BOULDER, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams had a select group of track runners travel to Boulder, Colo., on Friday evening to compete among a field consisting of primarily Division I athletes at the Colorado Invitational inside the University of Colorado Boulder Indoor Practice Facility. Along with multiple personal best times across the board, the Mountain Lions also came away from the meet with three NCAA qualifying marks in the women's mile race.
INSIDE THE POTTS INVITATIONAL
Location: CU Boulder IPF | Boulder, Colo.
Track Size: 300-meters
Elevation: 5,378 ft
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UCCS had a trio of women's distance runners racing in the women's elite invitational mile on Saturday evening and saw each of the three student-athletes tally NCAA qualifying marks for the event. Leading the way for the Mountain Lions was redshirt sophomore Kate Hedlund in fourth place with an altitude-converted time of 4:45.49 that registers as the second fastest women's mile mark in the nation this season. Sophomore Anna Fauske was the second Mountain Lion across the line in ninth place with a converted time of 4:51.90, while redshirt junior Riley McGrath rounded out the group with a converted time of 4:56.25.
- Redshirt sophomore Justice Mendoza put together a career-best race in the men's 200m as he notched an indoor personal record for the event with a fifth-place time of 21.68s and came up just shy of reaching the provisional threshold (21.69s) for the event with his altitude-converted time of 21.75s. Sophomore Kymani Sterling also notched a strong performance in the event as he finished in 12th place with a raw time of 22.36s.
- The Mountain Lions also had a pair of women's student-athletes competing in the 200m dash, led by redshirt sophomore Keyanda Bolton who registered a fourth-place finish with an indoor personal best time of 24.89s. Crossing the line directly behind Bolton for a fifth-place finish was redshirt senior Brittany Fuchs at a raw time of 24.96s.
- Redshirt senior Evan Graff was the lone Mountain Lion racing in the men's 800m race as he went on to clock an indoor personal best time of 1:53.94 and claim fourth place overall. His raw time also ranks as the fifth fastest 800m mark in UCCS program history and his converted time of 1:53.20 sits less than one second away from reaching the NCAA qualifying standard.
- In the men's 400m, freshman Andrew Muncy raced to a raw time of 49.36s to cross the line as the first Mountain Lion finisher and the seventh overall. Redshirt sophomore Ryan O'Neal also notched a top-ten finish as he recorded a season-best raw time of 49.70s, while senior Angel Laca and redshirt junior Dillon Andrews rounded out the UCCS competitors with 15th and 18th place finishes, respectively.
- Andrews, Muncy, O'Neal, and Sterling returned to the track later in the meet to team up in the 4x400m relay and went on to tally an altitude-converted time of 3:18.48 for a third-place finish.
BEYOND THE RESULTS
- After recording three provisional marks in the women's mile, the Mountain Lions now hold three of the top 14 times in all of Division II this season for the event, with Hedlund currently ranking second, Fauske sitting in sixth, and McGrath holding the 14th fastest time.
- With their 200m PRs, Mendoza (21.68s) moved into second all-time in the UCCS men's indoor record book for the event and Bolton (24.89s) moved into third all-time for the event in the women's indoor record book.
UP NEXT
- The Mountain Lions will be back in action tomorrow with a full squad set to compete at the Colorado Running Company Mountain Lion Open in the friendly confines of the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse. The field events are scheduled to kick off at 11:30 a.m., while running events will get started at 12:40 p.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.
