PUEBLO, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track and field teams make a strong day one push to lead on the men's side and sit in second on the women's side at RMAC Championships, as Hannah Meek and Will Ross post automatic qualifying marks and set new school records.
 
INSIDE THE RMAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 
UCCS Men's Day 1 Score: 26 points
UCCS Women's Day 1 Score: 20 points
Men's Day One Leader: UCCS (26 points)
Women's Day One Leader: Colorado School of Mines (29 points)
Host School: Colorado State University Pueblo
Location: Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,848 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Outdoor junior Hannah Meek headlined day one of conference championships with her massive long jump mark that cemented her top spot on the podium. In her second to last jump, Meek separated herself from the field of competition with an improved automatic qualifying mark of 6.49m to shatter the meet record and school record, while setting a new PR. The Mountain Lions came away with more than Meek's 10 points as Lydia Pavlenko (5.72m), Audrey Bloomquist (5.56m), and Alexis Carroll (5.56m) took sixth, seventh, and eighth place respectively to add another six team points in the long jump for a combined total of 16 points.
• A second monster automatic qualifying mark was registered by the Mountain Lions as senior Will Ross jumped out to silver medal finish of 7.70m in the long jump to set a new school record and PR. Outdoor junior Dakota Abbott posted a stellar jump of his own as he registered a provisional mark of 7.47m for the program's thir best all-time mark to take fourth and give UCCS a total 13 points in the event.
• Sophomore Hannah Ellis and freshman Anna Holland also added to the team score with a pair of seventh place finishes as Ellis ran to a time of 38:53.64 in the women's 10,000m and Holland throwing a mark of 49.45m in the women's hammer throw for the second best outdoor mark in program history.
• For the men, the 10,000m was the first event where the Mountain Lions garnered points as five points came UCCS' way thanks to junior Matthew Schramm and graduate student Branden Bohling. Schramm clocked a time of 31:59.95 to take sixth as Bohling finished right behind Schramm for a seventh place time of 32:01.05.
• Outdoor freshman Justyn Loper registered UCCS' second podium finish on the day as he recorded the fourth best outdoor mark in school history in the men's hammer throw by heaving a provisional mark of 55.61m.
• In the track prelims, distance runners Riley McGrath and Layla Almasri continue to do what they do best as both qualify for the women's 1500m final on Sunday. After McGrath won the second heat with a time of 4:37.90, Almasri finished right behind the freshman with a time of 4:38.79 to take second in the heat and clock the fourth fastest prelim time.
• With a 400m prelim time of 48.90s, outdoor freshman Ryan O'Neal ran the fifth fastest outdoor time in program history to win the first heat and automatically qualify for the final race on Sunday. On the women's side, two Mountain Lions will race in the 400m final with Dejah Glover racing to the fourth fastest prelim time of 56.74s and Ashley Benton claiming the final spot at a time of 57.38s.
• At the sprints, four of the nine spots in the women's 100m final belong to the Mountain Lions as Kayla Zink and Brittany Fuchs each won their prelim with all-time program records. Zink clocks the second fastest time with a provisional mark of 11.75s with Fuchs recording the fourth fast time in school history with a time of 11.97s. Freshman Keyanda Bolton and junior Shewli Ghosh will also be in the final race as Bolton finished with the seventh fastest prelim time at 12.17s and Ghosh claiming the final prelim spot at a time of 12.20s. The men's team will have two Mountain Lions in the 100m final as the freshman duo of Justice Mendoza and Brian Mosley Jr. run to the third and fifth fastest prelim times of 10.63s and 10.65s, respectively.
• After taking over four of the nine spots in the 100m final, the Mountain Lion women repeated that same result for the 400m hurdles to guarantee team points for UCCS as Cameron Tracy led the way with the fastest prelim time in the first heat at 1:03.26 for the fourth fastest outdoor time in school history. The sixth, seventh, and ninth fastest prelim times were claimed by Grace Wenham (1:04.38), Jalen Jordan (1:04.46), and Maggie Remsberg (1:04.96), respectively. On the men's side it's Charlie Forbes and Dillon Andrews who each won a heat to punch their ticket to the 400m hurdle final as Forbes ran the fourth fastest time in school history at 54.70s with Andrews running the fifth fastest time at 54.82s.
• The multi events began on Friday where freshman Thorben Hast and sophomore Sam Repsher sit in the top-3 for the men's decathlon. Hast leads the field of nine student-athletes with a score of 3,870 points as he won the long jump (7.15m) and high jump (1.91m) on Friday. Repsher currently sits in third place with 3,558 points as the Mountain Lions will finish the remaining five events on Saturday. In the women's heptathlon, freshman Faith Novess is the top UCCS performer after day one as she scored a total of 2,655 points to sit in fifth place as Ella McKinna-Worrell sits in seventh (2,583 points) with Cassidy Bittner in 10^th (2,282 points).

UP NEXT:
Day two of RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will begin on Saturday, May 1 with the 110 meter hurdles in the men's decathlon at 9 a.m.
 
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.