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Track & Field Adds to All-America Tally on Day Two of NCAA Indoor Championships

3/12/2022 7:41:00 PM

By: Tyler Tvelia, Assistant Sports Information Director

Day Two: Track & Field Adds to All-America Tally on Day Two of NCAA Indoor Championships

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams wrapped up the final day of the 2021-22 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships on Saturday as the men's team finished with 9.5 points for a 25^th place finish and the women's team tallied 18 points for a 15^th place finish. Day two of the championship meet concluded with the Mountain Lions claiming seven additional First Team All-America nods to bring the meet total to a program record 13.

INSIDE THE NCAA DIVISION II INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Women Final Score: 18 points (15^th)
Men Final Score: 9.5 points (25^th)
Facility | Location: Robert W. Plaster Center | Pittsburg, Kan.
Track Size: 300-meters

HOW IT HAPPENED

After finishing the first day of heptathlon action in 15^th place, redshirt freshman Thorben Hast put together a strong effort in the final three events on day two of the championship meet to earn an eighth-place overall finish with 5,246 points. Hast, who established a personal best in the heptathlon 1000m with a time of 2:36.87 to add 909 points to his tally, earns recognition as a First Team All-American for the first time in his career.
Reigning indoor triple jump national champion Dakota Abbott put yet another exceptional championship performance on his resume as he posted a monster leap of 15.77m to best his mark from the 2020-21 indoor championships. In this season's field, Abbott's school record and personal best mark ranked fourth, earning him First Team All-America honors in the event for the second consecutive year.
Coming off an exciting All-America performance in the DMR last night, Riley McGrath, Kate Hedlund and Layla Almasri doubled down as each of them earned First Team All-America status in the women's mile race. McGrath was the first Mountain Lion to cross the line as she finished fifth with a time of 4:56.92, while Hedlund was the sixth finisher at 4:57.20 and Almasri was the eighth finisher at 5:01.07.
Kayla Zink finished her indoor season in the women's 60m final, where she put two points on the board for the UCCS women's team with a seventh-place finish to take First Team All-America honors for the third time in her indoor career.
Sophomore Skye Ciccarelli made his first appearance at the national championship meet in the high jump and wasted little time earning his first All-America nod as he cleared 2.08m to tie for seventh place.
The Mountain Lions also claimed a pair of Second Team All-Americans in the men's and women's 3000m races. On the men's side, Afewerki Zeru took 12^th place while breaking his own UCCS school record with a blazing time of 8:04.74. In her fourth race of the championship meet, Almasri showed that she still had some gas in the tank as she also placed 12^th with a mark of 9:38.60 that was less than a second away from her previous season best.
After a bronze medal finish in the long jump yesterday, Senior Hannah Meek returned to the jumps pit for the women's triple jump final and posted a 12^th place mark of 12.12m to earn a Second Team All-America nod.
In her first nationals' appearance, redshirt sophomore Emily Arseneau narrowly missed All-America status in the women's shot put as she finished in 13^th place with a heave of 13.87m.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

The Mountain Lions finish the 2021-22 indoor championships with 10 student-athletes combining for a program record 13 First Team All-America nods. UCCS also added four Second Team All-America honors.
The 9.5 team points on the men's side ranks as the third most in program history for an indoor national championship, while 18 points is tied for the third most in UCCS women's program history.

UP NEXT

The Mountain Lions will turn the page on a historic 2021-22 indoor season and focus their attention on the beginning of outdoor season next weekend at the Early Bird Open hosted by Colorado State University Pueblo.

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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.

Day One: Six Mountain Lions Earn First Team All-America Honors on Day One at NCAA Indoor Championships

PITTSBURG, Kan. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field teams had a strong first day at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships on Friday at the Robert W. Plaster Center as they nabbed six First Team All-America honors and broke a pair of school records while qualifying four student-athletes for finals races on day two of the championships tomorrow.

