COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team finished their home schedule in impressive fashion as they tallied 13 provisional marks and 13 event wins during the Colorado Running Company Mountain Lion Open at the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse on Saturday.
 
INSIDE THE COLORADO RUNNING COMPANY MOUNTAIN LION OPEN
Location: Mountain Lion Fieldhouse | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Track Size: 200-meters
Elevation: 6,291 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the center of the track, redshirt sophomore Melissa Moreni continued her incredible indoor season with a pair of impressive NCAA qualifying marks in the women's 60m hurdles. Moreni began her day by clocking a time of 8.59s (8.63s converted) in the prelim to improve on her season-best mark. In the final, she came back to improve on her mark even further as she tallied a school record and personal best time of 8.46s (8.50s converted) to claim a first-place finish in the event. Her altitude converted time of 8.50s lands her in the No. 5 spot on the NCAA Division II qualifying list for the 2022-23 indoor season.
• Eight of the Mountain Lion's provisional marks on Saturday were achieved at the jump pits, with six coming on the men's side and two on the women's side. At the men's long jump, redshirt junior Peterson Bohannon was the leader of a pack of four UCCS student-athletes with NCAA qualifying marks as he posted a monster jump of 7.47m for a first-place finish and a new indoor personal best. Bohannon's mark registered as an improvement on his existing provisional qualifying mark and is currently tied for the sixth furthest long jump in the nation. Redshirt sophomore Richard Safoh also improved his existing qualifying mark to a personal best 7.22m for a second-place finish in the event, while redshirt junior Peyton Turnage (7.12m) and sophomore Daryon Wilson (7.11m) also reached the provisional standard with respective third and fourth place finishes.
• Redshirt senior Dakota Abbott added another provisional mark in the men's triple jump as he earned a first-place finish with a jump of 15.06m but was short of his season best mark of 15.49m. Turnage also competed in the triple jump and improved on his existing provisional mark with a leap of 14.90m for a second-place finish.
• On the women's side, it was redshirt junior Audrey Bloomquist recording a pair of improved provisional marks in the long jump and triple jump. The Helena, Mont., native started her day in the long jump with a personal best mark of 5.75m for a second-place finish, then went on to notch an event win in the triple jump with another personal record mark of 12.20m.
• On the outer track, redshirt freshman Jagger Zlotoff put together an impressive race in the men's mile as he earned a first-place finish in the event with a raw time of 4:17.42. Zlotoff's converted time of 4:06.17 registered as his first NCAA qualifying mark of the season.
• Fellow distance teammate Marcus Graham also notched a remarkable performance in the men's 5,000m race as he surpassed the NCAA provisional standard for the event with an altitude and track size converted time of 14:14.52 that was good for a first-place finish.
• In the women's mile, redshirt sophomore Rachel Richtman was not far off the NCAA qualifying standard (4:57.54) as she won the race with a raw time of 5:14.66 (5:01.76 converted). Teammate Brooke Moss also clocked a solid performance with a fourth-place finish at 5:24.47.
• The women's 5,000m race saw a trio of Mountain Lion runners record personal best times and place in the top four of the competition, led by redshirt freshman Molly Breuer in second place at 18:37.92 (17:46.51c). Directly behind Breuer were redshirt sophomore Mason Ingallinera (3^rd – 17:46.59c) and freshman Jessica Madrid (4^th – 17:47.77c).
• A pair of UCCS student-athletes claimed the top two spots in the women's weight throw as redshirt junior Anna Holland notched a provisional qualifying throw of 17.48m for a first-place finish and redshirt junior Cassielynn Bonner finished second with a toss of 15.25m. In the men's weight throw competition, redshirt junior Justyn Loper was the top Mountain Lion finisher with a third-place toss of 17.21m, while junior Luke Hard recorded a personal best throw of 17.11m for a fourth-place finish.
• The Mountain Lions had six student-athletes qualify for the final in the men's 60m dash, with redshirt sophomore Justice Mendoza ultimately taking the first-place finish at a raw time of 6.86s. Also placing in the top-five were sophomore Kymani Sterling (2^nd – 6.87s), freshman Mason Pastorello (4^th - 6.94s), and Dominic Haggerty (5^th – 6.95s). On the women's side, each of the three Mountain Lions in action qualified for the final as sophomore Victoria Farinas clocked a season-best time of 7.66s to take first place. Crossing the line immediately behind Farinas were redshirt senior Brittany Fuchs (2^nd – 7.67s) and redshirt sophomore Keyanda Bolton (5^th – 7.84s).
• In the men's 200m dash, Pastorello earned the event win as he raced to a raw time of 22.20s and managed to get within three-tenths of the NCAA Division II provisional standard with his converted time of 21.93s. Nichols also had a strong 200m race with a raw time of 22.68s for third place, while freshman Sebastien Jean finished fourth at 23.21s. Jean would also come back and win the men's 400m race with a time of 51.23s.
• The 13^th and final event win of the day came in the women's 800m race, where redshirt junior Michela Hewitt crossed the line at 2:20.45 to claim first-place. Fellow redshirt junior Erika Timbang was not far behind Hewitt as she notched a personal best time in the event at 2:23.45 for a second-place finish.

 
BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Moreni's raw 60m hurdle time of 8.46s registered as a new Mountain Lion Fieldhouse facility record, surpassing the previous record of 8.50s that was established on Dec. 14, 2019, by Oweneika Watson of Adams State University.
• Bohannon's long jump mark of 7.47m ranks fourth all-time in UCCS indoor program history, while Turnage's triple jump mark of 14.90m is also fourth all-time for the event.
• With a pair of PRs on the day, Bloomquist strengthened her position in the UCCS women's record book by improving her second ranked triple jump mark to 12.20m and her fifth ranked long jump mark to 5.75m.
• Zlotoff's raw mile time of 4:17.42 sits as the fifth-fastest mile time in UCCS men's program history.
• Hard's weight throw mark of 17.11m currently ranks as the third-farthest mark in UCCS program history for the event.

 
UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will make their way to Pittsburg, Kan., on Feb. 10-11 for the 8^th Annual Indoor Gorilla Classic hosted by Pittsburg State University at the Robert W. Plaster Center.

 
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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.