AZUSA, Calif. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team had a successful day of last chance competition on Friday at the Franson Last Chance and Concordia Twilight as the men's and women's squads combined to post a total of 12 NCAA provisional qualifying marks, including six that registered as new or improved marks on the performance list for the outdoor season.
 
INSIDE THE FRANSON LAST CHANCE
Location: APU Cougar Athletic Stadium | Azusa, Calif.
 
INSIDE THE CONCORDIA TWILIGHT
Location: Bulldog Stadium | Seward, Neb.
 
INSIDE THE AIR FORCE TWILIGHT
Location: AFA Cadet Outdoor Track Complex | Colorado Springs, Colo.
Elevation: 6,981 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED | FRANSON LAST CHANCE

• Sophomore Evan Atkin finished the final five events of the decathlon on a high note as he posted a 250-point personal best with an improved NCAA provisional qualifying score of 6,863 points to finish first overall in the event. Atkin notched personal best efforts in the 110m hurdles (15.69s), pole vault (4.20m), and 1500m (4:54.17) while adding tosses of 37.12m in the discus throw and 48.92m in the javelin throw. With his massive PR, Atkin now sits 14^th overall in NCAA Division II for the event and has put himself in a solid position to qualify for the outdoor national championship meet.
• Senior Anna Fauske got the action started on the track for UCCS on Friday evening as she ran to an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:38.86 for a fourth place finish out of 41 finishers in the event.  
• Senior Logan Cole added another provisional qualifying mark in the men's 10,000m as he was the third overall finisher in the event with a time of 30:03.82.
• In the women's 10,000m, junior Kseniya Nikanorov earned a fourth place finish out of 12 finishers as she completed the grueling race in a time of 36:15.87.

HOW IT HAPPENED | CONCORDIA TWILIGHT

• Junior Kyle Demos continued his excellent outdoor campaign on Friday afternoon as he broke his own school record in the men's discus throw for the third time this season with an improved NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 53.85m that was good for first overall in the seeded section of the event. After entering the day ranked 25^th in NCAA Division II for the event, Demos moved into a tie for 19^th in the country and will be in strong contention for a selection to the outdoor national championship meet.
• Demos added another NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the men's shot put, where he was the second overall finisher in the seeded section with a mark of 17.23m. Redshirt sophomore Kane Fobare finished directly behind Demos in the event with a season and personal best NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 17.17m.
• In the women's discus throw, senior Victoria Malaki hit the NCAA provisional qualifying threshold for the first time this season with a toss of 45.98m that was good for third overall in the seeded section.
• Redshirt junior Madissyn Moore put together an impressive performance in the women's long jump as she finished first overall in the 17-person field with an NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 5.92m.
• Junior Michael Roberts paced the Mountain Lions in the men's hammer throw with a season and personal best NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 58.63m that was good for third overall in the seeded section of the event. Sophomore Hayden Cuevas also notched a personal best in the event as he came up just shy of the provisional qualifying threshold (57.13m) with a fifth-place toss of 56.87m. Senior Luke Hard, who has likely punched his ticket to the national meet with his season-best mark of 62.42m, finished seventh overall with a toss of 55.78m.
• Junior Savannah Jorgens recorded a pair of NCAA provisional qualifying marks on the day as she finished fifth overall in the seeded section of the women's hammer throw with a toss of 54.77m and took first place in the unseeded section of the women's shot put with a season and personal best mark of 13.90m.
• Sophomore Krissie Sanders posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1:01.17 in the women's 400m hurdles to finish third overall out of 11 competitors in the event.
• The Mountain Lions had four student-athletes advance through the preliminary round of the men's 100m dash, including senior Kymani Sterling (10.76s), junior Daryn Ofori-Kuragu (10.79s), redshirt senior Donovan Mini (10.82s), and sophomore Luke Trinrud (10.85s). The group collectively improved their times in the final round as Sterling claimed second place overall with a time of 10.60s followed by Mini in third place at 10.68s, Trinrud in fifth place at 10.75s, and Ofori-Kuragu in sixth place at 10.76s.
• A pair of UCCS student-athletes had strong performances in the women's pole vault as Brooke Peterson and Phia Edwards each cleared a bar height of 3.68m to finish in fifth and sixth place overall, respectively.
• Sophomore Ashton Whisler was the fifth overall finisher out of 23 sprinters in the men's 400m dash as he clocked a time of 47.80s.
• Freshman Payton Rodgers secured a second-place finish in the women's triple jump with a mark of 11.77m, while junior Kathryn Carroll was the fifth overall finisher in the event with a leap of 11.29m.
• In the preliminary round of the men's 110m hurdles, sophomore Nigel James clocked a time of 14.81s to narrowly qualify for the final. In the final race later in the afternoon, James improved his time to 14.55s for a sixth-place finish overall.
• Senior Victoria Farinas had the third-fastest time in the preliminary field of the women's 100m dash at 12.02s to qualify for the final in the event. In the final, she went on to maintain her position as the third overall finisher with an improved time of 11.946s.

HOW IT HAPPENED | AIR FORCE TWILIGHT

• The Mountain Lions had a small group of men's distance runners competing in the 1500m just up the road at the Air Force Academy and it was sophomore Brett Davis that led the way for UCCS with a seventh-place finish in the 29-person field with a converted time of 3:50.72. Redshirt sophomore Joseph Impelliterri posted a season-best converted time of 3:56.80 for a 14^th place finish, while redshirt freshman Colin Scheller broke the four-minute threshold for the first time with a converted time of 3:58.30 that placed him 17^th.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• UCCS recorded updates to the top five lists in the outdoor record book for seven different events at the Franson Last Chance and Concordia Twilight on Friday, including the men's 10,000m, women's pole vault, men's and women's shot put, men's discus throw, men's hammer throw, and decathlon.
  • Logan Cole – Men's 10,000m (5^th all-time)
  • Phia Edwards – Women's Pole Vault (4^th all-time)
  • Kane Fobare – Men's Shot Put (2^nd all-time)
  • Savannah Jorgens – Women's Shot Put (2^nd all-time)
  • Kyle Demos – Men's Discus Throw (School Record)
  • Michael Roberts – Men's Hammer Throw (2^nd all-time)
  • Hayden Cuevas – Men's Hammer Throw (4^th all-time)
  • Evan Atkin – Decathlon (2^nd all-time)

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will wrap up the qualifying season with the same group of student-athletes that competed at the Concordia Twilight making the short trek to Kearney, Neb. for the Loper Twilight and redshirt sophomore Audrey Brunken competing in the 3,000m steeplechase under the lights at the Franson Last Chance.

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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.