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UCCS Athletics

Krissie Sanders

Women’s Track & Field Breaks Team Points Record to Secure Second Consecutive Outdoor Title

4/26/2026 8:28:00 PM

By: Tyler Tvelia, Sports Information Director
PUEBLO, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field teams wrapped up the 2026 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday with another impressive showing across the board as the Mountain Lion women's team won their second consecutive outdoor conference title with a program record 227.33 points and the men's team finished second overall with 164 points. The Mountain Lion men's and women's squads put together a huge final day of the outdoor conference championship meet, recording 12 NCAA provisional qualifying marks and 17 podium finishes, including gold medals in five different events.
 
INSIDE THE 2026 RMAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCCS Men's Final Score: 164 points – 2nd
UCCS Women's Final Score: 227.33 – 1st
Host School: Colorado State University Pueblo
Location: CSUP ThunderBowl | Pueblo, Colo.
Elevation: 4,848 ft
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • One of the biggest performances of the day came in the women's 400m hurdles as junior Krissie Sanders dropped another full second off her personal best and cruised to a gold medal in the event with a school record and RMAC meet record time of 58.11s. In addition to scoring 10 points for the women's team, Sanders' altitude converted time of 58.22s moved her into the top five on the NCAA Division II performance list for the event. The Mountain Lions added six more points in the event with senior Abigail Frey clocking a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 1:01.05 for a fourth-place finish and freshman Colette Bibeault notching a converted time of 1:04.46 for an eighth-place finish.  
  • Earlier in the day, UCCS' standout trio of hurdlers put their talents on display in the women's 100m hurdles final and it was once again Sanders who stole the show as she shaved more than two-tenths of a second off her previous personal best in the event, finishing second overall and scoring eight points for the Mountain Lions with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 13.80s. Frey was the next Mountain Lion to cross the finish line as she took third overall in the race and matched her personal best with a converted time of 13.98s, while Bibeault took fifth place overall in a converted time of 14.29s. Sophomore Payton Rodgers rounded out the scoring in the event as she claimed eighth-place and scored one point with a converted time of 14.86s.
  • The men's 4x100m relay squad consisting of freshman Michael Ryan Cruzado, freshman Noah Brown, senior Daryn Ofori-Kuragu, and junior Zamari Burrell kicked off the day on the track with an incredible effort as they defeated Colorado Mesa University's No. 2 nationally ranked 4x100m team with a blazing RMAC meet record time of 39.86s to earn the gold medal. The Mountain Lions' altitude converted time of 39.98s registered as a season-best NCAA provisional qualifying mark and puts the squad in contention for a qualifying spot at next month's outdoor national championship meet.
  • Just a couple months after winning the indoor pole vault title, senior Brooke Peterson was back at it in the women's pole vault at the outdoor conference championship meet and found a similar result as she cleared a bar height of 3.82m to earn the gold medal in the event, scoring 10 points for the women's team with her season-best NCAA provisional qualifying mark. A pair of Mountain Lion freshmen pushed nine more points towards the team tally in the event with Bibeault finishing fourth overall at a mark of 3.72m despite going back-and-forth between the hurdles and the vault runway and Sienna Boughen claiming fifth place with a clearance of 3.57m.
  • Redshirt junior KJ McInnis had a breakout performance in the men's triple jump as he shattered his previous personal best in the event, earning a gold medal and scoring 10 points with an NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 15.24m. Senior Willie Tran also posted a huge personal best mark of 14.58m as he finished fourth overall in the competition to add five points to the men's side.
  • UCCS put together a dominant showing in the women's triple jump as five different student-athletes scored in the event for a total of 19 points. Rodgers was the top finisher for the Mountain Lions, claiming second place overall with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 12.25m that was good for eight points. Junior Brielle Bracken added five more points as she finished fourth overall with a personal best leap of 11.88m, while freshman Jillian Hennessy scored three points as the sixth-place finisher with a personal best mark of 11.62m. Sophomore Sophia Bowser and freshman Tristyn Buss rounded out the scorers for UCCS while finishing in seventh and eighth place with personal best marks of 11.61m and 11.53m, respectively.  
  • Senior Michael Roberts entered Sunday as the heavy favorite in the men's hammer throw and backed up his standing as he unleashed an RMAC meet record and NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 62.84m to secure 10 points and a gold medal in the event. Junior Hayden Cuevas added four more points for the men's team in the event, finishing fifth overall with a toss of 56.81m.
  • On the women's side of the hammer throw, redshirt junior Grace Solarin was the top Mountain Lions finisher as she claimed a silver medal in the event and scored eight points with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying toss of 53.30m. Senior Savannah Jorgens racked up five more points in the event as she unleashed a throw of 51.27m for a fourth-place finish overall.
  • Fresh off running the opening leg of the Mountain Lions' historic 4x100m relay team, Cruzado returned to the track for the men's 100m dash and put forth another incredible effort as he sprinted to a converted time of 10.61s, finishing second overall in the race and scoring eight points. Brown and Ofori-Kuragu also made their way back to the track following the 4x100m earlier in the day and combined to score seven points in the event with Brown finishing fourth overall in a converted time of 10.72s and Ofori-Kuragu claiming fifth overall in a converted time of 10.75s.
  • The Mountain Lions grabbed the silver and bronze medals in the women's high jump with junior Dallis Robinson claiming second overall with a bar clearance of 1.67m for eight points and freshman Evelyn McClellan securing third overall with a mark of 1.62m that was good for six points. Junior Lilyana Delagarza also added one-third of a point as she finished in a tie for eighth place with a bar clearance of 1.57m.
  • In the women's 4x100m relay, junior Taryn Fettig, freshman Katie Jewell, freshman Leiava Holliman, and junior Zane Bullock passed the baton around the track in a season-best NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 46.32s as the group secured a third-place finish overall and scored six points.
  • Bullock and Fettig returned to the track about two hours later in the women's 100m final and managed to secure another nine points for the women's team with Bullock finishing fourth overall in a personal best converted time of 11.93s and Fettig claiming fifth overall with a converted time of 12.02s. After another 45 minutes passed, the duo completed their busy day in the women's 200m dash final as they teamed up with Jewell to tally 12 points in the event. Bullock was the first member of the group to cross the finish line as she clocked a personal best time of 24.37s for a third-place finish overall, while Fettig took fifth place overall with a converted time of 24.62s and Jewell claimed seventh place overall with a converted time of 24.93s.
  • Cruzado closed his incredible day with yet another strong performance in the men's 200m dash final as he clocked a converted time of 21.33s to secure a third-place finish in the event and score six points for the men's team.
  • Junior Brett Davis put together a strong race in the men's 5,000m final as he landed on the podium with a bronze medal, finishing third overall with a converted time of 14:32.86 to add six more points to the men's tally.
  • UCCS collected 12 points in the men's 400m dash as a trio of student-athletes locked down the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions in the competition. Redshirt junior Andrew Muncy took fourth overall in the race with a personal best converted time of 47.67s, while freshman Joshua Gross claimed fifth overall with a converted time of 47.92s and senior Sebastien Jean secured sixth overall with a converted time of 48.58s.
  • Freshman Allie Grahn made a strong impression in her outdoor conference championship debut as she raced to a fourth-place finish and scored five points in the women's 5,000m with a season-best converted time of 17:22.52. Redshirt sophomore Madison Brosig tallied two more points in the event as she claimed seventh place with a converted time of 17:32.09.
  • The Mountain Lions saw a pair of personal best performances in the women's 800m final as redshirt sophomore Olivia Sargent and redshirt freshman Ceanna Dietz combined to score seven points in the event. Sargent was the first Mountain Lion across the finish line as she secured fourth overall with a converted time of 2:13.42, while Dietz made a late push to grab seventh overall with a converted time of 2:14.45.
  • Junior Bryce Joshlin swung four points in the direction of the men's squad in the men's 110m hurdles final as he posted a converted time of 15.11s for a fifth-place finish in the event.
  • UCCS grabbed three points in the women's 400m as freshman Michelle Headley sprinted to a seventh-place finish with a personal best converted time of 58.02s while Delagarza made her way from the high jump pit to the track and claimed an eighth-place finish with a converted time of 58.23s.
  • Sophomore Jordan Mora notched a personal best by nearly three meters in the men's javelin throw as he locked down a sixth place finish in the event and scored three points with a heave of 56.10m.
  • Redshirt junior Maddie Ruszkiewicz tallied one point in the women's 1500m race as she clocked a personal best converted time of 4:36.06 for an eighth-place finish in the event.
  • The Mountain Lions closed the day on the track in the 4x400m relays and saw strong performances from both sides. The men's 4x400m relay squad of Jean, Muncy, freshman Hayden Fox, and Gross rolled to a second-place finish in the event and scored eight points with a season-best NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 3:11.25. In the women's 4x400m relay, Delagarza, Frey, Bibeault, and Headley gave everything they had left in the tank to score four points with a fifth-place finish in the race at a converted time of 3:54.81.
 
