GOLDEN, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams opened their 2024-25 indoor season on Friday in Golden, Colo. with a strong performance in which they recorded five NCAA provisional qualifying marks and won two events.
INSIDE THE MINES ALUMNI CLASSIC
Location: CSM Steinhauer Fieldhouse | Golden, Colo.
Track Size: 193-meters (flat)
Elevation: 5,675 ft
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Competing in a men's long jump field that consisted of 14 student-athletes, including seven from the NCAA Division I level, sophomore Jeffrey Franquemont paced the Mountain Lions with an indoor personal best and NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark of 7.64m to claim first place in the event. UCCS added two more provisional qualifying marks in the event on the day with redshirt senior Richard Safoh posting a second-place leap of 7.44m and junior transfer KJ McInnis jumping to a mark of 7.20m for a fifth-place finish in his debut with the team. Junior Willie Tran and freshman Realiti Smith also notched strong performances in their first competition with the Mountain Lions as Tran finished eighth with a leap of 7.09m and Smith claimed ninth place with a jump of 6.91m.
- UCCS filled up four of the top five spots in the women's long jump, led by a second-place finish from sophomore Paige Cordero, who leapt to a collegiate personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 5.70m. Sophomore Danaya Kinnard came up just shy of the provisional qualifying threshold with a personal best mark of 5.60m that was good for third place, while redshirt juniors Madissyn Moore and Chelsea Howard secured the fourth and fifth positions with respective leaps of 5.58m and 5.54m.
- Junior Brooke Peterson made her Mountain Lion debut in the women's pole vault and went on to secure a fourth-place finish with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 3.72m. Sophomore Phia Edwards took fifth place in the event with a mark of 3.57m, while redshirt sophomore Brianna Spencer placed sixth at 3.42m and freshman Josie Gates finished eighth at 3.27m.
- Junior Kyle Demos put together an impressive showing in the men's shot put as he improved his personal best by more than 1.5 meters with a first-place toss of 16.35m that was just narrowly short of surpassing the NCAA provisional qualifying threshold for the event. Junior Kane Fobare also notched a personal best in the event, finishing fifth overall with a mark of 14.13m.
- In the women's shot put, junior Savannah Jorgens was the lone UCCS student-athlete in action as she posted an indoor personal best mark of 12.60m to finish second overall in the field of 11 throwers.
- UCCS had a pair of student-athletes competing in the men's pole vault and it was redshirt senior Caiden Macktinger leading the duo with a third-place mark of 4.63m in his first meet as a Mountain Lion. Finishing just behind Macktinger in fifth place was junior Brayden Shaw as he cleared a bar height of 4.48m.
BEYOND THE RESULTS
- In their season-opener, the Mountain Lions posted updates to the top five lists in the indoor record book for four different events, including the women's pole vault, men's long jump, and men's and women's shot put.
- Based on the final provisional qualifying list from the 2023-24 indoor season, Franquemont's long jump mark of 7.64m would have placed him in a tie for the second-furthest leap among all NCAA Division II student-athletes last season.
UP NEXT
- The Mines Alumni Classic will continue tomorrow at the Steinhauer Fieldhouse with the men's weight throw kicking off the field events at 11 a.m. and the preliminary round of the women's 60m hurdles getting the action started on the track at 2 p.m.
SOCIAL
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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.
