PUEBLO, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team traveled to Pueblo, Colo., for the third consecutive weekend to compete at the CSU Pueblo Open on Friday and Saturday and went on to post 13 national qualifying marks and win eight events across the two-day meet.
 
INSIDE THE CSU PUEBLO OPEN
Location: CSUP ThunderBowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,700 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED | FRIDAY

• In the men's hammer throw, redshirt junior Justyn Loper notched his first provisional mark of the outdoor season as he tossed to a third-place finish with a mark of 56.87m. Junior Luke Hard and freshman Michael Roberts also put together strong performances, with Hard finishing sixth overall at a mark at a season-best mark of 52.81m and Roberts taking 11^th place with a season and personal best toss of 49.46m.
• At the women's hammer throw, redshirt junior Anna Holland was the top Mountain Lion finisher as she claimed a second-place finish with a mark of 51.01m. Redshirt junior Cassielynn Bonner also notched a top-five finish with a fifth place toss of 46.74m, while freshman Harlee Santistevan threw a personal best 36.16m for a 16^th place finish.

HOW IT HAPPENED | SATURDAY

• The Mountain Lions recorded a pair of huge NCAA provisional marks in the men's and women's triple jump, beginning with redshirt junior Audrey Bloomquist, who unleashed a personal best and school record mark of 12.46m for a first-place finish in the women's field. Bloomquist's outdoor program best mark currently ranks as the top women's triple jump mark in Division II for the event. On the men's side, redshirt senior Dakota Abbott joined Bloomquist in putting a top-ranked mark on the board as he finished first in the competition with a mark of 15.62m that currently sits No. 1 in the nation.
• Two more national qualifying marks were posted in the men's and women's 4x100m relay races as both relays teams earned first place finishes. Michael Nichols, Kymani Sterling, Justice Mendoza, and Brian Mosley Jr. teamed up on the men's side to record their first provisional mark of the outdoor season with an altitude-converted time of 40.43s, while Bloomquist, Keyanda Bolton, Brittany Fuchs, and Victoria Farinas joined up in the women's relay to clock a converted time of 45.96s. Both times currently sit among the top-ten in the nation for the event.
• In the men's long jump, UCCS filled four of the top five spots in the competition and posted four new NCAA provisional marks. Richard Safoh led the way for the Mountain Lions with a first place finish and a provisional qualifying jump of 7.36m, while Peyton Turnage (2^nd – 7.33m), Daryon Wilson (4^th – 7.29m), and Peterson Bohannon (7.28m – 5^th) also finished inside the top-ten with national qualifying marks. Freshman Grant Haskins rounded out the UCCS competitors in the men's long jump as he posted a collegiate personal best mark of 7.12m for a ninth place finish.
• On the women's side of the long jump, Bloomquist posted yet another NCAA provisional mark with a personal best leap of 5.88m that was good for second place in the competition. Christine Bailey also had her best jump of the new season, reaching a third place distance of 5.70m that came up just shy of crossing the provisional qualifying threshold.
• Redshirt freshman Jagger Zlotoff competed in the first 1500m race of his career and went on to clock an altitude-converted time of 3:47.42 to finish seventh overall among the field of 74 runners. Zlotoff's time registers as an NCAA qualifying mark and currently sits among the top-ten in the nation for the event.
• In the women's 100m hurdles, Melissa Moreni improved on the provisional mark that she established last week by registering an altitude-converted time of 14.14s for a first place finish. Faith Novess and Maggie Remsberg also finished inside the top five in the race, with Novess taking third at a raw time of 14.83s and Remsberg finishing fourth with a raw time of 14.86s.
• Dillon Andrews was the event winner in the men's 400m hurdles as he clocked his first provisional mark of the season with a converted time of 53.17s.
• Redshirt junior Kamryn Bohlken posted a career-best performance in the women's javelin throw, notching a mark of 38.79m to claim first place in the event. On the men's side, Seth Richmond posted a personal best throw of 56.09m to finish second overall.
• Racing in the women's 200m dash for the first time this outdoor season, Fuchs and Bolton occupied second and third place with respective times of 24.52s and 24.58s. The Mountain Lion men had seven student-athletes running their first 200m races of the season and saw all seven finish in the top 15 of the 37-person field, led by Mendoza in fourth place at a time of 21.34s.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• The top-five all-time list for men's hammer throw saw some positive movement on Friday afternoon, with Hard moving into second all-time with his mark of 52.81m and Roberts claiming fourth all-time with his toss of 49.46m. Loper's season best mark of 56.87m sits just less than two meters off his school record mark of 58.43m.
• Zlotoff's raw 1500m time of 3:52.31 ranks as the fourth fastest time in UCCS outdoor program history for the event.
• Richmond's toss of 56.09m in the javelin throw ranks second all-time for the event in the men's outdoor record book, while Bohlken's javelin throw mark of 38.79m sits third all-time in the women's outdoor top-five list.
• In addition to breaking the school record for the triple jump, Bloomquist also moved into fourth place all-time for the long jump with her mark of 5.88m.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will split up next weekend with the sprinters, jumpers, and throwers all heading to West Texas A&M University for the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi on April 7-8 while the distance runners stay local to compete at the Mines Kit Mayer Invite on April 8.

 
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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.