KEARNEY, Neb. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team closed the outdoor qualifying season with a string of huge performances at the Loper Twilight and Franson Last Chance meets on Saturday as the men's and women's teams combined to break four school records and post 12 NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
 
INSIDE THE LOPER TWILIGHT
Location: Kearney High School | Kearney, Neb.
 
INSIDE THE FRANSON LAST CHANCE
Location: APU Cougar Athletic Stadium | Azusa, Calif.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED | LOPER TWILIGHT

• The Mountain Lions saved one of their biggest performances of the year for the final meet of the season as the men's 4x400m relay squad of Sebastien Jean, Sean Donelson, Peyton Nelson, and Ashton Whisler shattered the school record in the event by more than four seconds with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 3:07.04. The group's blazing time was good for first overall out of five teams in the competition and moved them into the top five in the nation for the event.
• Senior Victoria Malaki put forth an equally impressive effort in the women's discus throw as she surpassed her previous personal best by nearly three full meters with a school record and NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 49.46m that was good for first place among nine competitors in the invitational section of the event. Malaki's mark proved to be massive on the national scale as it moved her into the top 10 on the performance list for the event and will put her in a strong position to earn a selection to the outdoor national championship meet.
• Junior Kyle Demos had another incredible outing as he opened the day by shattering his own school record in the men's discus throw for the second straight day and fourth time this season with an improved NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 54.30m that was good for second overall in the invitational section of the event. Later in the evening, the third-year thrower logged another second-place finish in the invitational section of the men's shot put while breaking his own program record in the event for the fourth time this season with an NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 17.66m.
• UCCS posted a pair of NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the men's hammer throw with junior Michael Roberts leading the way in fifth place out of nine competitors in the invitational section of the event with a toss of 58.48m. Senior Luke Hard finished just behind Roberts in seventh place with a toss of 58.19m. On the women's side of the hammer throw, junior Savannah Jorgens paced the Mountain Lions with a first-place finish in the open section of the event as she notched an NCAA provisional qualifying heave of 55.42m.
• Sophomore Danaya Kinnard had a strong outing in the women's 200m dash as she raced to a season-best NCAA provisional qualifying time of 24.00s to finish first out of five sprinters. In the men's 200m dash, senior Kymani Sterling led the way for UCCS in fifth place with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 21.16s, while sophomore Luke Trinrud claimed seventh place with a season and personal best time of 21.31s.
• In the women's 400m hurdles, sophomore Krissie Sanders notched an NCAA provisional qualifying time for the second consecutive day as she finished fifth overall with a time of 1:01.36. Redshirt junior Gigi Douillard finished directly behind Sanders in sixth place and had a personal best performance with a time of 1:02.42.
• Redshirt sophomore KJ McInnis matched his personal and season best in the men's triple jump as he leapt to an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 14.81m to finish third overall out of eight competitors in the event.
• Prior to running the anchor on the Mountain Lions' 4x400m relay team, Whisler competed in the open 400m dash and logged a second-place finish with a time of 47.99s.
• A pair of sophomore student-athletes recorded personal best times in the men's 100m dash with Trinrud finishing fifth overall out of 14 sprinters in a time of 10.56s and Gunnar Betts taking seventh overall with a time of 10.66s.
• Junior Brooke Peterson and sophomore Phia Edwards both cleared a bar height of 3.67m in the women's pole vault, although Peterson ultimately finished tied for second place with four misses and Edwards finished seventh overall with five misses.

HOW IT HAPPENED | FRANSON LAST CHANCE

• Redshirt sophomore Audrey Brunken was the lone Mountain Lion in action on Saturday at the Franson Last Chance and she put together a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying performance in the women's 3,000m steeplechase, finishing fourth overall out of 21 competitors with a time of 10:48.74.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• UCCS recorded updates to the top five lists in the outdoor record book for six different events on Saturday, including the women's 400m hurdles, women's 3,000m steeplechase, men's 4x400m relay, men's shot put, and men's and women's discus throw.
  • Gigi Douillard – Women's 400m Hurdles (3^rd all-time)
  • Audrey Brunken – Women's 3,000m Steeplechase (4^th all-time)
  • Jean, Donelson, Sterling, Whisler – Men's 4x400m Relay (School Record)
  • Kyle Demos – Men's Shot Put (School Record)
  • Kyle Demos – Men's Discus Throw (School Record)
  • Victoria Malaki – Women's Discus Throw (School Record)

UP NEXT

• The selected participants for the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be revealed at approximately 4 p.m. (MT) on Tuesday, May 13. The three-day national championship meet will take place on May 22-24 at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colo.

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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.