COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A trio of student-athletes from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team were announced as Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Athletes of the Week on Wednesday afternoon, with redshirt senior Justice Mendoza being named the Men's Track Athlete of the Week, junior Thorben Hast being tabbed the Men's Field Athlete of the Week, and junior Melissa Moreni claiming Women's Track Athlete of the Week honors.
 
Including this week's awards, the Mountain Lions have now earned seven weekly conference awards during the 2023 Outdoor Track & Field season, with four on the men's side and three on the women's side.
 
Mendoza picks up the first weekly conference award of his career after putting together a record-breaking performance on Saturday at the WTAMU Jo Meaker Classic & Multi in which he broke the UCCS outdoor school records in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m with top-ten nationally ranked provisional marks in all three events. The redshirt senior started his day in the 4x100m, where he teamed up with Brian Mosley Jr., Michael Nichols, and Kymani Sterling to record a first-place finish with a school record raw time of 40.19s and an altitude converted time of 40.31s that ranks first in the RMAC and tied for tenth in the nation. Mendoza continued his day in the open 100m dash, clocking a school record raw time of 10.34s to finish sixth overall in the 44-person field. His altitude converted 100m time of 10.37s ranks first in the RMAC and T8th in the country. The Ramona, Calif., native closed out his impressive day with yet another school record in the 200m dash, claiming a sixth-place finish among the field of 47 sprinters with a raw time of 20.86s. Mendoza's converted 200m time of 20.93s also currently stands first in the RMAC and ranks T10th overall in the nation.
 
A native of Stelle, Niedersachsen, Hast also earns the first weekly conference award of his career coming off a personal best and school record performance in the decathlon at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi last week. Hast finished in first place among the field of seven competitors with a national qualifying score of 7,090 that currently ranks first in the RMAC by nearly 300 points and stands third overall on the NCAA Division II Outdoor Performance List for the event. The junior also established new personal bests in three of the decathlon events, including the 100m (11.38s), discus throw (35.77m), and 1500m (4:26.24).
 
Moreni claims her fourth weekly conference award and the first of her outdoor career after posting a personal best and school record outing in the women's 100m hurdles at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi on Saturday. The junior hurdler clocked a season-best raw time of 13.68s to finish second overall in the 14-person field. Her altitude-converted time of 13.72s currently ranks first in the RMAC by more than three-tenths of a second and stands fourth overall on the NCAA Division II Outdoor Performance List for the event.
 
The Mountain Lions are back in action this week with a small group of track athletes traveling to Southern California to compete at the Cal State LA Twilight Open on April 13 and Azusa Pacific University's Bryan Clay Invitational on April 13-15.
 
2023 OT&F RMAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Mar. 22                Sawyer Christopher – RMAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week
Mar. 29                Kate Hedlund – RMAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week
Apr. 5                   Dakota Abbott – RMAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week
                             Audrey Bloomquist – RMAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week
Apr. 12                 Justice Mendoza – RMAC Men's Track Athlete of the Week
                             Thorben Hast – RMAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week
                             Melissa Moreni – RMAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week
 
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