COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams put together a strong outing at the Colorado Running Company UCCS Invite on Saturday as they notched ten provisional marks and earned eight event wins.
 
INSIDE THE COLORADO RUNNING COMPANY UCCS INVITE
Location: Mountain Lion Fieldhouse | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Track Size: 200-meters
Elevation: 6,291 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Redshirt senior Evan Graff put forth an exceptional performance in the men's mile as he broke his own Mountain Lion Fieldhouse facility record in the men's mile with a first-place time of 4:11.20. After the conversion for altitude and track size, Graff's mark of 4:00.22 registers as an NCAA Qualifying mark and currently ranks as the second-fastest time for the event in all of Division II this season.
• In the center of the track at the 60m straightaway lanes, Brian Mosley Jr. added another historic performance to the UCCS tally. After clocking a raw 60m time of 6.75s in the preliminary round, the Colorado Springs, Colo., native proceeded to post a personal best and school record time of 6.68s in the final to earn a second-place finish in the race. His altitude-converted provisional time of 6.72s marks an improvement on his season-best and keeps him ranked among the top-ten in the nation for the men's 60m.
• It was a big day for the UCCS men's long jumpers as four different student-athletes notched NCAA Qualifying marks. Leading the way was redshirt junior Peyton Turnage, who improved on his existing provisional mark with a first-place leap of 7.33m. Also reaching the provisional threshold with season-best marks were redshirt junior Peterson Bohannon (7.22m), redshirt senior Dakota Abbott (7.22m), and redshirt sophomore Richard Safoh.
• Redshirt sophomore Melissa Moreni posted yet another strong performance in the women's 60m hurdles on Saturday, posting a raw time of 8.63s in the preliminary race before improving to an event-winning and season-best raw time of 8.60s in the final. Moreni's altitude-converted time of 8.64s also sits as an improvement on her existing NCAA Qualifying mark that currently sits tied for eighth in the nation.
• Graduate student Marcus Graham notched a big performance in the men's 3,000m race as he clocked a raw time of 8:33.08 to claim a first-place finish in the event. With the altitude and track size conversion, Graham's time of 8:08.88 registers as his first provisional mark of the season.
• At the throws ring, redshirt junior Anna Holland recorded a weight throw provisional mark as she threw to a distance of 17.56m. Although it fell short of her season-best mark of 18.02m, Holland's mark was good for fifth place in the competition only behind a quartet of Division I student-athletes.
• The final NCAA Qualifying mark of Saturday's meet came at the triple jump pits where redshirt junior Audrey Bloomquist recorded a huge jump of 12.17m to claim first place in the event. Her mark was just shy of her season-best mark of 12.19m that is currently ranked No. 10 in NCAA Division II.
• The Mountain Lions claimed three of the top five spots in the women's 60m final, led by redshirt senior Brittany Fuchs with a first place time of 7.70s. Coming in behind Fuchs were redshirt sophomore Keyanda Bolton in third place at 7.72s and sophomore Victoria Farinas in fifth place at 7.84s.
• Redshirt sophomore Justice Mendoza notched another gold medal performance in the men's 200m dash as he finished in first place with a time of 22.44s.
• UCCS had a strong group of five student-athletes competing in the men's 400m that went on to claim five of the top six spots in the race, led by redshirt junior Dillon Andrews in second place at 50.31s. Also recording impressive performances were freshman Andrew Muncy (50.51s), redshirt sophomore Ryan O'Neal (51.23s), senior Angel Laca (51.83s), and freshman Sebastien Jean (52.04s).
• Racing in the first 800m race of his collegiate career, redshirt freshman Jagger Zlotoff put together an impressive performance as he finished in second place with a raw time of 1:55.96. His converted time of 1:53.29 sits less than one second away from the provisional standard for the event (1:52.63).
• In the women's 800m, redshirt juniors Michela Hewitt and Riley McGrath each finished among the top three in the race as Hewitt clocked a time of 2:21.18 for a second place finish and McGrath registered a time of 2:21.77 to take third place.
• Redshirt freshman Brooke Moss was the top Mountain Lion finisher in the women's mile on Saturday as she earned a second place finish with a time of 5:34.37.
• The top four spots in the women's 3,000m race were filled with black and gold uniforms as redshirt freshman Libby McGrath notched a first place finish with a time of 10:30.73. Immediately following McGrath were redshirt freshman Molly Breuer (10:47.41), redshirt sophomore Rachel Richtman (10:51.68), and redshirt sophomore Mason Ingallinera in second, third and fourth place, respectively.
• Freshman Kathryn Carroll had a strong showing in the women's long jump, where she leaped to a personal bets mark of 5.52m to finish in ninth-place. Her mark is just over one-tenth of a meter away from the provisional standard (5.65m) and is currently the third-furthest jump in the RMAC this season.
• At the women's high jump, redshirt junior Faith Novess claimed a fourth-place finish as she cleared a bar height of 1.61m. For the men, it was redshirt sophomore Caden Frasl coming in as the top Mountain Lion in the event with a ninth-place mark of 1.88m.
• Junior Luke Hard had a strong season debut in the men's weight throw competition as he tallied a personal best throw of 16.49m for a third place finish. Coming in directly behind Hard in fourth place was redshirt junior Justyn Loper with a heave of 16.07m.
• Freshman Brianna Spencer led the way for UCCS in the women's pole vault, clearing 3.45m to tie for seventh place. Sophomore Alison Van Dyke was also in action as she managed to get over a height of 3.15m for ninth place.
• After his solid performance in the weight throw, Loper came back to lead the Mountain Lions with a sixth place finish in the men's shot put with a mark of 14.95m. In the women's shot put, it was freshman Toryn Turpin that paced UCCS with a seventh-place toss of 12.21m.

 
BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Unattached athlete Coby Hilton notched a pair of Mountain Lion Fieldhouse facility records in the 60m dash on Saturday, racing to a record time of 6.64s in the 60m prelim before breaking the record once again with a time of 6.51s in the final. 
• Mya Lesnar of Colorado State University broke the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse facility record in the shot put with a throw of 16.58m.
• Hard's weight throw mark of 16.49m currently ranks as the third-farthest mark in UCCS program history for the event.
• The Mountain Lions have claimed a trio of RMAC Track Athletes of the Week throughout the first three weeks of the season, with Moreni earning the honor in Week 1 (Dec. 7), Afewerki Zeru earning the designation in Week 2 (Dec. 13), and Kymani Sterling winning the award in Week 3 (Jan. 17).
• The first edition of the 2022-23 Indoor Track & Field Regional and National Rankings are set to be released by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, respectively.

 
UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will return to action next week as they will have a group of student-athletes competing at the Colorado Invitational in Boulder, Colo., on Friday, Jan. 27, before hosting their third and final home meet of the season, the Colorado Running Company Mountain Lion Open, on Saturday, Jan. 28, at the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse.

 
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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.