PUEBLO, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team put together an impressive string of performances on the second day of the 2026 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the men's and women's squads combined to record 15 NCAA provisional qualifying marks, five gold medals, two silver medals, six bronze medals, and two school records. With one day of competition remaining, the Mountain Lion women's squad sits in first place with 78 points, while the men's team resides in second place with 71 points as they trail Colorado School of Mines (88) by 17 points.
INSIDE THE 2026 RMAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCCS Men's Day 2 Score: 71 points – 2
nd place
UCCS Women's Day 2 Score: 78 points – 1
st place
Host School: Colorado State University Pueblo
Location: CSUP ThunderBowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,848 ft
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The UCCS women's squad collected 17 points right off the bat to begin Saturday morning as redshirt junior Kaya Pillivant, freshman Elizabeth McQuitty, and redshirt junior Madison Chavez each raced their way into scoring position in the women's 10,000m. Pillivant put forth an incredible effort as she earned the individual event title and scored 10 points for the Mountain Lions with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 35:40.13 and she was joined on the podium by McQuitty, who recorded a third-place finish and tallied six points with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying time converted time of 35:48.53. Chavez also grabbed one point for UCCS as the eighth-place finisher in the race as she surpassed her previous personal best by more than a full minute with a converted time of 36:50.90.
- Junior Maylee Thompson wrapped up the final three events of the women's heptathlon on Saturday, opening the day with a pair of marks that were just shy of her personal best including a leap of 5.79m in the long jump and a toss of 37.29m in the javelin throw. Thompson entered the final event of the heptathlon trailing Lisa Sutherland of Colorado School of Mines by three points and went on to post a thrilling personal best time of 2:22.67 in the 800m to finish the day as she vaulted just ahead of Sutherland, collecting the gold medal and scoring 10 points in the event with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying score of 4,962 points.
- UCCS secured a total of 19 points in the men's decathlon with each of the team's four competitors finishing in scoring range in the event. Junior Evan Atkin maintained his position in first place throughout day two of the decathlon as he pulled in 10 points and a gold medal in the event with an NCAA provisional qualifying score of 6,776 points. Redshirt junior Broden Cahoon joined Atkin on the podium as he secured a third-place finish in the event with an NCAA provisional qualifying score of 6,593 points, while senior Dillon Arvayo and freshman Luke Masterson claimed the final two scoring positions as they finished seventh and eighth overall with respective scores of 6,104 points and 6,082 points.
- Redshirt sophomore Josiah Billington spearheaded a 16-point output for the Mountain Lions in the men's long jump as he successfully defended his indoor long jump title with a gold medal and NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 7.45m. In addition to the 10 points scored by Billington, redshirt junior KJ McInnis added five points with a fifth-place leap of 7.23m and freshman Jayden Nohr scored one point with an eighth-place mark of 6.97m.
- Junior Ayianna Johnson brought home one more individual event title to close day two of the outdoor conference championship meet as she unleashed a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 47.72m on her fifth throw of the day to earn the gold medal and score 10 points for the women's team.
- The Mountain Lions had four student-athletes finish in scoring position in the women's 3,000m steeplechase for a total of 18 points with each of the four running under the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in the event. Freshman Kate Henderson was the top finisher from UCCS as she took second place overall and scored eight points with a personal best converted time of 10:36.99, while redshirt senior Molly Breuer added five points with a converted time of 10:45.87 that was good for fourth place overall. Redshirt junior Megan Ericksen hit provisional qualifying threshold for the first time in her collegiate career as the sixth-place finisher in the race with a personal best converted time of 10:50.01 with redshirt junior Audrey Brunken right on her tail in seventh place with a season-best converted time of 10:53.84.
- Freshman Cam Bruns scored eight points for the Mountain Lions in the men's shot put as he earned a second-place finish in the competition with a personal best toss of 15.87m.
- Redshirt junior Joseph Impellitteri produced a huge performance in the men's 3,000m steeplechase as he broke his own school record in the event for the second time this season with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 8:56.60, finishing third overall in the race and scoring six points for the UCCS men's team.
