PITTSBURG, Kan. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams notched 12 total NCAA qualifying marks on day two of the 8^th Annual Indoor Gorilla Classic, with redshirt sophomore Kate Hedlund and redshirt freshman Jagger Zlotoff each notching new or improved provisional marks in their events.
 
INSIDE THE 8TH ANNUAL INDOOR GORILLA CLASSIC
Location: Robert W. Plaster Center | Pittsburg, Kan.
Track Size: 300-meters (flat)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Already the owner of top-ten national marks in the women's mile and distance medley relay, Hedlund added to her resume on Saturday with a second place time of 2:09.45 in the women's 800m race that registers as another provisional mark and currently sits inside the top-five in the nation. Hedlund's personal best time also ranks as the second fastest 800m mark in UCCS program history. Joining Hedlund in the 800m race was Michela Hewitt, who crossed the line 16^th with an indoor personal best time of 2:16.88.
• Zlotoff notched a narrow improvement on his existing provisional time for the men's mile as he claimed fifth place in the race with a time of 4:06.03. With his PR time, he now ranks second all-time in UCCS school history for the event. Coming in just behind Zlotoff was redshirt senior Evan Graff, who notched an eighth-place provisional time of 4:07.55 but was unable to improve on his existing top-five national mark of 4:00.22.
• In the women's mile, sophomore Anna Fauske earned a podium finish as she claimed third place overall with a personal best time of 4:53.07 that was just shy of her existing provisional mark. Coming in sixth-place with a provisional mark of her own was Riley McGrath with a time of 4:47.19, while redshirt sophomore Rachel Richtman notched a personal best time of 4:58.63 to finish eighth and come just over a second away from reaching the NCAA Division II qualifying standard.
• Redshirt junior Brian Mosley Jr. put on a strong performance in the men's 60m dash as he notched the second fastest time in the prelim at 6.75s to advance into the final race. In the final, Mosley Jr. shaved another second off his time to finish second overall. Both of Mosley's times registered as national qualifying marks, however both were just shy of his season best converted time of 6.72s.
• At the women's 60m hurdles, redshirt sophomore Melissa Moreni clocked a pair of provisional marks as she crossed the line in 8.65s in the prelim to earn her spot in the final race. The Helena. Mont., native then went on to notch a fourth-place finish in the final with a time of 8.71s. Moreni currently sits tied for fifth in the nation with her season best converted time of 8.50s.
• The Mountain Lions also notched a pair of NCAA qualifying marks at the triple jump runways, with redshirt senior Dakota Abbott taking second place with a jump of 14.81m and redshirt junior Audrey Bloomquist leaping to 11.81m for a fourth place finish. Redshirt junior Peyton Turnage also notched a top-ten finish in the men's competition as he placed ninth with a leap of 14.13m.
• In the men's high jump invite, redshirt junior Skye Ciccarelli notched a sixth place finish as he cleared a bar height of 2.08m to surpass the national qualifying threshold. Ciccarelli currently ranks tied for ninth in the nation with his season best mark of 2.12m.
• Competing in the high jump invite on the women's side, redshirt junior Faith Novess earned a seventh-place finish as she notched a mark of 1.63m.
• Redshirt junior Gavin Harden was the lone Mountain Lion running in the men's 3,000m race and he came away with a personal best time of 8:32.97 to finish 20^th out of 59 runners.
• In the women's 3,000m, Libby McGrath and Riley McGrath each put together strong races with Libby crossing the line in fifth place with a personal best time of 10:03.91 and Riley coming in sixth at 10:08.37. Libby's time ranks as the fourth fastest time in program history for the event, while Riley already holds the second fastest time in UCCS history with her 9:43.37 that she set at the Ichabod Invitational last season.
• Both student-athletes racing in the men's 800m recorded personal best marks as Joseph Hamilton clocked a time of 1:55.34 for a 25^th place finish and Adam Maal crossed the line in 1:57.43 for a 38^th place finish.
• In the women's 60m dash prelim, sophomore Victoria Farinas was the first Mountain Lion to cross the finish line as she had the 11^th fastest time at 7.70s and narrowly missed qualifying for the final. Also competing in the prelim were Bloomquist (7.75s – 15^th), Brittany Fuchs (7.82s – 20^th), and Keyanda Bolton (7.87s – 24^th).
• UCCS had a trio of long sprinters in the women's 400m dash, and it was sophomore Amber Davis that led the way for the Mountain Lions with a 26^th place finish and a time of 58.70s. Skylar Hawk (59.40s) and Alyssa Lopez (59.86s) also notched sub-minute times.
• The Mountain Lions also had three student-athletes in the men's 400m and it was a tight race between the three with Andrew Mucny and Ryan O'Neal each notching times of 49.77s and Dillon Andrews just behind them at 49.82s.
• At the throws ring, Kyle Demos represented UCCS in the men's shot put and notched a toss of 14.43m to place 27^th. In the women's shot put, Toryn Turpin and Anna Holland were the 28^th and 29^th finishers with tosses of 11.40m and 11.36m, respectively.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Following the conclusion of the Indoor Gorilla Classic, the Mountain Lions now have 29 NCAA qualifying marks on the 2022-23 NCAA Division II Indoor Qualifying list.

UP NEXT

• UCCS will have their final tune up prior to the RMAC Indoor Championships as they head to the Air Force Academy to compete at the Air Force Collegiate Open on Friday, Feb. 17.

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.