INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team put together an outstanding first day of competition at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships as senior Anna Fauske raced to First Team All-America honors in the women's 5,000m and three student-athletes qualified for the finals in their respective events.
 
INSIDE THE 2025 NCAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCCS Men's Day One Score: N/A (1-of-17 events scored)
UCCS Women's Day One Score: 5 points – T9th (3-of-17 events scored)
Host School: University of Indianapolis
Location: Fall Creek Pavilion | Indianapolis, Ind.
Track Size: 200m (banked)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Senior Anna Fauske brought home First Team All-America honors in the women's 5,000m race as she posted a personal best and school record time of 16:15.06, finishing fourth overall in the field and scoring five points for the UCCS women's team. Fauske will look to add to her trophy case again on Saturday when she competes in the women's 3,000m final at 2:40 p.m. (MT).
• In the preliminary round of the women's mile, redshirt senior Kate Hedlund earned an automatic advancement to Saturday's event final with the second-fastest time in her heat and seventh-fastest overall time at 4:46.55. Hedlund is set to cover the 1200m leg of the women's distance medley relay race tomorrow afternoon at 3:40 p.m. (MT) before turning her attention to the women's mile final on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. (MT).
• Redshirt junior Jagger Zlotoff had some stiff competition in his heat during the preliminary round of the men's mile race as he finished fifth in the group with a time of 4:05.47 but still managed to qualify by time for Saturday's event final with the eighth-fastest overall mark in the field. Similar to Hedlund, Zlotoff will return to the track tomorrow at 4 p.m. (MT) as the mile leg of the men's distance medley relay team before competing in the men's mile final on Saturday at 1:25 p.m. (MT).
• Sophomore Ashton Whisler made a strong impression in his debut on the indoor national stage as he galloped to a personal best and school record time of 47.28s to advance through the preliminary round of the 400m dash with the eighth-fastest time in the field. Whisler, who entered the competition with the 16^th-fastest seed time, will have tomorrow off before returning to the track for the event final on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. (MT).
• Redshirt senior Thorben Hast opened the day in the men's heptathlon as he posted a score of 2,618 points through the first four events to sit in 14^th place overall. Hast, who recorded marks of 7.47s in the 60m, 6.33m in the long jump, 12.04m in the shot put, and 1.80m in the high jump, will be back in action tomorrow to finish the final three events of the heptathlon.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• Fauske collects individual First Team All-America honors for the first time in her indoor collegiate career. The outstanding senior previously was a First Team All-America honoree the past two indoor seasons (2022-23, 2023-24) as a member of the Mountain Lions' distance medley relay squad and secured Second Team All-America accolades in the 3,000m last season.

UP NEXT

• Day two of the 2025 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships will get underway tomorrow morning at 9:20 a.m. (MT) with Hast competing in the first of three final events in the men's heptathlon.

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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.