PUEBLO, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team opened their outdoor season on Saturday at the Dr. Dan Caprioglio Early Bird Invite, where they went on to post one NCAA provisional qualifying mark, eight event wins, and multiple updates to the outdoor program record book.
 
INSIDE THE DR. DAN CAPRIOGLIO EARLY BIRD INVITE
Location: CSUP ThunderBowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,848 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sophomore Grant Haskins recorded the lone NCAA provisional qualifying mark of the day for the Mountain Lions in the men's long jump as he posted a mark of 7.32m to earn a second-place finish in the event.
• Junior Logan Cole raced to a personal best time of 31:20.20 in the men's 10,000m race as he finished 15^th overall in the 45-person field. His altitude-converted time of 30:23.44 sits just over four seconds from the NCAA provisional qualifying threshold (30:19.08).
• Freshman Krissie Sanders had a strong day in the hurdles events as she started her day in the women's 100m hurdles with a strong time of 14.43s (14.47c) to earn a second-place finish in the event. Later in the day, Sanders competed in the women's 400m hurdles and posted a strong time of 1:02.43 (1:02.54c) to claim first place overall in the event. With her raw times today, Sanders also moved into the top-five in program history for both events as she now sits second all-time in the women's 400m hurdles and tied for third all-time in the women's 100m hurdles.
• The Mountain Lions claimed the top three spots in the 16-person field of the women's 100m dash, with junior Victoria Farinas leading the way with a first-place finish in a wind-aided time of 11.96s (11.99c). Senior Keyanda Bolton and freshman Zane Bullock took the second and third positions in the field with respective times of 11.97s (12.00c) and 12.11s (12.14c), while freshman Taryn Fettig also landed inside the top-ten with a seventh-place time of 12.37s (12.40c).
• Freshman Nigel James put forth a strong performance in his outdoor debut as he posted a first-place finish in the men's 110m hurdles with a wind-aided time of 14.92s (14.96c). His raw time of 14.92s ranks tied for third all-time in UCCS men's program history for the event.
• The top four spots in the men's 400m dash were filled up with black and gold uniforms with redshirt freshman Andrew Muncy earning a first-place finish in the 13-person field with a time of 48.88s (48.99c). Muncy was followed across the line by freshman Ashton Whisler in second place (49.02s / 49.13c), sophomore Sebastien Jean in third place (49.60s / 49.71c), and senior Thorben Hast in fourth place (51.23s / 51.34c).
• Freshman Brielle Bracken tabbed a first-place finish among ten competitors in the women's long jump as she posted a leap of 5.44m. Sophomore Kathryn Carroll finished just behind Bracken, recording a personal best leap of 5.33m to claim second place.
• In the men's triple jump, redshirt senior Peyton Turnage was the top overall finisher in a small field of three competitors as he put forth a leap of 14.45m in the event. Freshman Jeffrey Franquemont was also part of the competition, jumping to a mark of 13.39m to finish third overall.
• Senior Caroline Walters led the way for UCCS in the women's javelin throw, posting a personal best mark of 38.03m that was good for second place in the competition and fourth all-time in program history.
• Junior Victoria Malaki put together a strong showing in the women's discus throw as she posted a mark of 42.13m to win the event. Her mark also ranks as the third-furthest throw in UCCS program history for the event.
• The Mountain Lions had a strong trio of student-athletes competing in the men's hammer throw that was led by sophomore Michael Roberts, who posted a fourth-place toss of 52.03m. Roberts was followed by junior Luke Hard in sixth place with a mark of 51.92m and freshman Hayden Cuevas in eighth place at 47.68m. The UCCS men's top-five for the event also saw a shake-up as Roberts moved to third all-time with today's throw and Cuevas moved into fifth all-time for the event.
• In the women's hammer throw, redshirt senior Cassielynn Bonner was the top finisher for UCCS with a fifth-place toss of 48.61m. Malaki also finished eighth overall while tossing the fifth-furthest mark in UCCS program history for the event at 43.52m.
• UCCS took two of the top three positions in the men's discus throw, where sophomore Kyle Demos was the second-place finisher with a mark of 43.99m and sophomore Michael Roberts was the third-place finisher at 42.16m.
