COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track and field teams put together a strong start to the Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Invite & Multi on Friday as they went on to combine for ten provisional marks and four event winners on the first day of the two-day meet at the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse.
 
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

• Three of the team's ten NCAA qualifying marks on Friday came at the men's long jump pits as sophomore Daryon Wilson earned a first-place finish and earned his first provisional mark of the indoor season with a leap of 7.36m. Redshirt junior Peyton Turnage was not far behind, turning in a jump of 7.29m to surpass the provisional threshold and place second in the competition, while redshirt junior Peterson Bohannon also registered an NCAA qualifying mark of 7.11m to place sixth.
• Redshirt junior Audrey Bloomquist continued the long jump momentum on the women's side, notching an NCAA qualifying mark of her own with an indoor personal best mark of 5.67m to earn a third-place finish in the event.
• Just a week after competing in the NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships, redshirt senior Evan Graff turned his attention to the track and did not disappoint as he registered a first-place finish in the men's 3,000m race with an altitude-adjusted provisional time of 8:07.76. Redshirt freshman Jagger Zlotoff also had a strong showing in his first 3,000m race of his collegiate career, coming in just behind Graff for a second-place finish with an altitude-converted mark of 8:20.58 to come up just over a second short of meeting the provisional standard.
• Also fresh off a trip to the cross country national championship meet last week, sophomore Anna Fauske paced the Mountain Lions in the women's 3,000m as she notched an NCAA qualifying altitude-adjusted time of 9:43.15 to take a second-place finish in the race. Redshirt sophomore Kate Hedlund (10:08.49), redshirt junior Riley McGrath (10:15.39), and redshirt freshman Libby McGrath (10:24.76) also posted strong altitude-converted times to finish in fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.
• At the throws area, redshirt junior Anna Holland reached a personal best distance of 18.02m on her second throw of the day in the women's weight throw to earn a first-place finish in the event and her first provisional mark of the season.
• Another NCAA qualifying mark came in the women's 60m hurdle prelim as redshirt sophomore Melissa Moreni improved on her season-best time with an altitude-adjusted time of 8.70s to earn the top mark among the field and qualify for tomorrow's final. Also qualifying for the final from UCCS were sophomore Sydney Samuels (9.33s) and a duo of freshman in Skylar Hawk (9.40s), and Leyah Martinez (9.40s).
• In the women's 60m dash prelim, redshirt senior Brittany Fuchs tied her personal best mark with a raw time of 7.58s to earn the second fastest mark in the field and qualify for the final tomorrow. Her altitude-adjusted time of 7.62s also registered as her first NCAA qualifying mark of the indoor season. Bloomquist also competed in the 60m dash prelim and notched a personal best raw time of 7.63s to qualify for the final, while redshirt sophomore Keyanda Bolton (7.71s) and sophomore Victoria Farinas (7.75s) also managed to qualify for the final.
• Redshirt junior Brian Mosley Jr. posted yet another strong showing in the men's 60m dash prelim as he posted a raw time of 6.73s for the fastest time among the 21-person field. His time also registered as an NCAA qualifying mark that came up just short of the time he recorded last week. Four additional Mountain Lions qualified for tomorrow's final race, including Michael Nichols (6.96s), Dominic Haggerty (6.98s), Justice Mendoza (7.02s), and Daryn Ofori-Kuragu (7.04s).
• Freshman Andrew Muncy had an impressive showing in his first open 400m race of his collegiate career as he cruised to a first-place finish with an altitude-adjusted time of 49.28s that placed him less than one second outside of reaching the NCAA qualifying threshold. In the women's 400m race, sophomores Amber Davis (59.62s) and Alyssa Lopez (59.83s) notched second and third place finishes for the Mountain Lions.
• At the women's pole vault, freshman Brianna Spencer recorded a collegiate personal best mark by clearing a bar height of 3.53m to earn a fifth-place finish in the competition. Her mark also moves her into fifth-place all-time in UCCS program history for the event.
• The early portion of the day saw three Mountain Lion women competing in the pentathlon, with redshirt junior Faith Novess recording the highest score of the three with a ninth-place mark of 3,213 points to come up just shy of reaching the provisional standard for the event. Coming in just behind Novess was teammate Maggie Remsberg, who posted a mark of 3,164 points for a tenth-place finish. Finally, freshman Audrey Barhydt competed in her first collegiate pentathlon, tallying a score of 2,611 points for a 16^th place finish.
• In the men's 800m competition, sophomore Joseph Hamilton raced to a time of 1:59.55 to finish first for UCCS and fourth overall. On the women's side, Michela Hewitt also claimed a fourth-place finish as she crossed the line with a time of 2:21.87.
• Freshmen Kane Fobare and Michael Roberts made their collegiate debuts in the men's weight throw on Friday, with Fobare earning a seventh-place finish with a toss of 15.12m and Roberts taking eighth place with a mark of 13.39m.
• The Mountain Lions had a pair of qualifiers for the men's 60m hurdles final tomorrow afternoon as sophomore Paxon Fleming raced to a time of 8.60s and redshirt junior Dillon Andrews clocked a time of 8.83s.
• The men's heptathlon competitors finished four of their seven events on Friday with redshirt sophomore Thorben Hast ending the first day in ninth place with 2,869 points and redshirt junior Seth Richmond sitting in 14^th place with 2,466 points.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Fauske's 3,000m raw time of 10:10.16 moves her into fourth-place all-time for the event in the UCCS women's track & field record book.
• With her personal best throw of 18.02m in the women's weight throw, Holland improves to second all-time in program history for the event and is just 0.17m behind the all-time leader, Sydney Marr, who recorded a toss of 18.19m last season.
• Mosley Jr.'s raw time of 6.73s tied his own Mountain Lion Fieldhouse record for the 60m dash that he established at the Colorado Running Company UCCS Invite last year.
• Bloomquist moved inside the top-five of the UCCS record book for a pair of events on Friday, claiming the fifth-fastest 60m time in school history at 7.63s and the fifth-furthest long jump in program history at 5.67m. 

UP NEXT

• The Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Invite & Multi will continue tomorrow morning, starting with the heptathlon 60m hurdles at 10 a.m. Field events will begin at 11 a.m. with the men's shot put, women's triple jump, and men's high jump, while running events are set to get started at 12:30 p.m. with the women's 60m hurdle final.

 
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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.