BEYOND THE RESULTS
  • UCCS recorded updates to the top five lists in the indoor record book for eight different events on the third and final day of the RMAC Outdoor Championships, including the women's 200m, men's 400m, women's 100m hurdles, women's 400m hurdles, men's triple jump, women's triple jump, women's hammer throw, and men's javelin throw.
  • The UCCS women's squad won their 11th conference championship trophy in indoor and outdoor program history and recorded a program-record 227.33 points. The previous record for points in a single championship meet was established at the 2020-21 RMAC Indoor Championships when the UCCS women's team scored 216 points.
  • After scoring 16.5 points in his debut at the outdoor conference championship meet, Cruzado was tabbed as the RMAC Men's Freshman Athlete of the Meet.
  • The Mountain Lions recorded a total of 30 podium finishes at the outdoor conference championship meet, including 10 gold medals, eight silver medals, and 12 bronze medals.
  • Following the completion of the 2026 RMAC Outdoor Championships, the Mountain Lions have recorded a total of 37 NCAA Division II Provisional Qualifying Marks, including 22 on the women's side and 15 on the men's side.
 
Men (21-of-21 Events Scored) Women (21-of-21 Events Scored)
Place Team Points Place Team Points
1.  Colorado School of Mines 188 1. UCCS 227.33
2.  UCCS 164 2. Colorado Mesa 107.33
3. Colorado Mesa 116.5 3. Colorado School of Mines 101
4. CSU Pueblo 88 4. New Mexico Highlands 89
5. South Dakota Mines 69.5 5. CSU Pueblo 80
6. Chadron State 56 6. Black Hills State 40
7. Western Colorado 50 7. MSU Denver  35.33
8. MSU Denver 42 8. Western Colorado 34
9. Black Hills State 22 9. Adams State 31
10. Colorado Christian 9 10. Colorado Christian 26
11. Fort Lewis 7 11. Fort Lewis 21
12. Adams State 6 12. Chadron State 15
13. Westminster 6
14. Regis  5

UP NEXT
  • The Mountain Lions will now turn their attention to a handful of last chance meets prior to the announcement of the selected participants for the 2026 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Tuesday, May 12 at approximately 4 p.m. (MT).
 
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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.
 
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