GOLDEN, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team spread out across three different last chance meets on Saturday as they combined to post a total of 12 NCAA qualifying marks and break one school record while competing at the Mines Last Chance, Loper Twilight, and APU Franson Last Chance.
 
INSIDE THE MINES LAST CHANCE
Location: CSM Stermole Track & Field Complex | Golden, Colo.
Elevation: 5,675 ft.
 
INSIDE THE LOPER TWILIGHT
Location: Kearney H.S. | Kearney, Neb.
 
INSIDE THE APU FRANSON LAST CHANCE
Location: APU Cougar Athletic Stadium | Azusa, Calif.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED | MINES LAST CHANCE

• Redshirt junior Faith Novess was one of just two total athletes competing on the first day of the Mines Last Chance meet as she and Colorado School of Mines' Avery Wright both took on the first four events of the women's heptathlon looking to improve their provisional marks and make their way into the conversation for a bid to the outdoor national championship meet.
• Novess started her day in the 100m hurdles, where she posted a personal best time of 14.78s that was good for 871 points. She then went on to add 795 points in the high jump with a bar clearance of 1.65m before recording another personal best in the shot put at a mark of 10.88m that scored 587 points for her total. Novess closed Saturday's action with a time of 26.62s in the 200m dash to score another 744 points and bring her day one total to 2,997 points, which gives her a slight lead over Wright's day one point total of 2,845.

HOW IT HAPPENED | LOPER TWILIGHT

• Redshirt senior Justice Mendoza provided the highlight of the day for the group of Mountain Lions competing in Kearney, Neb., on Saturday afternoon as he broke his own school record in the men's 200m dash with a first place time of 20.70s. Mendoza's personal best time also registers as an improvement on his existing national qualifying mark and moves him back into the top-ten in the nation for the event.  
• Sophomore Kymani Sterling joined Mendoza in posting an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the men's 200m dash as he clocked a season-best time of 21.17s to take fourth overall in the race. Freshman Mason Pastorello also finished inside the top-ten with a personal best time of 21.47s to claim sixth place.
• Redshirt juniors Peyton Turnage and Peterson Bohannon claimed the top two spots in the men's long jump as they each improved on their season best provisional qualifying marks, with Turnage finishing first overall at a mark of 7.47m and Bohannon taking second with a leap of 7.44m. Redshirt junior Richard Safoh and freshman Grant Haskins were also in action as they each posted jumps of 7.20m to finish in a tie for fifth place.
• Redshirt junior Brian Mosley Jr. was the top finisher among 14 competitors in the men's 100m dash as he raced to an improved provisional qualifying time of 10.36s. Mosley Jr.'s personal best mark moves him to No. 2 all-time in program history for the event.
• The Mountain Lions added two more provisional marks in the men's and women's 4x100m relay races, with the highlight being an improved national qualifying time of 40.28s from the men's relay team consisting of Mendoza, Sterling, Pastorello, and Mosley Jr. In the women's relay, Audrey Bloomquist, Melissa Moreni, Keyanda Bolton, and Victoria Farinas also surpassed the provisional qualifying threshold with a time of 46.57s but were shy of reaching their season best converted mark of 45.96s that was established at the CSU Pueblo Open.
• In addition to racing as the opening leg on the women's 4x100m relay team, Bloomquist also posted strong marks at the jumps runway as she notched a personal best and improved national qualifying leap of 5.90m for a third-place finish in the long jump before registering a second-place mark of 11.76m in the triple jump.
• In the men's triple jump, UCCS student-athletes claimed the top two spots in the competition as redshirt senior Dakota Abbott was the top overall finisher with a national qualifying mark of 14.82m and redshirt junior Peyton Turnage finished second at a mark of 14.65m that sits just four centimeters away from the NCAA qualifying threshold0f 14.69m.
• Not long after racing in the women's 4x100m relay, Moreni was back on the track competing in the women's 100m hurdles race, where she recorded a second-place finish with a provisional qualifying time of 14.05s.
• Farinas also made her way back to the track in the women's open 100m dash, clocking a time of 12.00s and crossing the finish line in second place overall.

HOW IT HAPPENED | APU FRANSON LAST CHANCE

• Racing underneath the lights at Azusa Pacific University's Cougar Athletic Stadium in heat ten of the men's 1500m race, redshirt freshman Jagger Zlotoff and redshirt senior Evan Graff both posted strong finishes in the 139-person field. Zlotoff was the top finisher from UCCS as he clocked a time of 3:47.96 to finish fourth in his heat and ninth overall in the field, while Graff crossed the line in 3:51.42 for a 25^th place finish overall.
• Immediately following the conclusion of the men's 1500m races, junior Rachel Richtman made her way to the track in the women's 3,000m steeplechase and proceeded to win the race with a personal best time of 10:53.79. Richtman's time registers as an improvement on her existing NCAA qualifying mark for the event by more than four seconds and ranks as the third fastest time in UCCS program history for the women's 3,000m steeplechase.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Bloomquist's personal best mark of 5.90m in the women's long jump ranks fourth all-time in UCCS program history.
• For the 2023 outdoor season, the Mountain Lions have combined to record a total of 36 NCAA provisional qualifying marks, including 23 on the men's side and 13 on the women's side.
• The UCCS track & field teams have broken outdoor program records in six events this season, including the men's 100m, men's 200m, women's 100m hurdles, men's 4x100m relay, women's triple jump, and men's decathlon.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will close the outdoor qualifying period tomorrow as a small group of student-athletes will compete on day two of the Mines Last Chance in Golden, Colo.

SOCIAL
Twitter – @GoMountainLions 
Instagram – @gomountainlions
Facebook – GoMountainLions 
 
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.