SPEARFISH, S.D. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams completed day two of the 2024 RMAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday and saw both teams earn second-place finishes, with the men's team tallying 141.83 points and the women's team scoring 119 points.  
 
INSIDE THE 2023-24 RMAC INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCCS Men's Final Score: 141.83 points – 2^nd Place
UCCS Women's Final Score: 119 points – 2^nd Place
Host School: Black Hills State University
Location: Donald E. Young Center | Spearfish, S.D.
Track Size: 200m (flat)
Elevation: 3,593 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Mountain Lions put on a display of dominance in the final of the men's 60m dash on Saturday as the team's four qualifiers combined to claim four of the top five spots in the competition and rack up an astounding 27 points. Redshirt senior Brian Mosley Jr. was the pack leader for UCCS as he earned the individual event title with a NCAA qualifying time of 6.74s (6.76c) score ten points. He was followed closely by junior Kymani Sterling, who posted a second-place finish at a national qualifying time of 6.77s (6.79c) to add eight points. Redshirt seniors Donovan Mini and Justice Mendoza locked down the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, to secure a total of nine more points in the event with Mini reaching the provisional qualifying mark in the 60m for the first time this year at a season-best 6.82s (6.84c) and Mendoza clocking a time of 6.84s (6.86c).
• In the women's mile race, the Mountain Lions had a pair of student-athletes reach the podium as they saw 17 points added to the total for the women's team. Redshirt junior Kate Hedlund raced to the individual conference title for the event as she posted a national qualifying time of 4:52.31 (4:44.58c) to score ten points, while junior Anna Fauske claimed third place overall with an improved national qualifying time of 4:54.67 (4:46.88c) to add six more points. Redshirt junior Rachel Richtman added one additional point in the event as she finished eighth overall with a time of 5:08.60 (5:01.44c).
• Just about an hour after winning the mile race, Hedlund was back on the track in the women's 800m, and she went on to finish fourth in the event to add five more points to the team tally. Hedlund posted an impressive converted time of 2:08.74 that registered as a season-best and an improvement on her existing national qualifying mark for the event. Fauske also doubled down on Saturday as she returned to the track to compete in the 3,000m race about two hours after the completion of the mile. She would go on to claim a fourth-place finish and score five points in the event while posting a national qualifying converted time of 9:45.60.
• The UCCS men's team also saw big points scored in the final of the men's 400m dash as their three qualifiers each earned spots among the top-four finishers to score a total of 23 points. Sophomore Andrew Muncy took home the gold medal in the event as he raced around the track in 49.26s (48.60c) to score ten points, while freshman Ashton Whisler came across the line second overall with a season-best time of 49.28s (48.62c) to earn a silver medal and score eight points. Sophomore Sebastien Jean also did his part by tacking on five more points in the event with a fourth-place finish at a time of 49.59s (48.93c).
• The trio of Jean, Muncy, Whisler came back on the track in the final event of the meet and teamed up with Sterling to post a gold medal and national qualifying time of 3:18.91 (3:16.22c) in the men's 4x400m dash. The group scored ten points for the team while winning the relay race by more than four seconds over the second finisher.
• In the women's triple jump, redshirt senior Audrey Bloomquist jumped to her second individual event title of the meet as she posted a monster leap of 12.41m for the gold medal and ten points. Redshirt junior Christine Bailey added five more points in the event with a fourth-place leap of 11.53m, while sophomore Kathryn Carroll tacked on one point after finishing eighth overall with a jump of 11.17m.
• 19 points were scored for the men's team in the 200m dash as Sterling led a group of three sprinters finishing inside the top-five for the event. Sterling picked up his second podium finish of the day as he posted a gold medal performance and scored ten points with a national qualifying time of 21.61s (21.30c). Mendoza and Mosley Jr. also raced their way to a combined nine points with Mendoza crossing the line in fourth place at 22.02s (21.71c) and Mosley Jr. clocking a time of 22.07s (21.76c).
• The UCCS women's team added 14 points in the final of the 60m dash with Bloomquist earning a bronze medal and finishing at a national qualifying time of 7.56s (7.58c) and Victoria Farinas crossing the line in fourth place at a time of 7.63s (7.65c). Redshirt junior Keyanda Bolton secured three more points in the event as she finished sixth overall and tied her personal best mark at 7.69s (7.71c).
• Bolton and Farinas came back later in the day in the women's 200m dash and combined to score ten more points for UCCS in the event. Bolton crossed the line in second place with another improvement on her existing national qualifying time at 24.68s (24.38c) as she scored eight points, while Farinas finished seventh overall at a raw time of 26.00s to add two more points.
• In the final of the women's 60m hurdles, senior Melissa Moreni raced to a national qualifying time of 8.61s (8.63c) that was good for second place overall and put Moreni on the podium with a silver medal and eight points in the bag. Freshman Krissie Sanders also added one more point in the event as she finished in eighth place.
• Redshirt junior Thorben Hast completed the final three events of the heptathlon on Saturday and improved his standing by one spot from the first day as he finished second overall with a season-best converted mark of 5,058 points. Hast, who had a strong day with marks at or near his season-best in the 60m hurdles (8.66s), pole vault (4.30m), and 1,000m (2:45.96), earned a silver medal while posting eight points for the men's team.  
• Redshirt senior Skye Ciccarelli made his way to the podium for the men's high jump, where was the third overall finisher with a NCAA qualifying mark of 2.07m. In addition to the six points scored by Ciccarelli, redshirt senior Caden Frasl added 1.5 points as he tied for seventh with a season-best mark of 1.99m.
• In the women's 4x400m relay, Alyssa Lopez, Addie Wilson, Amber Davis, and Bolton came together to post a time of 3:55.64 and make an appearance on the podium with a third-place finish that was good for six points.
• UCCS scored a total six points in the men's triple jump competition as redshirt senior Peyton Turnage turned in a fifth place jump of 14.38m to record four points and redshirt junior Richard Safoh added two points by finishing seventh overall with a season-best mark of 13.97m.  
• Freshman Nigel James tallied five points for the UCCS men's team in the 60m hurdles final as he clocked a time of 8.27s (8.29c) to finish fourth overall in the event.
• In the men's 3,000m, redshirt sophomore Jagger Zlotoff posted a raw time of 8:31.02 to finish sixth overall in the event and score three points for the men's team. Zlotoff's time also registered as the fifth-fastest time in UCCS men's indoor program history for the 3,000m race.
• Freshman Dallis Robinson tallied one point for the women's team in the high jump, clearing a bar height of 1.59m to finish eighth overall.

