EMPORIA, Kan. – The 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships kicked off from Francis G. Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kan., on Thursday with a handful of student-athletes from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team in action. Redshirt sophomore Jagger Zlotoff and senior Kate Hedlund highlighted the action for the Mountain Lions as they advanced through the preliminary rounds of the men's and women's 1500m races, earning spots in their respective event finals later in the week.
 
INSIDE THE 2024 NCAA DIVISION II OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Host School: Emporia State University
Location: Francis G. Welch Stadium | Emporia, Kan.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Redshirt sophomore Jagger Zlotoff put together a strategic race in the preliminary round of the men's 1500m as he clocked a time of 3:53.76 that was good for third in his heat and earned him an automatic qualification to the event final on Saturday. Zlotoff will compete in the men's 1500m final on Saturday at 1:25 p.m. (MT).
• In the preliminary round of the women's 1500m, senior Kate Hedlund posted the fifth-fastest time in her heat and in the overall prelim field at 4:31.38 to qualify for Saturday's event final. Hedlund will hit the track in the 12-person women's 1500m final on Saturday at 1:35 p.m. (MT). Junior Anna Fauske was also in action in the women's 1500m preliminary race, posting a time of 4:41.04 to finish 17^th overall.
• Senior Thorben Hast opened the day's competition with the first five events of the men's decathlon, where he posted a first day score of 3,538 points to sit in 14^th place overall. Hast tallied 808 points in the 400m dash with a time of 50.14s while adding 746 points in the 100m dash (11.53s), 736 points in the long jump (6.67m), 679 points in the high jump (1.86m), and 569 points in the shot put (11.39m). He will finish the final five events of the decathlon tomorrow morning, beginning with the 110m hurdles at 8:30 a.m. (MT).
• In the men's long jump, senior Richard Safoh earned a 15^th place finish as he leapt to a mark of 7.27m on his first attempt of the day.
• The UCCS women's 4x100m relay team of Audrey Bloomquist, Victoria Farinas, Zane Bullock, and Taryn Fettig opened the day on the track for the Mountain Lions as they travelled the baton around the track in a time of 46.58s to finish 16^th overall in the preliminary round of the event.
• Freshman Krissie Sanders made her outdoor nationals debut in the preliminary round of the women's 400m hurdles, where she clocked a time of 1:01.51 to finish 19^th overall.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• With her advancement through the preliminary round of the women's 1500m, Hedlund will make an appearance in the final of the event at the outdoor national championship meet for the third consecutive year. The senior from Manchester, Conn., finished 12^th overall in the event in 2022 and earned First Team All-America honors.at the 2023 national meet as the seventh overall finisher. 
• Zlotoff will also be making an appearance in the 1500m final for the second straight year after he secured First Team All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the event at last year's outdoor national championship meet.

UP NEXT

• Day two of the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships will get underway tomorrow morning with Thorben Hast being the first UCCS student-athletes in action in the decathlon 110m hurdles at 8:30 a.m. (MT). Joining him in competition tomorrow will be the Mountain Lion's duo from Helena, Mont., with Audrey Bloomquist competing in the women's triple jump final at 3:45 p.m. (MT) and Melissa Moreni racing in the preliminary round of the women's 110m hurdles at 5:50 p.m. (MT).

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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.