NEW ORLEANS, La. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams collected a pair of top-25 rankings in the Week 6 edition of the United States Track & Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Outdoor Track & Field Rating Index, with the women's team rising six spots to claim a No. 17 ranking with 102.67 TFRI points and the men's team soaring back into the rankings at No. 25 with 87.94 TFRI points.
 
West Texas A&M University rose one spot on the men's side to reach the No. 1 position for the first time this outdoor season with 406.12 TFRI points, while fellow RMAC foe Adams State University remained in the No. 1 spot on the women's side for the third straight week with 511.77 TFRI points.

The Mountain Lions put on a strong showing at the 2024 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships this past weekend as they recorded a total of 31 NCAA provisional qualifying marks across the three-day meet, including nine new marks and 12 improved marks. UCCS has now posted 38 NCAA provisional qualifying marks throughout the outdoor season with 20 of them coming from the men's team and 18 from the women's team.

• Nadine Almasri: 3000m Steeplechase – 10:50.97* (26th NCAA DII)
• Dillon Andrews: 400m Hurdles – 52.38* (18th NCAA DII)
• Christine Bailey: Long Jump – 5.96m (22nd NCAA DII)
• Audrey Bloomquist: 100m – 11.75* (T44th NCAA DII)
• Audrey Bloomquist: Long Jump – 5.88m (T33rd NCAA DII)
• Audrey Bloomquist: Triple Jump – 12.59m (5th NCAA DII)
• Keyanda Bolton: 200m – 24.09* (T33rd NCAA DII)
• Molly Breuer: 3000m Steeplechase – 10:42.36 (21st NCAA DII)
• Sawyer Christopher: Javelin Throw – 62.56m (19th NCAA DII)
• Skye Ciccarelli: High Jump – 2.13m (T12th NCAA DII)
• Logan Cole: 10000m – 30:13.43 (53rd NCAA DII)
• Anna Fauske: 1500m – 4:23.66* (17th NCAA DII)
• Anna Fauske: 5000m – 16:18.24 (11th NCAA DII)
• Luke Hard: Hammer Throw – 57.91m (30th NCAA DII)
• Grant Haskins: Long Jump – 7.32m (T39th NCAA DII)
• Thorben Hast: Decathlon – 7,073 pts (10th NCAA DII)
• Kate Hedlund: 800m – 2:11.20 (42nd NCAA DII)
• Kate Hedlund: 1500m – 4:25.79 (20th NCAA DII)
• Anna Holland: Hammer Throw – 55.01m (15th NCAA DII)
• Victoria Malaki: Discus Throw – 46.82m (19th NCAA DII)
• Donovan Mini: 100m – 10.46* (T44th NCAA DII)
• Melissa Moreni: 100m Hurdles – 13.74* (8th NCAA DII)
• Brian Mosley Jr.: 100m – 10.46* (T44th NCAA DII)
• Andrew Muncy: 400m – 47.70* (T48th NCAA DII)
• Faith Novess: Heptathlon – 4,778 pts (27th NCAA DII)
• Daryn Ofori-Kuragu: 100m – 10.48* (T52nd NCAA DII)
• Richard Safoh: Long Jump – 7.79m (6th NCAA DII)
• Krissie Sanders: 100m Hurdles – 14.20* (42nd NCAA DII)
• Krissie Sanders: 400m Hurdles – 1:00.16* (14th NCAA DII)
• Kymani Sterling: 400m – 47.21* (21st NCAA DII)
• Peyton Turnage: Triple Jump – 14.82m (25th NCAA DII)
• Ashton Whisler: 400m – 47.64* (T41st NCAA DII)
• Daryon Wilson: Long Jump – 7.31m (T42nd NCAA DII)
• Jagger Zlotoff: 1500m – 3:43.75* (9th NCAA DII)
• Jagger Zlotoff: 5000m – 14:10.25 (43rd NCAA DII)
• Men's 4x100m Relay (Ofori-Kuragu, Sterling, Mini, Mosley Jr.) – 40.25* (11th NCAA DII)
• Women's 4x100m Relay (Bloomquist, Bolton, Zane Bullock, Victoria Farinas) – 45.43* (10th NCAA DII)
• Men's 4x400m Relay (Andrews, Joseph Hamilton, Sebastien Jean, Whisler) – 3:12.73* (22nd NCAA DII)

*Converted for altitude

In the Week 6 installment of the USTFCCCA South Central Regional Rankings, the UCCS men's team rose one spot to No. 2 in the region with 670.70 TFRI points while the women's team remained at No. 5 with 507.24 TFRI points. West Texas A&M University maintained their dominance within the region as their men's team garnered 1,014.67 TFRI points to earn the No. 1 regional ranking for the fourth straight week and their women's team stayed in the top spot for a sixth consecutive week with 860.78 TFRI points.
 
