VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track and field teams opened the 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and finished their first day at the Virginia Beach Sports Center with five student-athletes earning First Team All-America honors and four other student-athletes claiming Second Team All-America accolades.
 
INSIDE THE 2023 NCAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Location: Virginia Beach Sports Center | Virginia Beach, Va.  
Track Size: 200m (banked)
Men's Day One Score: 3 points – T20th
Women's Day One Score: 4 points – T19th
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The women's distance medley relay team of Anna Fauske, Amber Davis, Michela Hewitt, and Kate Hedlund provided the highlight of the day for the Mountain Lion women as they combined to break the school record for the event with a fifth-place finish in a time of 11:31.45. As the fifth-place finishers, Fauske, Davis, Hewitt, and Hedlund scored four points for the women's team and each earned First Team All-America honors.  
• Redshirt senior Afewerki Zeru was the lone UCCS student-athlete to score points on the men's side, racing to a sixth place finish for three points in the 5,000m race with a time of 14:06.60. With the top-eight finish in the race, Zeru earns a First Team All-America nod in the men's 5,000m for the second consecutive indoor season.
• The men's distance medley relay team team of Jagger Zlotoff, Andrew Muncy, Joseph Hamilton, and Evan Graff rounded out the Mountain Lion's All-America honors on day of the indoor national championship meet as they secured second team accolades with a tenth place finish while crossing the line at 9:52.63.
• Earlier in the day, Zlotoff and Graff competed in the first round of the men's mile race and both runners managed to finish among the top-eight to qualify for tomorrow's final. Zlotoff was the fifth overall runner to cross the line at a time of 4:08.01, while Graff notched a time of 4:08.45 as the eighth runner across the finish line. Zlotoff and Graff will compete in the men's mile final tomorrow afternoon at 2:35 p.m. (MT).
• In the first round of women's mile, Hedlund was the first UCCS runner across the line as she finished in tenth place with a time of 4:49.70 and came up just .02 seconds shy of qualifying for tomorrow's final. Fauske also competed in the women's mile preliminary race, notching a personal best time of 4:52.15 to finish in 14^th place.
• Redshirt junior Peterson Bohannon was the first Mountain Lion in action on Friday as he went on to post a mark of 6.91m in the men's long jump final for a 14^th place finish.
• At the straightaway lanes, Brian Mosley Jr. clocked a time of 6.82s in the first round of the men's 60m dash as he missed the cut to qualify for tomorrow's final in the event. Melissa Moreni was also in action in the first round of the women's 60m hurdles and went on to post a time of 8.76s that was just shy of qualifying for the finals.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Hedlund adds to her career accolades with the third First Team All-America honor of her indoor career at UCCS.
• For Graff, the Second Team All-America nod in the DMR marks the second time in his career that he has earned the designation for the indoor season after also being named to the second team with a tenth place finish in the mile at the 2020-21 NCAA Indoor Championships.
• Fauske, Hewitt, Zlotoff, Muncy, and Hamilton each bring home the first All-America accolades of their respective careers.

UP NEXT

• The 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships will continue tomorrow morning as the Mountain Lions will have student-athletes competing across five different individual events. Audrey Bloomquist will get the day started at 11 a.m. (MT) in the women's triple jump, followed by Dakota Abbott in the men's triple jump at 2:05 p.m. (MT), Zlotoff and Graff in the men's mile at 2:35 p.m. (MT), Skye Ciccarelli in the men's high jump at 3:05 p.m. (MT), and Graff and Zeru in the men's 3,000m at 4:10 p.m.

 
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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.