PUEBLO, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team posted an impressive first day at the 2022 RMAC Outdoor Championships as the long jumpers stole the show with historic performances at the sand pits.
 
INSIDE THE RMAC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Location: CSUP Thunderbowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,700 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Redshirt senior Hannah Meek was ready to go in the women's long jump as she shattered her own school record with a gold medal mark of 6.58m to earn ten points for the Mountain Lion women's team. In addition to breaking the UCCS record, Meek's mark ranks in the top-five all-time in Division II history and broke the RMAC Championship meet record. The jump also improves Meek's provisional mark to number two in the nation.
• Redshirt sophomore Audrey Bloomquist and redshirt senior Lydia Pavlenko also scored in the women's long jump with personal best marks as Bloomquist leaped 5.84m to take fifth place (four points) and Pavlenko reached 5.73m to grab seventh place (two points).
• UCCS also had a gold medal finisher in the men's long jump where Peterson Bohannon launched a season best mark of 7.66m to bank ten points for the men's team. Coming in fourth place with a season best jump of 7.48m and scoring five points was redshirt sophomore Peyton Turnage while freshman Daryon Wilson posted his best long jump mark of the outdoor season with a 7.47m jump that was good for fifth place and four points.  
• On the track, redshirt junior Hannah Ellis claimed another event win for the Mountain Lions in the 10000m race as she used a late kick to earn the gold medal and ten team points with her time of 39:36.71. Sophomore Sarah Bassett also ran an incredible race as she finished in third place with a time of 39:46.60 to add six more points from the event.
• In the men's 10000m race, redshirt sophomore Will Young was the first Mountain Lion to cross the line at 32:40.48 and graduate student Branden Bohling was not far behind as he finished in 32:47.94.
• The Mountain Lions garnered another podium finish in the men's hammer throw, where redshirt sophomore Justyn Loper broke his own school record with a bronze medal toss of 58.43m to earn six points.
• The first day of the conference championships got started with the multi events as the Mountain Lions had Sam Repsher competing in the decathlon and Maggie Remsberg competing in the pentathlon. Repsher had an exceptional start through his first five events of the decathlon, winning the 100m dash and posting personal bests in the long jump, shot put, and high jump to lead the pack with 3,579 points. Remsberg currently sits in second place overall in the pentathlon after posting solid marks across the board including an event win in the 100m hurdle. 
• In the women's 1500m preliminary race, UCCS had three student-athletes qualify for the final on Sunday, including Riley McGrath (4:42.80), Layla Almasri (4:44.28), and Kate Hedlund (4:45.15). Evan Graff was the lone Mountain Lion in action in the men's 1500m qualifying race and managed to win his heat with a time of 4:07.30 to earn the right to compete in the final.
• Angel Laca and Ryan O'Neal each managed to make the qualifying cut in the men's 400m prelim as Laca won the third heat at a time of 49.68s and O'Neal narrowly slid into the qualifying pool at 50.39s. On the women's side, freshman Amber Davis was the second finisher in her heat but made the qualifying cut with a time of 58.25s.
• UCCS had a large field of competitors racing in both the men's and women's 100m dash prelims. In the men's race, Justice Mendoza (10.69s) and Brian Mosley Jr. (10.67s) won their respective heats to automatically qualify for Sunday's final, while Kymani Sterling was second in his heat but still qualified by time with a blazing mark of 10.56s. The Mountain Lion women had two athletes qualify to compete in the final, including Kayla Zink (11.73s) and Brittany Fuchs (12.31s) who each won their heat for the automatic advancement.
• Redshirt sophomore Dillon Andrews posted the fastest time in the men's 400m hurdle prelim at 53.12s as he is set to be the favorite in the final race on Sunday. In the women's 400m hurdles, Lizzie Waters (1:04.74) and Grace Wenham (1:05.96) each qualified by time and will compete in the finals race.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Bohannon's long jump mark ranks second all-time in UCCS program history and now ranks fifth in the nation this season on the NCAA performance list.
• After the first day of action, the UCCS women's team has recorded 32 points and holds a ten point lead over second place New Mexico Highlands University. The Mountain Lion men have garnered 25 points and currently sit in second place behind Colorado School of Mines which has 38 points. 

UP NEXT

• The 2022 RMAC Outdoor Championships will continue with day two tomorrow with the multi events set to get started at 9:45 a.m.

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.