ALAMOSA, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field teams had another strong outing on day two of the 2022-23 RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships as the men's team won their fourth consecutive indoor title with 143 points and the women's team finished in second place overall with 129 points. The Mountain Lion men and women combined to record 24 podium finishes, including seven gold medals, six silver medals, and 11 bronze medals. UCCS also tallied an incredible 38 total NCAA qualifying marks across the two-day meet, with 23 of them registering as new marks or improvements on existing marks.
 
INSIDE THE 2022-23 RMAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Location: ASU Indoor Bubble | Alamosa, Colo.
Track Size: 200m (flat)
Elevation: 7,547 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• One of seven gold medals on day two of the indoor conference championship meet came in the women's 60m dash where UCCS claimed a clean sweep of the top three spots in the race to score 24 team points. Redshirt junior Audrey Bloomquist earned the gold medal with a raw time of 7.55s and she was followed closely across the line by Victoria Farinas and Brittany Fuchs, who earned the silver and bronze medals at respective times of 7.63s and 7.64s.
• In the men's 60m dash final, it was redshirt junior Brian Mosley Jr. who took home the gold medal as he was the first competitor to cross the line at a blazing time of 6.74s. Redshirt sophomore Justice Mendoza joined his teammate on the podium with a third place finish in the race, clocking a personal best time of 6.80s to bring the Mountain Lion's point total for the event to 16. Mendoza's altitude-converted time of 6.84s also registers as an improvement over the provisional mark he established yesterday in the prelim race.
• At the women's 60m hurdle final, redshirt sophomore Melissa Moreni successfully repeated as the RMAC individual champion for the event as she clocked a raw time of 8.58s to earn 10 points for the women's team. Redshirt junior Faith Novess also continued her improvement in the event, recording a personal best mark for the second day in a row with a time of 8.87s that was good for an appearance on the podium with a bronze medal.
• The Mountain Lion men totaled 19 more points in the men's 200m dash as Mendoza came back to post yet another strong performance with a gold medal time of 21.61s. Sophomore Kymani Sterling and freshman Mason Pastorello also put together scoring efforts as Sterling finished fourth at 22.03s and Pastorello crossed the line fifth at 22.25s. Mendoza's converted time of 21.35s marks a new season best provisional time and could punch his ticket to nationals for the event as it currently ranks tied for 15^th in the nation.
• At the sand pits, redshirt senior Dakota Abbott recorded a season best provisional mark of 15.70m in the men's triple jump to claim a gold medal and 10 points for the men's team. Redshirt junior Peyton Turnage and redshirt sophomore Richard Safoh also joined in on the scoring, with Turnage posting five points with a fourth place jump of 14.68m and Safoh earning two points with a seventh place finish at 14.21m.
• With a gold medal already around her neck from the 60m dash, Bloomquist continued her spectacular meet as she went on to claim another individual championship in the women's triple jump with a provisional jump of 12.00m. Freshman Kathryn Carroll also came close to her season best for the event with a mark of 11.14m that was good for fifth place and four points towards the UCCS women's team.
• In the men's heptathlon, redshirt sophomore Thorben Hast put together a strong performance in the final event on Saturday, the 1,000m run, to vault into the top overall spot in the competition and win his second career RMAC individual championship for the event with a score of 5,037 points. Redshirt junior Seth Richmond also got on the scoreboard with one point in the event after he tallied a personal best score of 4,380 to finish eighth overall.
• UCCS claimed a pair of podium finishes in the men's 3,000m race as redshirt seniors Evan Graff and Afewerki Zeru notched silver and bronze medals with respective raw times of 8:29.14 and 8:31.42. After the conversion for track size and altitude, both men currently sit inside the top-15 for the event with Graff's converted time of 7:59.03 sitting ninth in the nation and Zeru's converted time of 8:01.18 ranking 12^th in the country.
• Thirteen more points on the women's side came from the women's mile, where redshirt sophomore Kate Hedlund was the second overall finisher with a raw time of 5:02.88. Sophomore Anna Fauske added five more points with a fourth place finish in the event as she crossed the line at 5:04.33. Finishing just outside of scoring range was redshirt sophomore Rachel Richtman, who clocked a raw time of 5:15.63 for a 10^th place finish. Fauske's converted time of 4:48.64 registers as an improvement on her season best provisional time, while Hedlund's converted time of 4:47.27 was just shy of her season best qualifying time that is currently ranked eighth in the nation.
• On the men's side of the mile race, redshirt freshman Jagger Zlotoff had another strong effort as he clocked a raw time of 4:18.46 for a third place finish and six points. With the conversion for track size and altitude, Zlotoff's time of 4:04.44 is nearly a two second improvement on his season best qualifying mark and moves him inside the top-20 in the nation for the event.
• Hedlund was back in action in a strong women's 800m race that ultimately saw four new top-8 nationally ranked provisional times recorded as she went on to place fifth in the race with a raw time of 2:13.09. Hedlund's converted time of 2:09.80 sits just shy of her season best mark that currently sits tenth in the country.
• Redshirt sophomore Keyanda Bolton tallied an improved provisional mark in the women's 200m dash as she went on to clock a converted time of 24.73s while taking fourth place in the competition and scoring five points for her team.
• The Mountain Lions had four student-athletes competing in the final of the men's 400m dash and it was redshirt sophomore Ryan O'Neal that was the first UCCS sprinter across the line with a fourth place finish at 49.41s. Just behind O'Neal was freshman Andrew Muncy in fifth place at 49.48s, Dillon Andrews in sixth place at 50.59s, and Sebastien Jean in eighth place at 50.59s as the four men combined to tally 13 points for their team.
• Both the men's and women's UCCS 4x400m relay teams made their way to the podium with bronze medals as Andrews, Muncy, Joseph Hamilton, and Alex Herman combined for a time of 3:20.99 on the men's side and Skylar Hawk, Alyssa Lopez, Amber Davis, and Michela Hewitt teamed up for a time of 3:58.48 in the women's race.
• At the men's and women's high jump competitions, Novess and Skye Ciccarelli each went on to claim fifth place finishes and record four points for the women's and men's teams. Novess cleared a bar height of 1.66m, which sits shy of her season best mark of 1.69m that she established yesterday. For Ciccarelli, he posted a mark of 2.02m as he came up short of matching his season best mark of 2.12m that ranks tied for 11^th in the nation.
• In the men's 800m, Hamilton raced to a seventh place finish and tabbed two points for the men's team as he notched a personal best converted time of 1:54.54. Adam Maal finished just outside of scoring range in tenth place, but nonetheless managed to clock a personal best converted time of 1:55.49.