2024 USTFCCCA OT&F National and Regional Rankings
Week 1 (3/26):     MEN: NR (#8 South Central Region)
                             WOMEN: NR (#11 South Central Region)
Week 2 (4/2):       MEN: NR (#1 South Central Region)
                            WOMEN: #22 (#3 South Central Region)
Week 3 (4/9):       MEN: #18 (#2 South Central Region)
                             WOMEN: #17 (#3 South Central Region)
Week 4 (4/16):     MEN: NR (#2 South Central Region)
                             WOMEN: #20 (#4 South Central Region)
Week 5 (4/23):     MEN: NR (#3 South Central Region)
                             WOMEN: #23 (#5 South Central Region)
Week 6 (4/30):     MEN: #25 (#2 South Central Region)
                            WOMEN: #17 (#5 South Central Region)
 
In the fifth edition of the USTFCCCA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Event Squad Rankings, the Mountain Lions had 13 event groups ranked inside the top-ten for their respective event. The men's long jump event group of Richard Safoh, Grant Haskins, Daryon Wilson, and Peyton Turnage leads the way as they are tied for second in the nation with an average of 7.42m, while UCCS also sits top-five in the women's triple jump, men's 400m, women's 3,000m Steeplechase, and women's 400m hurdles.
 
USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings places a rank order to a program's "squad" of athletes in a particular event, using the cumulative season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes on the national descending-order list. As with the national descending-order list for qualifying and seeding purposes, marks are subject to be converted due to track size and/or altitude. A team must have four or more athletes with a valid season-best mark to achieve a ranking in a particular event.

Men's Long Jump: T2nd – 7.42m (Richard Safoh, Grant Haskins, Daryon Wilson, Peyton Turnage)
Women's Triple Jump: 3rd – 11.90m (Audrey Bloomquist, Christine Bailey, Kathryn Carroll, Brielle Bracken)
Men's 400m: 4th – 47.67s (Kymani Sterling, Ashton Whisler, Andrew Muncy, Sebastien Jean)
Women's 3,000m Steeplechase: 4th – 10:58.96 (Molly Breuer, Nadine Almasri, Audrey Brunken, Brooke Moss)
Women's 400m Hurdles: 5th – 1:03.78 (Krissie Sanders, Leyah Martinez, Gigi Douillard, Ashten Loeks)
Men's 100m: 6th – 10.50s (Donovan Mini, Brian Mosley Jr., Daryn Ofori-Kuragu, Kymani Sterling)
Men's 3,000m Steeplechase: 6th – 9:26.08 (Joseph Impellitteri, Isaac Higareda, Jack Donze, Nathan Hayes)
Women's Long Jump: 6th – 5.74m (Christine Bailey, Audrey Bloomquist, Madissyn Moore, Faith Novess)
Men's 200m: 7th – 21.40s (Brian Mosley Jr., Kymani Sterling, Donovan Mini, Daryn Ofori-Kuragu)
Women's 100m Hurdles: 7th – 14.64s (Melissa Moreni, Krissie Sanders, Faith Novess, Leyah Martinez)
Women's 1500m: 8th – 4:33.85 (Anna Fauske, Kate Hedlund, Molly Breuer, Emma Montoya)
Women's Hammer Throw: 8th – 46.85m (Anna Holland, Cassielynn Bonner, Victoria Malaki, Savannah Jorgens)
Women's 100m: 9th – 11.92s (Audrey Bloomquist, Victoria Farinas, Keyanda Bolton, Zane Bullock)
 
The Mountain Lions will travel to a pair of last chance meets this weekend as they get set to compete at the Air Force Twilight Open on Friday, May 3 and the CSU Pueblo Last Chance Meet on Saturday, May 4.
 
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