COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams were back in action for day two of the Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Invite & Multi on Saturday as they combined to record nine more provisional marks on the day, bringing the total for the meet to 19. The UCCS men and women also joined up to register ten additional event wins on Saturday to total 14 across the two-day meet.
 
INSIDE THE COLORADO RUNNING COMPANY PRE-HOLIDAY INVITE & MULTI
Location: Mountain Lion Fieldhouse | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Track Size: 200-meters
Elevation: 6,291 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After being named a First Team All-American with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships last week, redshirt senior Afewerki Zeru carried his momentum into the indoor season with a first-place finish in the men's 5,000m race as he clocked a raw time of 14:28.86 to break his own Mountain Lion Fieldhouse facility record that he established during the 2020-21 indoor season. Zeru's altitude and track adjusted time of 13:46.40 also registers as an NCAA qualifying time and currently places him with the second-fastest time for the event in all of Division II.
• At the men's triple jump pits, redshirt senior Dakota Abbott saved his best jump for his sixth and final attempt as he leaped to a first-place mark of 15.49m that improved his existing provisional mark to second-best in the country. Redshirt junior Peyton Turnage was the second overall finisher in the competition, recording a jump of 14.47m that crossed the provisional threshold but was just short of his triple jump mark from last week at the Air Force Holiday Open.
• Redshirt junior Audrey Bloomquist put forth an impressive showing in the women's triple jump, finishing first in the event with a huge personal-best jump of 12.19m that is currently ranked as the second-furthest jump on the NCAA Division II performance list. Her mark also moved her into second-place all-time in UCCS program history for the event.
• It was a big day for the Mountain Lion high jumpers on Saturday as redshirt juniors Skye Ciccarelli and Faith Novess each recorded NCAA qualifying marks in the men's and women's high jump competitions, respectively. On the men's side, Ciccarelli tied his indoor personal best mark with a leap of 2.12m that also currently sits tied for second in the nation for all Division II competitors. In the women's flight, Novess cleared a bar height of 1.68m to earn her first provisional mark of the new indoor season.
• The men's heptathlon concluded on Saturday afternoon with the final three events and saw UCCS redshirt sophomore Thorben Hast make a push into the top-five with a fifth-place finish and a national qualifying score of 5,215 points. Hast's strong performance on the second day of the combined event saw him establish a new personal best in the pole vault with a mark of 4.40m and post a strong effort in the 1,000m race in which he earned a first-place finish at a time of 2:45.53.
• It was a dominating effort by redshirt sophomore Melissa Moreni in the women's 60m hurdle final as she went on to win the race by half a second while posting a time of 8.63s. Her altitude-adjusted time of 8.67s also registered as another improvement on her existing provisional mark as she currently claims the seventh-fastest time in the nation for the event.
• The Mountain Lions claimed the top five spots in the men's 60m dash final, led by redshirt junior Brian Mosley Jr. at a raw time of 6.76s that was just short of his time from yesterday's prelim, but still registered as a national qualifying mark. Coming in behind Mosley Jr. were Justice Mendoza (2^nd – 6.88s), Michael Nichols (3^rd – 6.99s), Daryn Ofori-Kuragu (4^th – 7.02s), and Dominic Haggerty (5^th – 7.04s).
•  In the women's 60m dash final, Bloomquist recorded her second gold medal finish of the day as she raced to the fastest time in the field at 7.64s. Redshirt sophomore Keyanda Bolton was just tenths of a second behind Bloomquist as she clocked a second-place finish with a personal best time of 7.69s.
• The UCCS men's sprinters continued their impressive day in the 200m dash, where Nichols (1^st – 22.98s), Ofori-Kuragu (2^nd – 23.01s), and Asend Ashby (3^rd – 23.06s) claimed the top three spots in the race. On the women's side of the 200m dash, Bolton took first place with her time of 25.26s, while redshirt junior Brittany Fuchs logged a time of 25.41s for a second-place finish.
• At the throws ring, redshirt junior Anna Holland recorded a personal best toss of 12.83m to finish fifth overall in the women's shot put, narrowly edging out her freshman teammate Toryn Turpin, who finished sixth with a toss of 12.82m. Holland's mark sits third all-time in the UCCS women's record book, while Turpin moves to fourth all-time in program history for the event.
• In the men's shot put, Kyle Demos made a strong impression in his first collegiate competition for the event as he was the top finisher for the Mountain Lions with a throw of 12.85m to finish fifth overall.
• A pair of UCCS distance runners registered strong performances in the women's 5,000m race as redshirt freshman Molly Breuer and freshman Jessica Madrid were the second and third runners to cross the line with raw times of 18:50.90 and 18:52.41, respectively.
• In the center of the track at the men's 60m hurdles, sophomore Paxon Fleming was the first UCCS student-athlete to cross the line as he raced to a time of 8.69s for a fourth-place finish.
• The two-day meet concluded with the 4x400m relay races as the women's relay team of Alyssa Lopez, Fuchs, Bolton, and Amber Davis earned a first-place finish with a time of 4:00.52 while the men's team of Dillon Andrews, Sebastien Jean, John Efraimson, and Andrew Muncy clocked a second-place finish at 3:21.51.

 
BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Across the two-day meet, the UCCS men's and women's teams combined to record a total of 32 podium finishes, including 14 event wins.
• Through the first two meets of the season, the Mountain Lions have a total of 17 NCAA qualifying marks on the NCAA Division II performance list, with seven of them currently sitting among the top-ten for their event group.

 
UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will prepare for an extended break from competition as their next scheduled meet will take place on Saturday, Jan. 14, when they head to Boulder, Colo., for the Potts Invitational.

 
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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.