COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track and field teams kicked off the 2022-23 Indoor Track & Field season on Friday afternoon with a strong showing as they combined to post six NCAA qualifying marks at the Air Force Holiday Open.
 
INSIDE THE AIR FORCE HOLIDAY OPEN
Location: AFA Cadet Fieldhouse | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Track Size: 268-meters
Elevation: 7,048 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountain Lions had a large group of six competitors running in the men's 60m dash, but it was redshirt junior Brian Mosley Jr. who stole the show by breaking his own UCCS school record with a raw time of 6.71s to place first among the field of 47 runners. With his altitude-converted time of 6.75s, Mosley Jr. also makes his way on the national qualifying list for the event.
• In the women's 60m hurdles, redshirt sophomore Melissa Moreni wasted little time clocking a provisional mark for the new season as she raced to a third-place finish with a converted time of 8.74s.
• The UCCS men's and women's triple jumpers also put together a strong showing to open the season as they combined to add three more NCAA qualifying marks to the team's tally, with the first coming from the women's side as redshirt junior Audrey Bloomquist notched a fourth-place jump of 11.73m. On the men's side, redshirt senior Dakota Abbott was the top-finishing athlete from UCCS as he registered a mark of 14.83m to finish third overall, while redshirt junior Peyton Turnage was not far behind with a leap of 14.62m to take fourth overall.
• The sixth national qualifying mark of the afternoon came at the men's high jump, where redshirt junior Skye Ciccarelli cleared a bar height of 2.05m to surpass the provisional standard and place third in the competition.
• Three Mountain Lions clocked top-ten finishes in the women's 60m dash, led by redshirt senior Brittany Fuchs with a third-place time of 7.70s. Coming in behind Fuchs were redshirt sophomore Keyanda Bolton in ninth place with a time of 7.77s and sophomore Victoria Farinas with a mark of 7.81s to place tenth.
• At the women's weight throw, redshirt junior Anna Holland logged a seventh-place finish as she tossed to a distance of 16.83m, while redshirt junior Cassielynn Bonner notched a personal-best mark of 15.07m to place ninth. 
• In the women's high jump, redshirt junior Faith Novess finished in eighth place after clearing a bar height of 1.60m, while redshirt junior Maggie Remsberg tied for 13^th place by hitting a mark of 1.55m.
• Freshman Brianna Spencer made her collegiate debut as the lone UCCS student-athlete competing in the women's pole vault and went on to place ninth with a mark of 3.35m.
• At the men's 60m hurdles, sophomore Paxon Fleming made his debut wearing the black and gold as he clocked a raw time of 8.56s to place 17^th overall.
• Sophomore Mitch Anderson put forth a strong performance in the men's shot put as he placed sixth with a personal-best mark of 14.73m. On the women's side, a pair of freshman student-athletes made their collegiate debuts as Toryn Turpin logged a 12^th place finish with a toss of 11.13m and Savannah Jorgens notched a 14^th place finish with a throw of 11.00m.
• The season-opening meet came to a close with the 4x440m relay as the men's relay team of Fleming, Asend Ashby, John Efraimson, and Alex Herman notched a third-place finish with a time of 3:25.84, while the women's group of Skylar Hawk, Alyssa Lopez, Gigi Douillard, and Amber Davis took a second-place finish with a time of 4:08.89.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• 15 student-athletes made their Mountain Lion debuts on Friday afternoon, including Audrey Barhydt, Kathryn Carroll, Douillard, Efraimson, Fleming, Hawk, Herman, Sebastien Jean, Savannah Jorgens, Leyah Martinez, Andrew Muncy, Daryn Ofori-Kuragu, Sydney Samuels, Spencer, and Turpin.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will get set to host the Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Invite & Multi on Dec. 9-10. Action from the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 9, and 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 10.

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.