COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams put forth a strong effort in their final home meet of the indoor season as they combined to record 15 event wins and post 16 NCAA qualifying marks on Saturday at the Colorado Running Company UCCS Invite.
 
INSIDE THE COLORADO RUNNING COMPANY UCCS INVITE
Location: Mountain Lion Fieldhouse | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Track Size: 200-meters (flat)
Elevation: 6,291 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Five of the Mountain Lions 16 NCAA qualifying marks on Saturday came at the men's long jump runway, with redshirt seniors Peterson Bohannon and Peyton Turnage earning a share of first place with provisional qualifying leaps of 7.37m. Redshirt freshman Grant Haskins was not far behind Bohannon and Turnage, finishing with a personal best and national qualifying mark of 7.36m. Although they came up shy of their season best marks, redshirt junior Richard Safoh (7.16m) and junior Daryon Wilson (7.13m) also reached the NCAA provisional qualifying threshold while finishing in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
• Coming off his impressive effort in the long jump, Turnage returned to action later in the afternoon in the men's triple jump and went on to post an improved NCAA qualifying mark of 14.70m to finish atop the field. Bohannon and freshman Jeffrey Franquemont also competed in the event as they matched each other to tie for third place with a mark of 13.75m.
• In the women's long jump, redshirt sophomore Madissyn Moore led a group of seven UCCS competitors as she earned a first-place finish in the event with a national qualifying mark of 5.83m. Redshirt junior Christine Bailey also had a strong day as she finished tied for second with a leap of 5.64m, while freshman Brielle Bracken joined Moore and Bailey inside the top-ten with a seventh place mark of 5.32m.
• The Mountain Lions added another event win and provisional mark at the women's triple jump as redshirt senior Audrey Bloomquist unleashed a national qualifying leap of 12.10m for a first-place finish. UCCS also saw sophomore Kathryn Carroll finish second overall at a mark of 11.05m and Bracken finish fifth with a leap of 10.85m.
• On the outer track, redshirt freshman Trinity Dixon added her first NCAA qualifying mark of the indoor season in the women's 800m as she won the event with an altitude converted time of 2:14.02. Crossing the line shortly after Dixon in second place was redshirt senior Ashten Loeks with a season best converted time of 2:15.36 that was just shy of the provisional qualifying threshold.
• Competing in his first 3,000m race of the indoor season, redshirt sophomore Jagger Zlotoff added another event win and national qualifying mark to the team's total as he easily earned a first-place finish with a personal best converted time of 8:09.39. Freshman Brett Davis also made his collegiate track & field debut in the event and notched a fifth-place finish at a converted time of 8:40.14.
• Another NCAA qualifying mark came in the men's 4x400m relay as the Mountain Lion's A-Squad of Andrew Muncy, Ashton Whisler, Sebastien Jean, and Kymani Sterling raced to a converted time of 3:15.42 and cruised to a first-place finish in the event.
• UCCS had a group of eight student-athletes competing in the preliminary round of the women's 60m hurdles and saw four of them advance to the finals for the event, including senior Melissa Moreni with a national qualifying time of 8.67s (8.71c), freshman Krissie Sanders at a time of 8.97s (9.01c), sophomore Leyah Martinez with a time of 9.26s (9.30c), and redshirt senior Faith Novess at a mark of 9.43s (9.47c). In the final race, Moreni once again paced the group as she was the top overall finisher in the race while posting an improved national qualifying time of 8.51s (8.55c), while Sanders earned a fourth-place finish at 9.10s and Martinez and Novess finished seventh and eighth with respective times of 9.46s and 9.57s.
• The Mountain Lions also saw success on the men's side of the 60m hurdles as freshmen Nigel James and Bryce Joshlin posted strong efforts in the preliminary round of the event to advance to the final. In the final, it was James that narrowly pulled away from the field to earn the event win with a time of 8.34s (8.38c) while Joshlin posted a huge personal best time of 8.39s (8.43c) to earn a third-place finish.
• In the women's 60m dash, UCCS qualified four student-athletes for the final race with each of them ultimately finishing inside the top-five in the event. Bloomquist led the way for the Mountain Lions as she clocked an event winning and national qualifying time of 7.53s (7.57c), while junior Victoria Farinas finished second overall at 7.69s (7.73s) and freshmen Taryn Fettig and Zane Bullock grabbed the fourth and fifth positions with respective time of 7.94s (7.98c) and 7.99s (8.03c).
• UCCS also asserted their dominance in the men's 60m dash as they earned five of the eight qualifying spots in the final of the event. Redshirt senior Brian Mosley Jr. led the way for UCCS in the final race as he earned a first-place finish with a national qualifying time of 6.75s (6.79c), and he was followed by Justice Mendoza (6.83s / 6.87c) in second place, Donovan Mini (6.86s / 6.90c) in third place, Daryn Ofori-Kuragu (6.96s / 7.00c) in fifth place, and Chase Monestime (7.01s / 7.05c) in sixth place.
• At the throws ring, redshirt senior Anna Holland finished atop the field in the women's weight throw as she posted a provisional qualifying mark of 17.22m. Junior Luke Hard also stood out among the field in the men's weight throw as he joined Holland in winning his event with a mark of 17.95m. In addition, sophomore Michael Roberts and freshman Hayden Cuevas made their way into the top-five of the event with personal best marks of 16.90m and 15.48m, respectively.
• The Mountain Lions final provisional qualifying mark of the day came in the men's high jump, where Skye Ciccarelli cleared a bar height of 2.04m to finish second overall.
• UCCS added two more event wins in the men's 5,000m and women's 200m dash as junior Logan Cole led the way in the 5K with a converted time of 14:45.99 and redshirt junior Keyanda Bolton paced the pack in the 200m at a time of 25.41s (25.16c).

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Roberts' personal best weight throw mark of 16.90m ranks fourth all-time in program history for the event.
• Holland posted a personal best mark of 12.89m in the shot put, which ranks third all-time in program history for the event.

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will travel north to Golden, Colo., next weekend to compete at the Mines Winter Classic, a two-day meet that will take place on Jan. 26-27 at the CSM Steinhauer Fieldhouse.

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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.