- Senior Michael Roberts added more than two meters to his personal best in the men's discus throw as he posted a mark of 49.46m that placed him third overall in the competition and registered six points for the men's team. Sophomore Joseph Bjegovich also added four points to the men's tally in the event as he recorded a three-and-a-half-meter personal best toss of 47.64m for a fifth-place finish overall.
- UCCS tallied 14 points in the women's shot put competition, led by senior Savannah Jorgens with six points as the third-place finisher in the event at a mark of 13.06m. Redshirt junior Grace Solarin pushed four points in the direction of the women's team with a fifth-place toss of 12.52m, while sophomore Jaedyn Kohn scored two points as the sixth-place finisher with a mark of 12.47m and freshman Carley Malinowski secured one point with a season-best toss of 12.31m that was good for eighth place.
- The Mountain Lions added another podium finish in the women's long jump as redshirt senior Madissyn Moore claimed third place overall and scored six points with a season-best leap of 5.83m. UCCS picked up three more points in the event with junior Paige Cordero and redshirt senior Chelsea Howard both notching marks of 5.70m to claim the seventh and eighth positions, respectively.
- UCCS collected 10 more points in the men's high jump with redshirt senior Jake Hall and sophomore Alex Emers finishing in a tie for fourth place with identical marks of 2.00m to score 4.5 points apiece and McInnis making his way over from the long jump runway to score one point with an eighth-place bar clearance of 1.90m.
- Redshirt junior Caden Leal scored one point in the men's 10,000m as he clocked a converted time of 30:26.58 to secure an eighth-place finish in the race.
- Senior Brayden Shaw was the eighth-place finisher in the men's pole vault as he cleared a season-best bar height of 4.32m to add one point to the men's scoresheet.
- The Mountain Lions saw each of their five competitors in the women's 100m hurdles advance through the preliminary round of the event, led by junior Krissie Sanders as the heat one winner with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 14.01s. Senior Abigail Frey finished as the heat two winner with a converted time of 14.15s to earn automatic qualification for tomorrow's final race, while freshman Colette Bibeault (14.29c), sophomore Payton Rodgers (15.10c), and freshman Tristyn Buss (15.23c) also finished within the top nine ranked times to earn advancement.
- Sanders returned to the track later in the day in the preliminary round of the women's 400m hurdles and put forth a monster effort in the event as she shattered her own school record with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 59.43s that registered as the fastest overall time in the field. UCCS had three additional student-athletes qualify for tomorrow's event final with Frey posting the fifth-fastest mark in the field at a converted time of 1:02.17, Bibeault notching a personal best converted time of 1:02.98 for the eighth-fastest mark in the field, and redshirt senior Gigi Douillard recording the ninth-fastest time in the field at a converted mark of 1:05.83.
- The Mountain Lions had a strong quartet of sprinters advance through the preliminary round of the men's 100m dash led by freshman Michael Ryan Cruzado, who surged to a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 10.43s to win his heat. Freshman Noah Brown also won his heat with a converted time of 10.54s that registered as the fourth-fastest time in the field, while junior Zamari Burrell and senior Daryn Ofori-Kuragu claimed the seventh and eighth qualifying spots with respective converted times of 10.65s and 10.67s.
- UCCS had five competitors racing heat one of the men's 400m dash preliminary race and saw three of them advance to tomorrow's event final. Redshirt junior Andrew Muncy won the heat with a season-best converted time of 47.72s to grab the automatic qualifying spot, while freshman Joshua Gross (47.98c) and senior Sebastien Jean (48.54c) also punched their tickets to the final with the fifth and eighth fastest times in the field, respectively.
- A pair of UCCS student-athletes qualified for the event final in the women's 400m dash as junior Lilyana Delagarza and freshman Michelle Headley finished second and third in heat three of the race, respectively, with both advancing on time at a converted time of 58.39s for Delagarza and a converted time of 58.49s for Headley.