• UCCS had a gigantic group of 13 student-athletes competing in the men's 100m dash on Saturday and saw ten of them post sub-11 second times while placing inside the top 12 of the 28-person competition field. Senior Mason Pastorello was the top finisher for the Mountain Lions as he finished second overall with a time of 10.68s (10.71c), while freshman Gunnar Betts (3^rd – 10.71c), redshirt junior Donovan Mini (4^th – 10.73c), and sophomore Daryn Ofori-Kuragu (5^th – 10.77c) also finished inside the top-ten.
• Many of UCCS' competitors in the men's 100m dash doubled down to compete in the men's 200m dash, and once again the Mountain Lions saw great success with six student-athletes finishing inside the top-ten of the race. Ofori-Kuragu led the group in the 200m with a second-place finish at a wind-aided time of 21.80s (21.87c), while Pastorello claimed third place at a time of 21.81s (21.88c) and senior Chase Monestime placed fifth at a personal best time of 21.96s (22.03c).  
• In the women's 200m dash, Farinas led the way for UCCS with a fourth-place finish overall at a time of 25.27s (25.34c) while Bullock also clocked a strong time of 25.51s (25.58c) to finish sixth.
• Redshirt senior Dillon Andrews paced the ten-person field in the men's 400m hurdles as he clocked a time of 54.58s (54.69c). After competing in the 110m hurdles earlier in the day, James also posted a strong time in the 400m hurdles with a second-place time of 55.63s (55.74c)
• In the men's 800m dash, junior Joseph Hamilton clocked a converted time of 1:55.10 to earn a fourth-place finish among the 38-person competition field. Redshirt sophomore Alex Maline finished seventh overall at a converted time of 1:57.52, while senior Alex Herman came across the line eighth overall with a converted time of 1:58.03.
• Redshirt freshman Trinity Dixon was the lone UCCS student-athlete competing in the women's 800m, and she went on to clock a converted time of 2:20.65 to claim sixth place overall in the 24-person field.
• Freshman Brett Davis made a strong effort in the men's 1,500m race as he finished 11^th in the 47-person field with an altitude-converted time of 3:58.07. Redshirt junior Justin Banta also finished inside the top-half of the race, earning a 21^st place finish at a converted time of 4:03.10.
• In the women's 1,500m race, UCCS placed five student-athletes inside the top-ten, led by redshirt sophomore Molly Breuer with a fifth-place converted time of 4:45.46. Freshman Emma Montoya followed Breuer in sixth place with a converted time of 4:47.11, while senior Nadine Almasri, redshirt freshman Audrey Brunken, and redshirt freshman Kaya Pillivant claimed the eighth through tenth positions, respectively, with converted times of 4:49.16, 4:50.10, and 4:51.98.
• The Mountain Lions placed four student-athletes inside the top-ten of a 17-person field in the men's 3,000m Steeplechase, led by redshirt freshman Joseph Impellitteri, who recorded a fourth-place finish with an altitude converted time of 9:39.29. Impellitteri was followed closely by redshirt sophomore Jack Donze, freshman Isaac Higareda, and senior Nathan Hayes with respective converted times of 9:40.90, 9:41.53, and 9:42.48 to secure the fifth through seventh positions in the race.
• Sophomore Amber Davis paced a group of five Mountain Lion sprinters in the women's 400m dash as she recorded a time of 59.29s (59.40c) to earn a fifth-place finish in the 18-person field.
• In the women's 10,000m race, Kseniya Nikanorov was the top finisher for UCCS as she posted a fourth-place finish overall with an altitude-converted time of 37:14.57.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• The Mountain Lions saw record book updates in six different events during Saturday's meet, including the women's 100m hurdles, men's 110m hurdles, women's 400m hurdles, women's javelin throw, men's and women's hammer throw, and women's discus throw.
  • Krissie Sanders – 100m hurdles (T3^rd all-time)
  • Nigel James – 110m hurdles (T3^rd all-time)
  • Krissie Sanders – 400m hurdles (2^nd all-time)
  • Caroline Walters – Javelin Throw (4^th all-time)
  • Victoria Malaki – Hammer Throw (5^th all-time)
  • Michael Roberts – Hammer Throw (3^rd all-time)
  • Hayden Cuevas – Hammer Throw (5^th all-time)
  • Victoria Malaki – Discus Throw (3^rd all-time)

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will travel back to Pueblo, Colo., next weekend as they will compete at the Spank Blasing Invitational on Friday and Saturday, March 22-23.  

SOCIAL
X – @GoMountainLions 
Instagram – @gomountainlions
Facebook – GoMountainLions 
 
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.