COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team returned home on Saturday to host the Colorado Running Company UCCS Invite and put forth a strong showing inside the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse as the men's and women's squads combined to record 11 NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks and win eight events.
 
INSIDE THE COLORADO RUNNING COMPANY UCCS INVITE
Location: Mountain Lion Fieldhouse | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Track Size: 200-meters (flat)
Elevation: 6,291 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The biggest performance on Saturday came from senior Anna Fauske in the women's 3,000m race, where she pulled away from the rest of the field for a convincing first-place finish with an NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 9:22.53. Her raw time of 9:48.58 also registered as a new Mountain Lion Fieldhouse facility record, breaking the previous record time of 9:56.45 that was held by her former teammate and current UCCS assistant coach Layla Almasri.
• Redshirt junior Jagger Zlotoff delivered a strong performance in his season debut in the men's mile as he posted an NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 4:02.30 to claim a first-place finish in the 37-person field.
• Junior Kyle Demos added to the string of impressive showings with an indoor school record toss of 16.95m in the men's shot put. His personal best mark was good for second overall in the competition and went into the books as his first NCAA provisional qualifying toss of the indoor season.
• UCCS notched a pair of NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the men's weight throw with junior Michael Roberts and senior Luke Hard both surpassing the threshold. Roberts earned a third-place finish in the competition with a personal best toss of 18.74m, while Hard landed in fourth-place with a season-best mark of 18.30m.
• Junior Kathryn Carroll posted the first NCAA provisional qualifying mark of her collegiate career in the women's triple jump as she leapt to a personal best mark of 12.00m to claim second place in the event.
• In the men's high jump, junior KJ McInnis earned a tie for third place as he cleared a season-best bar height of 2.04m, which registered as his first NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the event this indoor season.
• The Mountain Lions had four student-athletes that qualified for the final race of the men's 60m dash, led by senior Kymani Sterling, who clocked an NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 6.82s in the preliminary round for the second-fastest time in the field. In the final race, Sterling maintained his position as the second overall finisher with a converted time of 6.85s while junior Daryn Ofori-Kuragu claimed third place at a personal best converted time of 6.90s, redshirt senior Richard Safoh took fifth place at a converted time of 6.93s, and sophomore Gunnar Betts occupied eighth place at a converted time of 7.13s.
• For the fourth time in four meets this season, junior Brooke Peterson posted an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the women's pole vault as she vaulted to a mark of 3.72m for a fourth-place finish in the competition.   
• McInnis returned to action in the men's triple jump as he improved over his season-best in the event, posting an NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 14.69m to claim third place in the competition.
• Redshirt senior Kate Hedlund added another provisional mark in the women's 800m as she finished the race in first place with a converted time of 2:11.36, which was just shy of her season-best mark for the event of 2:11.15 that she clocked last weekend at the Colorado Classic.
• Sophomore Krissie Sanders was a dominant force in the women's 60m hurdles on Saturday as she posted the quickest time in the preliminary field (8.86c) before proceeding to secure the win in the final race with a converted time of 8.87s.
• In addition to his action in the short sprints on Saturday, Safoh also put his talent on display in the men's long jump as he logged a first-place leap of 7.09m. McInnis also completed the jumps trio with a mark of 7.02m that was good for second overall among the field.
• Redshirt junior Joseph Hamilton clocked a converted time of 1:54.08 in the men's 800m to cross the line first overall out of 20 total competitors. Freshman Jacob Silvis was right on the tail of Hamilton as he wound up as a close second place finisher with a season-best converted time of 1:54.57.
• The Mountain Lion distance runners continued to dominate their competitor fields in the men's 3,000m and 5,000m races with senior Logan Cole securing a first-place finish in the 3K with a converted time of 8:36.94 and redshirt sophomore Koy Cunningham leading the pack in the 5K with a converted time of 14:45.16.
• Junior Savannah Jorgens notched a new personal best in the women's weight throw as she tossed the implement 16.80m for a fourth-place finish in her competition.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• UCCS recorded updates to the top five lists in the indoor record book for four different events at the CRC UCCS Invite on Saturday, including the women's triple jump, men's shot put, men's and women's weight throw.
  • Kathryn Carroll – Women's Triple Jump (3^rd all-time)
  • Kyle Demos – Men's Shot Put (School Record)
  • Michael Roberts – Men's Weight Throw (3^rd all-time)
  • Savannah Jorgens – Women's Weight Throw (4^th all-time)
• After their first four weekends of competition for the 2024-25 indoor season, the Mountain Lions have recorded a total of 28 NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks, including 20 on the men's side and eight on the women's side.
• Three facility records for the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse were broken on Saturday with UCCS' Fauske securing the women's 3,000m record (9:48.48), Mines' Holden Murphy attaining the men's weight throw record (19.69m), and Mines' Hayley Rayburn claiming the women's pole vault record (4.22m)

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will continue their indoor season next week with a pair of road meets as they will travel to Golden, Colo., on Friday, Jan. 31 for the Mines Winter Classic before making their way to Gunnison, Colo., on Saturday, Feb. 1 for Western Colorado University's Big Red Machine Open.  

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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.