FINAL STANDINGS (MEN)

1. Colorado School of Mines – 145 points
2. UCCS – 141.83 points
3. Colorado Mesa – 106 points
4. CSU Pueblo – 55 points
5. Chadron State – 47.50 points
6. Western Colorado – 38 points
7. Black Hills State – 30.66 points
8. Adams State – 26 points
9. South Dakota Mines – 21 points
10. Colorado Christian – 17 points
11. Fort Lewis - 12 points
12. MSU Denver - 12 points
13. Westminster - 10 points 

FINAL STANDINGS (WOMEN)

1. Colorado School of Mines – 154 points
2. UCCS – 119 points
3. Colorado Mesa – 81 points
4. Western Colorado – 56 points
5. New Mexico Highlands - 56 points
6. CSU Pueblo – 48 points
7. Adams State – 39 points
8. MSU Denver – 35 points
9.  Black Hills State – 17 points
10. Chadron State – 17 points
11. Colorado Christian – 12 points
12. Fort Lewis – 12 points
13. South Dakota Mines – 5 points

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• After the conclusion of the meet, Bloomquist was named the RMAC Women's Athlete of the Meet as she led all women's student-athletes with a total of 26 points scored. The native of Helena, Mont., earned ten points apiece with her gold medals in the long jump and triple jump while adding six more points with a third place finish in the 60m dash. 
• The Mountain Lions combined to tally a total of 21 podium finishes at this year's indoor conference championship meet, including seven individual event champions, eight silver medalists, and six bronze medalists. 
• UCCS also posted a total of 32 NCAA provisional qualifying marks across the two-day meet, with 17 on the women's side and 15 on the men's side. Among those marks, two of them registered as new provisional marks for the 2023-24 indoor season, while four of them were improvements on an existing NCAA qualifying mark. 

UP NEXT

• The participant field for the 2023-24 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships will be announced at approximately 4 p.m. (MT) on Tuesday, Feb. 27. The two-day national championship meet is set to take place on Friday and Saturday, March 8-9, at the Robert W. Plaster Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan.

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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.