PUEBLO, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team opened their outdoor season this weekend at the Dr. Dan Caprioglio Early Bird Invite and went on to notch a total of 10 podium finishes and two gold medals across the two-day meet on the campus of Colorado State University Pueblo.
 
INSIDE THE DR. DAN CAPRIOGLIO EARLY BIRD INVITE
Location: CSUP ThunderBowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,700 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED | FRIDAY

• The Mountain Lions had a group of four student-athletes competing in the men's javelin throw on Friday and it was redshirt junior Sawyer Christopher that led the way for UCCS with a second place finish and a mark of 57.83m. Redshirt junior Seth Richmond and sophomore Joseph Hamilton also notched top-10 finishes with Richmond claiming fourth place at 49.44m and Hamilton taking sixth place 49.31m. Redshirt junior Daniel Furcron rounded out the men's competitors in the javelin with a mark of 44.29m for an 11^th place finish.
• In the women's javelin throw, junior Caroline Walters was the top finisher for UCCS as she threw to a mark of 36.86m for a fifth place finish. Redshirt juniors Kamryn Bohlken and Maggie Remsberg were not far behind Walters, finishing in sixth and seventh place with respective marks of 36.66m and 33.55m. Redshirt junior Faith Novess reached a personal best mark of 28.63m to place 12^th, while freshman Nicole Castillio notched a 13^th place finish with a mark of 28.53m and Cassielynn Bonner took 14^th place with a toss of 26.17m.
• Redshirt junior Anna Holland was the top finisher for the Mountain Lions in the women's hammer throw as she claimed second place overall with a mark of 51.62m, while Bonner also put forth a strong performance with a personal best throw of 47.33m to earn a fifth-place finish. UCCS had a trio of freshman making their collegiate debuts in the event, with Toryn Turpin finishing 13^th at 33.30m, Savannah Jorgens finishing 14^th at 31.13m, and Harlee Santistevan coming in 15^th at 27.91m.
• At the men's weight throw, redshirt junior Justyn Loper notched a fifth place finish as he tossed to a mark of 53.00m. Junior Luke Hard added nearly 10 meters to his personal best for the event with a heave of 50.37m to claim eighth place, while freshman Michael Roberts made his outdoor debut with a toss of 32.85m.

HOW IT HAPPENED | SATURDAY

• Saturday's action got started on the track where first year Mountain Lion Logan Cole notched an 11^th place finish in the men's 10,000m race with a time of 31:59.61. On the women's side, redshirt sophomore Mason Ingallinera raced in the first 10,000m race of her career and went on to clock a time of 39:19.91 for a ninth place finish.
• The Mountain Lions had a strong group of five runners in the men's 1500m as each of the five finished among the top half of the 53-person field. Redshirt sophomore Justin Banta led the way with a 14^th place finish at a personal best time of 4:08.27, followed by Sean Graff in 15^th at 4:09.34, Jack Donze in 16^th at 4:09.81, Cody Klingelhoffer in 18^th at 4:11.82, and Adam Maal in 22^nd at 4:12.99. Junior Kelsey Graff was the first Mountain Lion across the line in the women's 1500m as she notched a 12^th place finish in a time of 4:54.16.
• A trio of UCCS long sprinters competed in the men's 400m dash and all three runners came through with top-five finishes, led by freshman Sebastien Jean in third place overall with a time of 49.45s. Crossing the line just behind Jean were junior Ryan O'Neal and senior Angel Laca in fourth and fifth place with times of 49.55s and 50.07s, respectively. The Mountain Lions also had two student-athletes notch top-five finishes in the women's 400m dash as sophomore Alyssa Lopez claimed a third-place finish with a time of 59.41s and redshirt junior Erika Timbang notched a fifth-place finish with a personal best time of 1:00.05.
• Freshman Alex Herman was the lone student-athlete competing in the men's 800m and he secured an eighth place finish with a time of 1:58.64 in his outdoor season debut.
• The first of the Mountain Lions' two gold medals on the day came in the men's 400m hurdle where redshirt junior Dillon Andrews cruised to a first-place finish with a time of 53.50s. The second gold medal would come in the same event on the women's side as freshman Skylar Hawk raced to a time of 1:07.40 to win the women's 400m hurdle race. Fellow freshman Leyah Martinez was also in action in the 400m hurdle as she clocked a time of 1:07.49 for a second place finish, while Remsberg came in sixth at a time of 1:10.74.
• The track action wrapped up with the 4x400m relays as the men's relay team of Andrews, Laca, Jean, and O'Neal combined to run a second place time of 3:15.95 while the women's relay group of Martinez, Brooke Moss, Hawk, and Lopez secured a fifth place finish with a time of 4:10.10.
• In the throws area, Jorgens and Turpin competed in the women's shot put for the first time in their outdoor careers and went on to post strong finishes with Jorgens placing third at a mark of 12.36m and Turpin taking fourth with a throw of 11.97m.
• Freshman Kyle Demos put forth a strong performance in the men's shot put, reaching a distance of 13.48m to claim sixth in the competition. Loper and Roberts were also in action in the men's shot put, with Loper finishing ninth at a mark of 12.95m and Roberts taking 14^th with a throw of 10.49m.
• In the women's discus throw, Holland was the top finisher from UCCS as she took third overall with a toss of 40.60m. Jorgens was not far behind Holland with a sixth place mark of 40.11m, while Bonner recorded a toss of 35.07m for an eighth place finish. On the men's side, Demos recorded the longest throw from UCCS as he took fifth place with a throw of 44.02m while Roberts claimed ninth place at 40.09m.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Bonner's mark of 47.33m in the women's hammer throw ranks fourth all-time in the UCCS women's record book.
• Hard's personal best hammer throw of 50.37m moves him up to third all-time in UCCS men's program history for the event.
• Jorgens moves into fifth place all-time for both the women's shot put (12.36m) and women's discus throw (40.11m) with her marks on Saturday.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will head back to Pueblo, Colo., on March 24-25 for the Spank Blasing Invitational.

 
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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.