ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track and field teams put together another strong outing on day two of the Don Kirby Invitational on Saturday as they recorded five more NCAA provisional qualifying marks and saw the men's and women's 4x400m relay teams shatter the previous indoor school records for the event.
 
INSIDE THE DON KIRBY INVITATIONAL
Location: Albuquerque Convention Center | Albuquerque, N.M.
Track Size: 200-meters (Banked)
Elevation: 4,958 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• For a second straight day, the UCCS men's track & field team saw a school record fall as the men's 4x400m relay team of Sebastien Jean, Dillon Andrews, Andrew Muncy, and Kymani Sterling shattered the previous indoor record for the event (3:15.02) by more than two seconds with a raw time of 3:12.78. Their raw time was good for fifth overall in the competition and was only beaten out by a quartet of NCAA Division I relay teams. After applying the conversion for altitude, the group's time of 3:13.22 easily registers as a season-best national qualifying mark and would currently rank tied as the ninth-fastest time in the NCAA Division II for the 2023-24 indoor season.
• The school record for the women's 4x400m relay was not safe either as the UCCS relay team of Alyssa Lopez, Addie Wilson, Amber Davis, and Keyanda Bolton recorded a raw time of 3:50.12 to destroy the previous record (3:54.71) by more than four seconds. The Mountain Lion's season-best converted time of 3:50.56 also registered as an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, the first for the women's 4x400m relay team this season.
• Just about two weeks removed from running a top-ten nationally ranked time in the women's mile, redshirt junior Kate Hedlund was back in action on Saturday and was equally as impressive while competing in the women's 800m as she posted an altitude-converted time of 2:09.89 to finish ninth overall among a field of 39 finishers. Hedlund, who clocked the second-fastest time in the participant field from an NCAA Division II runner, is likely ot be positioned inside the top-ten for the event on the provisional qualifying list after this weekend's results are accounted for. Redshirt senior Ashten Loeks was also in action in the women's 800m on Saturday, posting a 21^st place finish with a personal best raw time of 2:17.03.
• One day after posting one of the top 3,000m performances in NCAA Division II this indoor season, junior Anna Fauske was right back on the track competing in the women's mile race and she put together a strong effort that saw her finish fifth overall among the 41-person field with a raw time of 4:58.41. Her altitude-converted time of 4:51.91 registered as an NCAA provisional qualifying mark but came up just short of her season best converted time of 4:48.10. Redshirt junior Nadine Almasri and freshman Emma Montoya also came up with personal best performances in the event, with Almasri posting a time of 5:10.96 (5:04.19c) to finish 13^th overall and Montoya clocking a time of 5:17.96 (5:11.04c) for a 24^th place finish.
• Senior Melissa Moreni added another NCAA qualifying mark in the preliminary round of the women's 60m hurdles invitational as she crossed the line in 8.59s to finish with the 16^th fastest time in the field of 62 hurdlers. Her converted time of 8.61s fell just shy of surpassing her existing national qualifying mark of 8.55s that she established at the CRC UCCS Invite. Freshman Krissie Sanders also had an strong race as she clocked a time of 8.91s (8.93c) to come up just five-hundredths of a second shy of matching her season-best.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• The Mountain Lions tallied a total of 14 NCAA provisional qualifying marks across two days at the Don Kirby Invitational, including three new marks and two improved marks. For the indoor season, the UCCS men's and women's teams have now combined to record a total of 38 national qualifying marks, with each team having posted 19.

UP NEXT

• In the final weekend before the 2023-24 RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Mountain Lions are set to travel to the Air Force Academy on Friday, Feb. 16, for the Air Force Last Chance meet before traveling to Golden, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 17, to compete at the Mines Pre-Conference meet.

 
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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.