UCCS Dual was scored off points of 5, 3,2, and 1 in 14 events for first, second, third, and fourth place respectively.

INSIDE THE CSU PUEBLO VS. UCCS DUAL
Women Final: UCCS 84, MSU Denver 45
Men Final: UCCS 92, MSU Denver 34
Location: Mountain Lion Fieldhouse | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Track Size: 200-meter
Elevation: 6,291 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sophomore Justyn Loper won the first event of the day as he came just shy of a national qualifying mark with a first place throw of 17.58m in the men's weight throw.
 
At the high jump, the Mountain Lions notched a pair of provisional marks and first place finishes with Lydia Pavlenko improving on her season best mark with a clear of 1.69m, and Skye Ciccarelli posting a season best mark of 2.04m on the men's side.
 
Junior Dakota Abbott swept the men's long jump and triple jump with two provisional marks of his own as the Nebraska native recorded leaps of 7.18m and 15.24m in the long jump and triple jump, respectively. On the women's side, senior Hannah Meek competed in her first indoor meet of the season and did not disappoint as she claimed two provisional marks. Meek registered a distance of 5.85m in the long jump, good for second place, then came back to win the triple jump with a monster jump of 12.22m.
 
Sophomore Brian Mosley Jr.  showed off his speed on the track with an event winning time in both the 60m and the 200m. Mosley Jr. raced to a time of 6.92s in the 60m then bested his teammates in the 200m with a time of 22.63s. In her first race as a Mountain Lion, freshman Melissa Moreni clocked a time of 9.08s in the 60m hurdles to take first place as Brittany Fuchs recorded a first-place time of 25.65s to claim the women's 200m.
 
In the women's 60m, senior Kayla Zink topped the competition as she posted a provisional time of 7.60s in her first race of the 2020-21 indoor season. Later in the 400m, Dejah Glover kept the 400m title for the second consecutive meet as the senior finished in 59.81s. For the men's 400m, freshman Isaiah Escalante-Garcia finished atop six other Mountain Lions with an event winning time of 51.25s.
 
The Mountain Lions then stepped it up another notch in the distance events as three national qualifying times were registered. In the mile, Evan Graff raced to a provisional time of 4:10.37 to win the event as Riley McGrath clocked a time of 5:00.79 to win the women's mile. Both the men's and women's teams then bagged national qualifying marks in the 3000m as Layla Almasri registered a provisional time of 9:40.64 to claim the top spot, and Afewerki Zeru ran to a second-place provisional time of 8:13.67.
 
The UCCS 4x400m relay team ended the meet with first place time as the men's team of Angel Laca, Peter Ackah, Dillon Andrews, and Isaiah Escalante-Garcia finished with a time of 3:20.98.
 
BEYOND THE RESULTS

• UCCS men's team won a total of 10 of the scored 14 events as the women's team won 9 of the 14 scored events. 
• Afewerki Zeru's 3000m time ranks as the fastest converted time in program history.
• Layla Almasri's 3000m time also ranks as the fastest converted time in program history.

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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 16 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.