INSIDE THE NCAA DIVISION II INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Women Day 1 Score: 8 points (T10th)
Men Day 1 Score: 2 points (T21st)
Location: Robert W. Plaster Center | Pittsburg, Kan.
Track Size: 300-meters

HOW IT HAPPENED

Senior Hannah Meek got the day started on a strong note for the Mountain Lions as she leaped to a mark of 6.17m to take home a bronze medal in the women's long jump and earn First Team All-America honors. Meek's third place finish in the event also put the first six points of the national championship meet on the board for the UCCS women's team.
Redshirt junior distance runner Afewerki Zeru claimed the second First Team All-America honor for UCCS in the men's 5000m, where he raced to a personal best and school record breaking time of 13:48.39 to place seventh in the race.
The women's distance trio of Layla Almasri, Riley McGrath and Kate Hedlund showed off their talents throughout the day, beginning with the women's mile preliminary race. The three Mountain Lion women combined to claim three of the nine qualifying spots in the women's mile finals race taking place tomorrow. Almasri was the third finisher in her heat at 4:47.16 to earn an automatic qualification to the finals, while McGrath and Hedlund finished fourth in their heats with respective times of 4:48.04 and 4:49.06 to qualify for the finals.
Just hours later, Almasri, McGrath and Hedlund would return to the track to team up with sprinter Amber Davis and claim a seventh-place finish and First Team All-America status in the women's distance medley relay with a school record time of 11:32.98.
Senior sprinter Kayla Zink started her busy day on the track in the women's 60m dash preliminary race, where she sprinted to the fourth fastest time in the field at 7.44s to qualify for the finals tomorrow. Zink also made her nationals debut in the women's 200m, finishing 15^th with a time of 24.64 seconds to come up short of moving on to tomorrow's final.
In the women's 60m hurdles, redshirt freshman Melissa Moreni came up just short of qualifying for a finals appearance as she finished ninth in the preliminary race with a time of 8.54s and walked away with Second Team All-America honors in her first national championship race.
Redshirt freshman Thorben Hast got things started for the Mountain Lions in the multi events as he posted a score of 2,833 points through the first four events of the men's heptathlon. Hast holds the 14^th position among the field of competitors heading into the final three events of the heptathlon tomorrow.
Evan Graff and Gavin Harden each put together strong races in the men's mile but were just shy of qualifying for the final as they finished 14^th and 17^th, respectively. For Harden, his mile time of 4:14.29 was a personal record and improves his fourth-ranking mark in program history.
In the women's high jump, Faith Novess was the lone Mountain Lion competitor as she cleared 1.62m to finish 15^th in the field.
The Mountain Lions were the only team with two national qualifiers in the men's long jump, where sophomore Peyton Turnage and freshman Daryon Wilson were the 15^th and 16^th finishers in the field with respective marks of 7.01m and 6.91m.
Sophomore Brian Mosley Jr. rounded out the Mountain Lion competitors on day one as he raced to a time of 6.92s in the men's 60m dash for a 17th place finish.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

With her bronze medal finish, Hannah Meek earns First Team All-America honors in the long jump for the second season in a row.
Zeru's 5000m time of 13:48.39 shattered his own previous school record (14:14.49) by nearly 30 seconds and marks his second indoor All-America nod after earning First-Team All-America last season in the 3000m.
With personal best times across the board, the women's mile trio improved their standing in the UCCS record book with Almasri remaining at second all-time, McGrath moving into third-place all-time, and Hedlund marking the fourth fastest mile in program history.

UP NEXT

The NCAA Division II Championships will continue tomorrow from Pittsburg State University as Thorben Hast will once again lead off for the Mountain Lions as he completes the final three events of the heptathlon beginning at 11 a.m. Long jump All-American Hannah Meek will get UCCS started in the field events as she competes in the triple jump at 2:05 p.m., while Kayla Zink will kick things off on the track in the 60m dash final at 4:30 p.m.

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