GOLDEN, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team was back in Golden, Colo., on Saturday for day two of the Mines Alumni Classic and saw seven student-athletes post NCAA provisional qualifying marks, highlighted by a school record effort from Brian Mosley Jr. in the men's 60m dash.
 
INSIDE THE MINES ALUMNI CLASSIC
Location: CSM Steinhauer Fieldhouse | Golden, Colo.
Track Size: 193-meters (flat)
Elevation: 5,675 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Saturday's action at the Steinhauer Fieldhouse began inside the throws ring as redshirt senior Anna Holland led a group of three Mountain Lion competitors in the women's weight throw. Holland would keep the team's momentum from Friday rolling with an NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 18.04m to finish third overall in the event, only finishing behind a pair of NCAA Division I athletes from Colorado State University. In the men's weight throw, junior Luke Hard was the lone UCCS student-athlete in the competition and he posted a fourth place finish in the event while coming up just shy of the national qualifying threshold at a strong mark of 18.04m.
• The first event to get started on the track was the preliminary round of the women's 60m hurdles and the Mountain Lions had an impressive group of five student-athletes competing in the event. Three of the five UCCS runners in action clocked times in the top-eight of the field and earned qualification to the final race, including senior Melissa Moreni with a national qualifying time of 8.77s (8.79c), freshman Krissie Sanders with a time of 8.97s (8.99c), and sophomore Sydney Samuels at a personal best mark of 9.17s (9.19c). In the final, Moreni went on to clock an improved NCAA provisional time of 8.64s (8.66c) to finish in third place overall, while Sanders improved her time by one-tenth of a second to 8.87s (8.89c) for a fourth-place finish and Samuels clocked a time of 9.21s (9.23c) to finish sixth overall.
• Next on the track was the preliminary round of the men's 60m hurdles, and it was freshman Nigel James leading the way for UCCS as he posted a time of 8.47s (8.49c) that qualified him as one of the participants in the event final. In the final race, of which six of the eight competitors were from the NCAA Division I level, James went on to slightly improve his time to 8.45s (8.47c) for a seventh-place finish overall.
• The Mountain Lions had a group of seven student-athletes competing in the preliminary races of the women's 60m dash, but it was redshirt senior Audrey Bloomquist and junior Victoria Farinas leading the pack as they took the top two fastest times in the prelim at national qualifying time of 7.50s (7.52c) and 7.60s (7.62c), respectively, to qualify for the event final. Redshirt junior Keyanda Bolton also posted a strong time of 7.75s (7.77c) in the preliminary round to join Bloomquist and Farinas in advancing on to the final. The final race, which took place later in the afternoon, saw much of the same story as Bloomquist and Farinas once again claimed the top two spots in the race, respectively, with Bloomquist matching her personal best time from earlier in the day at 7.50s and Farinas improving her time to a personal record time of 7.53s (7.55c). Bolton also improved on her time in the final race, posting a mark of 7.70s (7.72c) for a fifth-place finish overall in the event.
• In the preliminary round of the men's 60m dash, UCCS had an astounding 14 student-athletes in the competition and saw eight of them run sub-seven second times, with four athletes advancing to the event final. Redshirt senior Brian Mosley Jr. paced the Mountain Lions with a national qualifying time of 6.72s (6.74c), while junior Kymani Sterling also landed right at the provisional qualifying threshold with a time of 6.83s (6.85c). Redshirt senior Justice Mendoza (6.86s / 6.88s converted) and sophomore Daryn Ofori-Kuragu (6.88s / 6.90c) also registered times inside the top-eight of the field to qualify for the final. In the event final, Mosley Jr. turned it up another notch as he bested his time from earlier in the day and surpassed his own UCCS school record with a second place and national qualifying time of 6.66s (6.68c). Sterling also posted an improved effort in the final as he shaved more than one-tenth of a second off his time to cross line in third place at a personal best and national qualifying mark of 6.69s (6.71c). Coming in fourth place overall was Mendoza with a national qualifying time of his own at 6.76s (6.78c), while Ofori-Kuragu crossed the line seventh overall with a time of 6.98s (7.00c).

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• In addition to Mosley Jr.'s school record time of 6.66s in the 60m dash, Sterling also improved his personal best mark that ranks second all-time in school history to 6.69s and Mendoza moved into a tie for third place in program history with his raw time of 6.76s.
• In the women's 60m dash, Bloomquist's raw mark of 7.50s registered as an improvement on her personal best time and still ranks second all-time in program history behind Kayla Zink's 7.42s school record that was established on 12/10/21. Farinas also moved up from fifth to third place in program history for the women's 60m with her raw time of 7.53s. 
• James and Sanders also moved into the top-five in the UCCS record books for the 60m hurdles with James' time of 8.45s ranking fifth all-time in the men's record book and Sanders' time of 8.87s moving her into a tie for third all-time in the women's record book.
• Across the two-day season-opening meet, the Mountain Lions totaled 14 NCAA qualifying marks, with the men's and women's teams each earning seven such marks.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions are set to host their first home meet of the indoor season next weekend as they will welcome teams inside the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse for the annual Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Invite & Multi on Dec. 8-9.

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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.