THIS WEEK'S ACTION

• The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams will head east this week to Topeka, Kan., to compete at the Ichabod Mid-Week Challenge on Thursday, Feb. 10 and the Ichabod Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 12, with both meets being hosted by Washburn University at the Washburn Indoor Athletic Facility.
• The Mountain Lions will also have a small group of women's distance runners competing in the 5,000m at the Seventh Annual Indoor Gorilla Classic on Friday, Feb. 11 at Pittsburg State University with the race beginning at 7:15 p.m. (MT).

MEET INFORMATION

• Meet Information, Meet Schedule, Live Results, Live Stream and Heat Sheets for the Ichabod Mid-Week Challenge can be found at the below links as well as on the respective schedule pages for UCCS Men's and Women's Track & Field.
  • Meet Information
  • Meet Schedule
  • Live Results
  • Live Stream*
  • Heat Sheets
• Meet Information, Meet Schedule and Live Stream for the Seventh Annual Indoor Gorilla Classic can be found at the below links as well as on the respective schedule pages for UCCS Men's and Women's Track & Field.
  • Meet Information
  • Meet Schedule
  • Live Results
• Meet Information, Live Results and Live Stream for the Ichabod Invitational can be found at the below links as well as on the respective schedule pages for UCCS Men's and Women's Track & Field.
  • Meet Information
  • Live Results
  • Live Stream*

*Fans will be required to purchase access to the MIAA Network in order to stream the Ichabod Mid-Week Challenge and Ichabod Invitational.
 
LAST TIME OUT

• UCCS hosted the Colorado Running Company Mountain Lion Open on Jan. 28-29 at the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse and added nine new or improved provisional marks to their season tally across the two-day meet.
  • On Friday, redshirt junior Hannah Ellis claimed a second-place finish in the 5,000m race with a converted time of 17:18.56 that currently ranks 20th on the Division II performance list for the event.
  • At the throws ring, redshirt sophomore Anna Holland added her first provisional mark of the season in the weight throw with a toss of 17.12m.
  • Melissa Moreni kept her momentum rolling as she matched her season-best time and eighth-ranking national qualifying mark with a first-place time of 8.61s in the 60m hurdles.
  • The women's Distance Medley Relay team closed out the first day of the meet with a stellar performance as Layla Almasri, Kate Hedlund, Riley McGrath and Alyssa Lopez combined to finish the race in 11:39.54 after the conversion for altitude and track size. The group's national qualifying mark currently ranks as the third-fastest mark in the RMAC and sixth-fastest in Division II.
  • The distance team continued to impress on Saturday, adding four more provisional marks in the mile and 3,000m races.
  • In the men's mile, redshirt junior Evan Graff and redshirt sophomore Gavin Harden took the top two spots while posting altitude-converted times of 4:04.11 and 4:06.03, respectively. Both marks currently rank in the top-15 on the national scale, with Graff ranking ninth and Harden sitting at 14th.
  • On the women's side, redshirt freshman Kate Hedlund cruised to a first place in the mile with a converted mark of 4:53.28 that currently ranks 21st in the nation.
  • Redshirt junior Afewerki Zeru also got into the action and made quick work of his competition in the 3,000m race as he clocked a converted provisional mark of 8:08.24 to earn the gold medal.
  • In the throws events, redshirt sophomore Emily Arseneau had a historic day as she toppled her own school record with a 14.84m throw in the shot put to place her eighth on the NCAA Division II performance list.
• The Mountain Lions also sent a small group of student-athletes to Boulder, Colo., to compete among Division I competition at the Colorado Invitational on Jan. 29.
  • Sophomore Brian Mosley Jr. improved his national qualifying mark in the 60m dash for the fifth consecutive week as he clocked an altitude-converted time of 6.76s to finish in first place ahead of 14 Division I competitors.
  • After contributing to the UCCS DMR team on Friday, Almasri and McGrath competed in the seeded mile at the Colorado Invitational and each posted provisional marks in the event, with Almasri clocking in at a converted time of 4:47.94 and McGrath crossing the line at 4:56.27.
  • Overall, the Mountain Lions finished the meet with ten top-five finishers across the men's and women's 60m and 200m races and the men's 400m race.

USTFCCCA NATIONAL & REGIONAL RANKINGS

• In Week 3 of the USTFCCCA National and Regional Rankings, the UCCS women's track & field team remained at the No. 1 spot in the South Central Region while earning the No. 7 ranking in the National Poll.
• The Mountain Lion men dropped one spot to No. 2 in the South Central Regional Rankings and landed at No. 11 in the National Rankings.

NATIONAL QUALIFYING MARKS

• Click HERE to view a full breakdown of the Mountain Lion's National Qualifying marks through the first five meets this season along with their conference and national ranks.

AWARD WINNERS

• Thrower Emily Arseneau earned her first RMAC weekly award of the season as she was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Week for Week 5 of the indoor track & field season.
• Arseneau posted a record-breaking performance at the Colorado Running Company Mountain Lion Open breaking her own school record in the shot put with a 14.77m heave on her fourth throw of the afternoon, then taking it down yet again with a mark of 14.84m on her fifth throw. The redshirt sophomore's record heave ranks as the top shot put mark in the RMAC this season and vaulted her to No. 8 on the NCAA Division II performance list for the event. The Woodland Park, Colo., native also competed in the weight throw on day one of the meet, tossing a personal best mark of 15.92m, which currently ranks tenth in the RMAC this season.

SCHOOL RECORDS

• The Mountain Lions have established eight new school records throughout the first five meets of the 2021-2022 indoor season:
  • Kayla Zink - 60m - 7.42s
  • Brian Mosley Jr. – 60m – 6.73s
  • Melissa Moreni - 60m Hurdle - 8.61s
  • Hannah Meek - Long Jump - 6.37m
  • Faith Novess - High Jump - 1.73m
  • Dawson Hopkinson – Pole Vault – 4.98m
  • Emily Arseneau - Shot Put – 14.84m
  • Thorben Hast - Heptathlon - 5,275 points

UCCS UNDER HEAD COACH ROSS FELLOWS

• Head Coach Ross Fellows enters his fourth season as the head coach of the UCCS track & field program after serving as the co-head coach for two seasons. Under Fellows' leadership, the Mountain Lions have experienced unprecedented success as both the men's and women's teams have broken through for their first indoor and outdoor conference championships in program history.
• Throughout his tenure at UCCS, Fellows has coached five individual national champions, three RMAC Freshman of the Year, six RMAC Track Athletes of the Year and four RMAC Field Athletes of the Year.

UPCOMING MEET

• The Mountain Lions will get their final tune up before RMAC Indoor Championships at the Air Force Collegiate Open on Friday, Feb. 18.

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.