FINAL POINT TOTALS (MEN)

1. UCCS – 143 points
2. Adams State – 105 points
3. CSU Pueblo – 83.33 points
4. Western Colorado – 79 points
5. Mines – 69.33 points
6. Colorado Mesa – 68.83 points
7. South Dakota Mines – 33 points
8. Chadron State – 32 points
9. MSU Denver – 15 points
10. Colorado Christian – 15 points
11. Black Hills State – 14 points
12. Westminster – 1.50 points

FINAL POINT TOTALS (WOMEN)

1. Mines – 139.50 points
2. UCCS – 129 points
3. Colorado Mesa – 97 points
4. Western Colorado – 83.50 points
5. Adams State – 62 points
6. CSU Pueblo – 42 points
7. Chadron State – 32 points
8. New Mexico Highlands – 27 points
9. Westminster – 13 points
10. MSU Denver – 12 points
11. Black Hills State – 12 points
12. South Dakota Mines – 11 points

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Audrey Bloomquist was named the RMAC Women's Athlete of the Meet after she led all women competitors with 26 points scored. The Helena, Mont., native posted gold medal performances in the 60m dash and triple jump on Saturday while also notching a bronze medal finish in the long jump on Friday.
• Mendoza continues to make history in the sprints events as he moves to fifth all-time in the 60m dash with his raw time of 6.80s and second all-time in the 200m with his raw time of 21.61s.
• After moving into a tie for third place all-time in the women's 60m hurdle yesterday with her time of 8.92s, Novess claims sole possession of third all-time in program history in the event with her time of 8.87s that she completed today.
• Following a weekend full of national qualifying performances, the Mountain Lions now have a total of 43 provisional marks for the indoor season.

UP NEXT

• The qualifying field for the 2022-23 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships will be announced at approximately 4 p.m. (MT) on Tuesday, Feb. 28. The two-day national championship meet is set to take place on March 10-11 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, Va.

 
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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.