PUEBLO, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track and field teams are crowned RMAC Outdoor Track and Field Champions after the Mountain Lions scored over 100 points on both the men's and women's side to runaway with the two titles on Sunday. The 2020-21 men's outdoor conference championship is the first one in program history for the UCCS men's team and the first time since 2014 that a school has swept both the indoor and outdoor conference titles in the same year.
 
INSIDE THE RMAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS: 
UCCS Men's Final Score: 149.50 points
UCCS Women's Final Score: 196 points
Men's Champion: UCCS
Women's Champion: UCCS
Host School: Colorado State University Pueblo
Location: Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,848 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Mountain Lions came in to championship Sunday trailing in third place on the men's side and second place on the women's side as UCCS went straight to work. 
• UCCS wasted no time racking in the points and nabbing podium spots on Sunday as senior Colton Homuth and freshman Justyn Loper put up eight points in the shot put. Homuth got the podium finishes rolling for the Mountain Lions by heaving a bronze medal mark of 15.92m as Loper worked inside the top-8 for a seventh place mark of 14.74m. Freshman Emily Arseneau pushed five points UCCS' way on the women's side in the same event after the school's all-time shot put leader threw a fourth place mark of 13.38m to help give the Mountain Lions momentum to start the day.
• The UCCS throwers kept the pressure on as freshman Thorben Hast set a new school record in the men's javelin and took to the podium with a bronze throw of 55.80m. Teammate Seth Richmond finished just outside of Hast by heaving a fourth place mark of 55.27m to give UCCS 11 team points in the event. The women's team followed suit with three Mountain Lions in the top-8 as Caroline Walters led the way with fourth place throw of 34.72m, followed by Kamryn Bohlken (33.70m) throwing her way to fifth and Cassielynn Bonner recording an eighth place finish (31.51m).
•  Outdoor sophomore Skye Ciccarelli (2.00m) earned bronze over at the high jump where senior Derek Valdez (2.00m) and junior Tanner Walsh (1.95m) combined for some much needed points for UCCS as they took fifth and seventh, respectively. Junior Lydia Pavlenko and freshman Faith Novess took on the field of 19 student-athletes in the women's high jump where they shared fourth place at a clear of 1.59m to further separate UCCS from the competition by recording nine team points.
• The Mountain Lions' all-time record holder in the pole vault claimed a silver medal finish on Sunday as Dawson Hopkinson went up to a provisional mark of 5.03m to score eight points while freshman Holden Daniels tallied four points of his own by recording a mark of 4.73m to take fifth.
• With four medals already won in the field events on Sunday, the men's triple jump went to add one more by way of gold medal as Dakota Abbott put his jump on national watch by registering an automatic qualifying mark of 15.87m to set a new school record and PR while notching the top mark in the nation. Three additional provisional marks including 11 team points were notched in the event as Will Ross (15.23m), Peter Ackah (15.12m), and Peyton Turnage (14.95m) jumped out to fourth, fifth, and seventh place, respectively.
• After the Mountain Lion field athletes got the scoring going, the UCCS track athletes took off running with the first running event of the day, the women's 4x100m relay. The relay team of Keyanda Bolton, Ashley Benton, Brittany Fuchs, and Kayla Zink made a strong statement early in the day by breaking the school record in route to a gold medal time of 45.95s to set an improved provisional qualifying time that ranks eighth in the nation.
• Each of the relay sprinters were just warming up on the track as Zink and Fuchs went on to register two more podium finishes each. In the 100m, Zink sprinted her way to another gold medal as her provisional time of 11.56s broke the school record and ranks as the seventh fastest in Division II, while Fuchs also posted a provisional time of 11.63 to claim silver. With two medals in hand, Zink and Fuchs added another pair of medals for good measure in the 200m as Zink recorded a silver medal time of 24.52s with Fuchs sprinting to a bronze medal time of 24.61s.
• At the 400m, freshman Ryan O'Neal ran to a fourth place finish on the men's side after running to a time of 49.32s as fellow freshman Ashley Benton (59.34s) and junior Dejah Glover (59.17s) scored points for the women with eighth and seventh place finishes, respectively.
• Coming off her gold medal finish in the 4x100m relay, Bolton transitioned to the 100m and 200m where she posted five team points as the freshman registered a seventh place time of 12.05s in the 100m and sixth place time of 24.94s. Junior Shewli Ghosh also added to the UCCS point count in the 100m as Ghosh sprinted to an eighth place time of 12.41s.
• On the men's side, freshman Brian Mosley Jr. ran to a bronze medal time of 10.56s in the 100m as sophomore Justice Mendoza clocked a seventh place time of 21.76s to help propel the UCCS men's team into the lead.
• The team points kept flowing in through the track events as the Mountain Lions slowly began to create separation and notch their two conference championships. The hurdle events were huge for the Mountain Lions as three gold medals and a whopping 62 points came UCCS' way. Senior Charlie Forbes set the tone in the men's 110m hurdles as he clocked a gold medal provisional time of 14.08s with Zaire Jackson adding his name to the mix by taking fourth with a time of 14.93s. It was then the women's turn where a podium sweep came in the 100m hurdles. Sophomore Cameron Tracy shattered her own school record by clocking a gold medal provisional time of 14.00s as Melissa Moreni earned silver with a provisional time of 14.06s and Maggie Remsberg earning bronze after racing to 14.43s. In the 400m hurdles, it was freshman Dillon Andrews who shocked the field of competition as he dug down deep to bury the previous school record by clocking a gold medal provisional time of 52.67s. For the women, Jalen Jordan, Grace Wenham, Tracy, and Remsberg went in order of fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth place to close out the 400m hurdles.
• In the distance events, Layla Almasri had herself a day at the track as the senior took home two silver medals while notching 16 team points through two events. In her first race of the day, Almasri finished the 1500m in 4:38.84 to grab her first silver medal as she later ran a second place time of 18:31.08 in the 5000m for her second medal on the day. Freshman Riley McGrath also joined Almasri in tallying points in both the 1500m and 5000m by registering a pair of fourth place finishes on Sunday as she clocked times of 4:41.18 and 18:39.06. At the 800m, the UCCS distance runners continued to post points as Ellie Enderle and Michela Hewitt added six points through a fifth place time of 2:15.24 and seventh place time of 2:17.37, respectively.
• As the day winded down, it was sophomore Afewerki Zeru who helped bag the championship victory for the men's team. Zeru came in with fresh legs and showed why he is one of the top runners in the conference as he made his way to the podium by clocking a silver medal provisional time of 14:51.57 to record eight team points.
• To officially close out in what was a monumental day for UCCS Track & Field, the men's 4x400m relay team of Angel Laca, Ryan O'Neal, Evan Graff, and Dillon Andrews clocked an eight place time of 3:21.41 as the women's team of Michela Hewitt, Elizabeth Bindert, and Grace Wenham took sixth with a time of 4:12.75.

"I'm really proud of this team," stated UCCS Head Coach Ross Fellows. "The chemistry and commitment that these men and women have made to make a run at winning six track championships in a row is special. This was our first men's outdoor championship. Winning the first time is very special especially for those seniors who came back for an extra season due to COVID. It hasn't been an easy year and I'm really proud of how we are always in the mix and ready to compete at our best when it matters most."

UP NEXT:
With two more conference championships in hand, the Mountain Lions will now turn their attention to the Loper Twilight #1 and #2 on Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16.

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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.