- Each of the Mountain Lions' three competitors in the women's 1500m preliminary race qualified for tomorrow's event final. Junior Emma Montoya clocked the fastest converted time of the trio at 4:34.46 as she finished fifth in her heat and sixth overall, while redshirt sophomore Madison Brosig claimed an automatic qualification by virtue of finishing third in her heat with a converted time of 4:37.74. Redshirt junior Maddie Ruszkiewicz also qualified for the final with the 11th-fastest mark in the field at a converted time of 4:40.83.
- In the preliminary round of the men's 1500m race, redshirt junior Enzo Knapp earned an automatic advancement to tomorrow's event final as he clocked the third-fastest time overall in the field and in his heat with a converted mark of 3:47.78.
- Redshirt sophomore Olivia Sargent and redshirt freshman Ceanna Dietz advanced through the preliminary round of the women's 800m run with strong performances in the event as Sargent finished second in her heat with a converted time of 2:17.16 to automatically qualify for tomorrow while Dietz posted a converted time of 2:15.85 that placed her third in her heat and eighth overall in the field.
- A pair of Mountain Lions advanced through the preliminary round of the women's 100m dash as junior Taryn Fettig clocked the sixth-fastest time in the field at a converted mark of 11.93s and junior Zane Bullock notched a personal best converted time of 11.95s for the eighth-fastest time in the field.
- Fettig and Bullock returned to the track for the preliminary round of the women's 200m dash and both women qualified for the event final as Bullock clocked a converted time of 24.64s that registered as the fifth-fastest time in the field and Fettig notched the eighth-fastest time in the field at a converted mark of 25.16s. Freshman Katie Jewell claimed the ninth and final qualifying spot in the event as she posted a converted time of 25.20s.
- After qualifying for the men's 100m final earlier in the day, Cruzado and Burrell put their talents on display in the preliminary round of the men's 200m and each put together solid races as Cruzado finished second in his heat and fifth overall with a converted time of 21.53s and Burrell finished third in his heat and eighth overall with a converted time of 21.70s.
- Junior Bryce Joshlin was the lone Mountain Lion to advance through the preliminary round of the men's 110m hurdles as he finished second in his heat with a converted time of 14.94s to earn an automatic qualification for tomorrow's final.
BEYOND THE RESULTS
- UCCS recorded updates to the top five lists in the indoor record book for seven different events on day two of the RMAC Outdoor Championships, including the men's 100m, women's 100m hurdles, women's 400m hurdles, men's 3,000m steeplechase, men's discus throw, women's discus throw, and women's heptathlon.
2026 RMAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS - DAY TWO STANDINGS
| Men (8-of-21 Events Scored) |
|
Women (6-of-21 Events Scored) |
| Place |
Team |
Points |
|
Place |
Team |
Points |
| 1. |
Colorado School of Mines |
88 |
|
1. |
UCCS |
78 |
| 2. |
UCCS |
71 |
|
2. |
Colorado School of Mines |
40 |
| 3. |
CSU Pueblo |
35 |
|
3. |
CSU Pueblo |
29 |
| 4. |
Colorado Mesa |
33.5 |
|
4. |
Colorado Mesa |
21 |
| 5. |
Chadron State |
31 |
|
5. |
Chadron State |
13 |
| 6. |
South Dakota Mines |
18.5 |
|
5. |
New Mexico Highlands |
13 |
| 7. |
Western Colorado |
17 |
|
5. |
Western Colorado |
13 |
| 8. |
MSU Denver |
9 |
|
8. |
Black Hills State |
11 |
| 9. |
Black Hills State |
6 |
|
9. |
Adams State |
5 |
| 10 |
Adams State |
2 |
|
9. |
Regis |
5 |
| 11. |
Fort Lewis |
1 |
|
11. |
MSU Denver |
4 |
|
|
|
|
12. |
Colorado Christian |
2 |
UP NEXT
- The 2026 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will conclude tomorrow with the field events starting at 10 a.m. with the men's triple jump and the track events beginning at 11 a.m. with the men's 4x100m relay.
SOCIAL
Twitter – @GoMountainLions
Instagram – @gomountainlions
Facebook – GoMountainLions
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.
