SPEARFISH, S.D. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field teams sweep the conference team titles for the second consecutive year to earn back-to-back RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships as day three ended inside Black Hills State University's Donald E. Young Center Fieldhouse.

INSIDE THE RMAC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Women Final Score: UCCS 216 points
Men Final Score: UCCS 195 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 Mountain Lions did not hold up on championship Sunday as they got right to work starting with a two-podium finish and 16 team points scored in the 60m hurdles. Freshman Melissa Moreni solidified her place on the podium after clocking a silver medal time of 8.81s with junior Cameron Tracy earning bronze with a time of 8.92s. Senior Alexis Carroll recorded two more points in the event by finishing in 9.18s. UCCS also earned points on the men's side with Zaire Jackson racing to a fifth place time of 8.42s to record four team points.
 
UCCS wasted no time to find their way back to the number one podium spot as a pair of gold medal finishes were registered in the 60m. Sophomore Brian Mosley Jr. bested the men's side by running a gold medal time of 6.75s as senior Kayla Zink topped the women's 60m field by sprinting to a gold medal time of 7.49s. Four other Mountain Lions came away with team points in the event with Brittany Fuchs (7.93s), Shewli Ghosh (7.94s), and Kayla Waterman (7.99s) combining for 10 points as Justice Mendoza registered one point with a time of (6.995s).
 
In the 400m, junior Angel Laca sprinted to a time of 49.97s to notch a bronze medal in the event as freshmen Isaiah Ecscalante-Garcia and Ryan O'Neal worked to fourth place (50.20s) and eighth place (51.29s) finishes respectively. For the women, senior Dejah Glover and freshman Ashley Benton tacked onto the Mountain Lions' lead as Glover finished in 58.83s for fourth place with Benton registering a fifth place time of 59.55s.
 
After claiming a gold medal in the 60m, Zink registered her second podium finish of the day in the form of a silver medal as she clocked a 200m time of 25.05s. Fuchs also made her second finals appearance of the day as she came away with a fourth place finish and five team points in the 200m. Freshmen Keyanda Bolton and Ashley Benton joined in on the 200m final as well where they finished in sixth and eighth place respectively to total 17 team points in the event. For the men, Mendoza bounced back to record a fourth place finish in the 200m by finishing in 22.08s as Laca tallied two points with a seventh place time of 23.63s.
 
Claiming his second individual RMAC title was Afewerki Zeru as he finished the men's 3000m with a blazing provisional qualifying time of 8:07.41. Sophomore Evan Graff ran away with a top-8 finish in the men's 3k as well with a sixth place provisional qualifying time of 8:14.40 for an additional three points scored.
 
At the triple jump, it was black & gold that filled the podium once again as the Mountain Lions garnered four of the six podium spots. Senior Hannah Meek registered a monster jump of 12.46m to improve on her provisional mark and take home gold on the women's side as junior Dakota Abbott found his way back to the podium with a gold medal provisional mark of 14.93m. Juniors Peter Ackah and Lydia Pavlenko added to their hardware collection by recording a bronze provisional mark of 14.71m and silver medal provisional mark of 11.83m, respectively.
 
UCCS closed out RMAC Championships by putting their dominance on display one last time as both the men's and women's 4x400m relay teams raced to silver medal times. The women's team of Glover, Grace Wenham, Michela Hewitt, and Kaija Crowe raced to a time of 3:55.87 as the men's team of Andrews, O'Neal, Mosley Jr., and Escalante-Garcia finished in 3:24.20.

"I'm just so proud of this team and the coaches," stated head coach Ross Fellows. "They did a phenomenal job. From way back in August to now we dealt with adversity and didn't make any excuses. But they got into a flow, trusted the process, and came away with two great victories for our program.

"This meet really showed our depth, and showed how well rounded of a program we are being on the podium in almost every event. It's hard to win in this conference and doing it back to back years on the men's and women's side is unheard of. We are looking forward to seeing what we can put together at Nationals in a couple weeks!

"Student-athletes come here with intentions to win both on and off the track, and that is what makes me proud as their head coach."
 
On top of the sweep of conference championships for the second consecutive year, the Mountain Lions also swept RMAC Athlete of the Meet with Lydia Pavlenko being named Female Athlete of the Meet and Afewerki Zeru winning Male Athlete of the Meet. Pavlenko bagged 22 points on the weekend and medaled in three different events including silver medals in the long jump and triple jump, and a bronze medal in the high jump. Zeru was a perfect 2-for-2 as he bested the competition in both the 3000m and 5000m to tally 20 team points and two gold medals while adding a new facility record in the 5000m.
 
 
BEYOND THE RESULTS

• UCCS Men finish with a 98-point lead over second place Adams State University (97 points)
• Mountain Lion Women finish with a 106-point lead over second-place Colorado Mesa University (110 points).
• Mountain Lions finish with a combined 33 podium finishes including 11 gold medals, 13 silver medals, and nine bronze medals.

UP NEXT
The Mountain Lions will be back in action on Friday, Mar. 12 as they prepare for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala.

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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.