Birmingham, Ala. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field competed in their first day of NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday as the Mountain Lions walked away with All-America honors in three events.

INSIDE THE NCAA DII INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Women Score: UCCS 7 points | T-19th
Men Score: UCCS 2 points | 30th
Location: Birmingham Crossplex| Birmingham, Ala.
Track Size: 200 meter hydraulically banked track
Elevation: 643 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mountain Lions went 2-for-2 in the long jump as junior Peter Ackah was the first All-American on Friday after the Accra, Ghana native jumped to a mark of 7.28m to finish seventh and post two points for the UCCS men's team. Senior Hannah Meek came to post her career best performance on the national stage as she worked her way to a podium finish by registering a third place jump of 6.09m for All-American honors and six team points.

On the track, redshirt sophomore Evan Graff came up just shy of a finals appearance in the men's mile after coming in at a new PR of 4:10.32 to finish 10^th in his first career national championship race. 

The Mountain Lions will be represented in two final races after three qualifying times on Friday. In the women's mile, sophomore Riley McGrath posted an impressive time of 4:52.22 in her first career race on the national stage to set a new PR and finish third in her heat to make the finals appearance on Saturday at 5 p.m. (MT). Senior Layla Almasri finished fourth in her mile heat with a new PR of 4:53.97 to claim the last qualifying spot and race alongside McGrath. The third qualifying time came from the blazing speed of senior Kayla Zink who won her 60m heat and clocked the second fastest time at 7.52s to auto qualify for the 60m final on Saturday at 5:10 p.m. (MT).

UCCS concluded day two of NCAA Championships by notching another set of All-American awards by way of the women's DMR team. The team of McGrath, Dejah Glover, Ellie Enderle, and Almasri earned their All-America honors by placing eighth in the event and racing to a time of 11:45.70.

In addition to the women's mile and 60m final races on Saturday, the Mountain Lions will have entries in the women's triple jump at 4 p.m. (MT), men's triple jump at 12 p.m. (MT), and men's 3000m at 2 p.m. (MT).

UP NEXT
NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships will resume on Saturday, Mar. 13 as the Mountain Lions will begin competition at 12 p.m. (MT) with the men's triple jump.

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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.