COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field teams opened the 2021-2022 indoor season with a strong performance at the Air Force Holiday Open as they tallied a total of seven NCAA qualifying marks inside the AFA Cadet Fieldhouse.
INSIDE THE AIR FORCE HOLIDAY OPEN
Location: AFA Cadet Fieldhouse | USAF Academy, Colo.
Track Size: 268-meters
Elevation: 7,048 ft
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Mountain Lions first national qualifiers of the season came at the pits as redshirt juniors Peter Ackah and Dakota Abbott leaped their way to top-five finishes in the triple jump. Ackah posted a mark of 15.22m to take second place while Abbott was right behind him with a jump of 15.03m to place fourth.
- Senior Hannah Meek and redshirt senior Lydia Pavlenko added two additional provisional marks in the women's triple jump as they took the top two spots in their flight, recording respective provisional marks of 12.29m and 11.72m. Redshirt sophomores Audrey Bloomquist and Christine Bailey also finished in the top-five with leaps of 11.59m and 11.55m to come up just short of a qualifying mark.
- At the high jump, sophomore Skye Ciccarelli added a provisional mark of his own with a 2.05m leap to take fourth place, while Tanner Walsh was not far behind, finishing in sixth place with a mark of 2.00m. On the women's side, five Mountain Lions recorded jumps of 1.60m to narrowly miss the NCAA qualifying mark, including freshman Hailee O'Neill, redshirt sophomores Maggie Remsberg and Faith Novess, and junior Ella McKinna-Worrell.
- UCCS collected their final two national qualifying results on the track with senior Kayla Zink and freshman Margaret Gardella racing to top-five finishes in the 60m. Zink sprinted to a third-place finish with a converted time of 7.58s while Gardella recorded a provisional converted mark of 7.66 in her first career collegiate competition.
- In the men's 60m, Brian Mosley Jr. paced the Mountain Lion pack as he posted a converted time of 6.90s and a third-place finish in the race. Mosley Jr. was followed closely by freshman Kymani Sterling and junior Justice Mendoza who finished fourth and fifth with converted marks of 6.92s.
- Junior Sam Repsher posted a strong season-debut in the men's pole vault, recording a mark of 4.75m to take fourth place.
- In the throws events, newcomer Sydney Marr heaved a team-best 16.16m in the women's weight throw to take sixth place while redshirt sophomore Emily Arseneau placed sixth in the shot put with a throw of 12.25m. On the men's side, freshman Mitch Anderson made a strong impression in his collegiate debut as he and teammate Caden Showalter each finished in the top ten for the shot put with respective tosses of 14.57m and 14.25m.
- Friday's meet wrapped up with the mile relays as the women's team of Grace Wenham, Brittany Fuchs, Hannah Meek, and Kayla Zink finished in 4:01.8 while the men's squad of Kymani Sterling, Thorben Hast, Angel Laca and Ryan O'Neal posted a time of 3:23.04.
BEYOND THE RESULTS
UP NEXT
- UCCS track & field will be back in action next weekend as they host the Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Invite & Multi at the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse on Dec. 11 & 12.
SOCIAL
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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.
