COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It was a busy day for the No. 5 and No. 12 nationally ranked Mountain Lions as they begin gearing up for the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships after qualifying 14 different student-athletes for the national stage in Birmingham, Ala. UCCS also piles on a combined 27 USTFCCCA All-Region awards, as announced by USTFCCCA on Tuesday.

For the Mountain Lion men, six student-athletes will make the trip to nationals as they compete in a combined six different events. Freshman Brian Mosley Jr. makes his first appearance at NCAA Championships by qualifying for the 60m after racing to a converted 6.77s seed time at conference championships. The distance duo of Evan Graff and Afewerki Zeru will be representing the Mountain Lions in three different events as Graff qualifies for the mile and Zeru solidifies his spot in both the 3000m and 5000m. For field events, UCCS loads up in the long jump as the only school with two student-athletes competing. Junior Peter Ackah's auto mark of 7.75m brings him into the event as the No. 2 seed with sophomore Peyton Turnage joining Ackah as the No. 8 seed. The final event with black & gold in the mix will be the triple jump, and junior Dakota Abbott will be the guy as he carries the No. 6 seed mark of 15.24m into the event.

On the women's side, UCCS is sending eight student-athletes who are set to compete in seven different events. The women's national qualifiers will be heavily loaded with upperclassmen, starting with senior Kayla Zink who enters the 60m as the No. 2 seed with a converted 7.51s time. In the mile, the Mountain Lions will be represented by senior Layla Almasri and sophomore Riley McGrath who carry the No. 3 (4:48.42) and No. 7 seed (4:49.49) respectively. Both Almasri and McGrath aren't finished there as they will also compete in the women's DMR with teammates Ellie Enderle and Michela Hewitt who all ran an impressive No. 5 seeded time of 11:37.34 last weekend at conference championships. To round out the track events, junior Hannah Ellis qualifies for the 5000m after clocking a time of 16:57.17 at the Colorado Running Company UCCS Open on Feb. 12. Off the track it will be junior Lydia Pavlenko and senior Hannah Meek who will compete in three different field events between the two of them. In the high jump, Pavlenko carries a 1.72m national qualifying mark as the No. 12 seed to make her first appearance at nationals as a Mountain Lion. With the No. 1 long jump mark in Division II, Meek heads to nationals as the No. 1 seed in the event and will make another event appearance in the triple jump with the No. 4 seed mark of 12.46m. Senior Dejah Glover will also be making the familiar trip to Birmingham, Ala. as a DMR alternate.

Each of the above national qualifiers were tabbed USTFCCCA All-Region honorees with Peter Ackah (Long Jump), Hannah Meek (Long Jump), Lydia Pavlenko (High Jump), and Kayla Zink (60m) also earning Top Regional Performer in their respective events.

To earn All-Region honors, an athlete must be one of the top-5 individuals in their events in their respective region. In addition, each member of a region's top-3 relay team was selected for the distinction.

UCCS' all-region award list includes:

Men's USTFCCCA All-Region
Dakota Abbott – Long Jump, Triple Jump
Peter Ackah – Long Jump
Thorben Hast – Heptathlon
Dawson Hopkinson – Pole Vault
Justyn Loper – Weight Throw
Brian Mosley Jr. – 60m
Sam Repsher – Heptathlon
Peyton Turnage – Long Jump

Women's USTFCCCA All-Region
Layla Almasri – 800m, Mile, 3000m, DMR
Christine Bailey – Long Jump
Kaija Crowe – Pentathlon
Ellie Enderle – DMR
Michela Hewitt – DMR
Riley McGrath – Mile, DMR
Hannah Meek – Long Jump, Triple Jump
Melissa Moreni – 60m Hurdles
Faith Novess – High Jump
Lydia Pavlenko – High Jump
Cameron Tracy – 60m Hurdles
Kayla Zink – 60m, 200m

The Mountain Lions will be back in action on Thursday, Mar. 11 as they prepare for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala.