PUEBLO, Colo. – After a strong start to the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships yesterday, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team carried their momentum into day two of the national championship meet as a pair of student-athletes notched All-America honors and two more advanced through the preliminary round of their respective events.
 
INSIDE THE 2023 NCAA DIVISION II OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Location: CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,700 ft.
Men's Day Two Score: 5 points (T22nd)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Competing for the final time in his highly decorated Mountain Lion career, redshirt senior Dakota Abbott added one more First Team All-America trophy to his resume as he notched a fourth-place finish in the men's triple jump with a mark of 15.72m. With his position on the podium, Abbott also got the UCCS men's track & field team on the board with five points towards the team total.
• After scoring 3,586 points across the first five events of the men's decathlon during yesterday's action, junior Thorben Hast put together a strong day two as he finished the multi event with a score of 6,928 points to record a 12^th place finish and earn Second Team All-America honors for the event. Hast's second day of action in the decathlon also saw him earn a new personal best in the discus throw with a mark of 36.27m and a convincing first place finish in the 1500m at a time of 4:29.40.
• In the preliminary round of the men's 200m dash, redshirt junior Justice Mendoza continued his strong meet as he broke his own school record for the event with a time of 20.54s to finish fourth in his heat. Mendoza's heat happened to be the fastest of the three heats in the competition with his time standing up as the sixth fastest time overall in the field to qualify for tomorrow night's event final.
• Junior Melissa Moreni also managed to advance through to tomorrow's final for the women's 100m hurdles after she clocked a time of 13.75s in the preliminary round that was fourth in her heat but qualified by time as the eighth-fastest mark in the 22-person field.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Abbott finishes his incredible five-year career at UCCS as a four-time indoor track & field All-American and a three-time outdoor track & field All-American while also holding the title as one of just four men's student-athletes in program history to win an individual national championship (2020-21 Triple Jump).
• After two days of action and the completion of eight scored events, the UCCS men's track & field team sits in a tie for 22^nd place overall with five points. Adams State University currently leads the team standings on the men's side with 26 points.
• On the women's side, Grand Valley State University holds the team lead with 30 points, while Adams State sits in second place with 23 points and Saginaw Valley State University holds down third place with 21 points after the completion of seven scored events. The Mountain Lion women will have a strong chance to get points on the board tomorrow with four student-athletes competing in finals on the third day of competition.

UP NEXT

• UCCS will have a strong group of student-athletes competing in event finals tomorrow evening beginning at 5:20 p.m. with the men's 4x100m relay. The Mountain Lions will also have participants in the finals for the women's triple jump (5:30 p.m.), women's 1500m (5:35 p.m.), men's 1500m (5:45 p.m.), women's 100m hurdles (5:55 p.m.), men's 200m dash (7:55 p.m.), women's 5,000m (8:05 p.m.), and the men's 5,000m (8:30 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.