SPEARFISH, S.D. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track and field teams pushed ahead with five podium finishes in day one of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships as the Mountain Lions sit in first place.

INSIDE THE RMAC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Women Day 1 Score: UCCS 47 points
Men Day 1 Score: UCCS 32 points
Host School: Black Hills State University
Location: Donald E. Young Center Fieldhouse| Spearfish, S.D.
Track Size: 200-meter
Elevation: 3,592 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The throws duo of Justyn Loper and Colton Homuth registered the six points on day one with both finishing in the top-8 for men's weight throw. Loper finished just outside of a podium finish with a throw of 16.63m to claim fourth place and five team points. Homuth earned two points after a seventh place throw of 15.98m.
 
In the multis, senior Kaija Crowe earned the first podium finish of the day as her and three other Mountain Lions garnered 18 team points in the pentathlon. Crowe's 3,295 points scored earned her a bronze medal as Faith Novess, Maggie Remsberg, and Ella McKinna-Worrell trailed right behind her for fourth (3,192 points), fifth (3,126 points), and sixth place (3,119 points) respectively.
 
The 60m prelims were the first track event to run on Friday and the Mountain Lions are set to score points on both the women's and men's side heading into the 60m final on Sunday. Sophomore Brian Mosley Jr. clocked the top UCCS time and the third fastest prelim time at 6.87s. Freshman Justice Mendoza will join Mosley Jr. in the 60m final with his fastest time of the season at 6.911s. For the women, half of the qualifiers will be in black & gold with senior Kayla Zink leading the way with the top prelim time of 7.52s. Upperclassmen Brittany Fuchs, Shewli Ghosh, and Kayla Waterman will be racing alongside Zink in Saturday's final after finishing the sprint in 7.72s, 7.77s, and 7.89s respectively.
 
At the women's mile, UCCS took over the race by recording two podium finishes and a total of 23 points from the event. Senior Layla Almasri paved the way by registering a PR and improved provisional time by clocking a converted time of 4:48.43 to take home the first gold medal of conference championships for the Mountain Lions. Freshman Riley McGrath followed Almasri's lead by posting her own improved provisional time and claiming her first career podium finish at conference championships with a silver medal time of 4:49.49. Between Almasri's 10 points and McGrath's eight, the points did not stop there as freshman Kate Hedlund took fourth in a time of 5:02.76 to pile on another five points for the Mountain Lions.
 
On the men's side it was sophomore Evan Graff who tacked on five points of his own after finishing the men's mile in 4:14.78 for fourth place.

UCCS also set themselves up nicely in the 400m as the Mountain Lions will have three sprinters in the men's 400m final and two sprinters in the women's 400m final on Sunday. Freshmen Isaiah Escalante-Garcia and Ryan O'Neal raced to qualifying times of 50.44s and 51.00s with junior Angel Laca finishing in 50.75s. On the women's side senior Dejah Glover and freshman Keyanda Bolton finished in the top-8 through prelims as Glover took fourth (59.71s) and Bolton finished in sixth place (59.85s) to qualify for finals.
 
After the completion of four out of the seven heptathlon events it's freshman Thorben Hast who holds the slight lead over teammate Sam Repsher as the top-2 Mountain Lions posted 2,701 points and 2,685 points, respectively. Sophomores Eric Sierra and Seth Richmond are also in the running to score points in the heptathlon at fifth (2,307 points) and sixth place (2,239 points) respectively with the final three events remaining scheduled for Saturday.
 
As Repsher sits in second in the heptathlon, he also went on to register three points in the men's pole vault after a clearance of 4.81m to take third place on the podium. Senior Dawson Hopkinson joined Repsher on the podium as he cleared 4.81m on his first attempt to claim a silver medal in the event. Freshman Holden Daniels vaulted to a clear of 4.61m for fifth place and four points as Hopkinson, Repsher, and Daniels combined to score 18 points.
 
Day one track events ended in the 800m final as Charlie Kieffer tallied two points with a time of 1:58.74 and a seventh place finish in the men's race. The women's 800m saw two Mountain Lions in the top-8 as Elinor Enderle recorded five points with a fourth place time of 2:17.99 and Michela Hewitt adding a point with an eighth place time of 2:20.82.
 
BEYOND THE RESULTS

• UCCS Men hold a seven-point lead over second place Adams State University (25 points).
• Mountain Lion Women hold an 18-point lead over second-place Black Hills State University
• Mountain Lions post five podium finishes in day one including one gold medal finish, two silver medal finishes, and two bronze medal finishes.
• UCCS recorded five national qualifying marks.
• Almasri's mile conversion time is currently the fourth fastest time in Division II, while McGrath's is the sixth fastest.

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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.