CANYON, Texas – Senior Michael Roberts highlighted an incredible first day of competition for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi on Thursday that featured a new school record in the men's hammer throw and a total of six NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
 
INSIDE THE JO MEAKER CLASSIC
Location: WTAMU Track & Field Complex | Canyon, Texas
Elevation: 3,534 ft.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After adding more than three meters to his personal best in the men's hammer throw last weekend at the Bobcat Invitational with a toss of 61.77m, senior Michael Roberts kept his upward trajectory rolling in the event as he tacked on nearly two more meters on Thursday, earning a first place finish in the 16-person field with a school record and improved NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 63.59m. Junior James Bronzwaig also competed in the event and came up just centimeters shy of his season-best with a sixth-place toss of 50.82m, while redshirt junior Kane Fobare posted a 12^th place finish with a mark of 45.41m in his first collegiate appearance in the hammer throw.
• The Mountain Lions saw three different student-athletes record NCAA provisional qualifying times in the women's 100m hurdles, led by senior Abigail Frey in second place among the 21-person field with a personal best converted time of 13.98s. Freshman Colette Bibeault and junior Krissie Sanders also hit the provisional qualifying standard, with Bibeault taking third place in a personal best converted time of 14.07s and Sanders claiming sixth place in a personal best converted time of 14.13s.
• Sophomore Realiti Smith notched an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the men's triple jump as he posted a season and personal best leap of 14.78m to finish fifth overall in the 18-person field. Redshirt junior KJ McInnis also improved his season-best in the event by more than a meter as he finished eighth overall with a mark of 14.48m, while senior Willie Tran posted a personal best leap of 14.34m for a 10^th place finish and redshirt sophomore Josiah Billington notched a season-best mark of 14.31m for an 11^th place finish.
• Redshirt junior Grace Solarin added another NCAA provisional qualifying performance in the women's hammer throw as she uncorked a personal best heave of 53.09m for a third-place finish in the 18-person field. Senior Savannah Jorgens finished directly behind Solarin in fourth place, posting a throw of 52.68m that was just short of her season-best in the event (53.28m).
• The Mountain Lions had three women run sub-25 second times in the women's 200m dash, led by junior Taryn Fettig, who dispatched her previous personal best by nearly a full second with a converted time of 24.45s for a 13^th place finish in the 69-person field. Freshman Katie Jewell shaved just over a tenth of a second off her previous personal best in the event with a converted time of 24.83s that placed her 26^th overall, while junior Zane Bullock clocked a converted time of 24.92s for a 28^th place finish.
• In the men's 200m dash, freshman Michael Ryan Cruzado posted a personal best converted time of 21.23s for a 10^th place finish among the 66-person field. He was joined inside the top half of the event standings by three teammates as junior Zamari Burrell finished 24^th with a converted time of 21.57s, freshman Noah Brown claimed 27^th with a personal best converted time of 21.71s, and junior Luke Trinrud secured 32^nd with a season-best converted time of 21.95s.
• UCCS had four student-athletes competing in the women's pole vault and it was senior Brooke Peterson who led the group with a third-place finish in the 12-person field at a clearance of 3.76m. Freshmen Sienna Boughen and Colette Bibeault both cleared 3.61m to lock down the sixth and seventh positions in the competition, while fellow freshman Reese Dorr claimed eighth place with a personal best mark of 3.41m.
• Junior Bryce Joshlin put forth a personal best effort in the men's 110m hurdles as he completed the race in a converted time of 14.56s to claim seventh place overall in the 21-person field. Freshman Xavier Sutherlin was just one-hundredth of a second off his personal best in the event as he finished 11^th overall with a converted time of 14.56s, while junior Tre Garcia shaved more than two-tenths of a second off his previous personal best, finishing 16^th overall with a converted time of 15.20s.
• In the women's triple jump, sophomore Payton Rodgers led the way for UCCS as she leapt to a mark of 11.47m for a ninth-place finish in the 18-person field. Freshman Jillian Hennessy took 11^th overall in the event with a mark of 11.37m, while sophomore Sophia Bowser finished 12^th with a season-best jump of 11.20m and freshman Tristyn Buss claimed 16^th with a leap of 10.92m.
• Sophomore Jordan Mora was the top Mountain Lion finisher in the men's javelin throw as he posted a season-best mark of 51.52m for an eighth place finish in the 11-person field, while junior James Bronzwaig competed in the event for the first time this year and secured a 10^th place finish with a toss of 46.63m. On the women's side, sophomore Dyanna Parra was the seventh overall finisher out of 10 competitors in the javelin throw as she recorded a mark of 32.65m.
• The Mountain Lions had a group of five student-athletes competing in the first five events of the men's decathlon on Thursday:
  • Junior Evan Atkin sits fourth overall in the 12-person field after day one of the decathlon with a score of 3,983 points. Atkin was firing on all cylinders throughout the day as he posted personal best marks in the 100m (10.71s), long jump (7.15m), and 400m (48.83s), matched his personal best in the high jump (1.94m), and came close to his personal best in the shot put (11.72m).
  • Redshirt junior Broden Cahoon is currently in sixth place after one day of action with 3,752 points as he posted personal best marks in the 100m (10.62s), long jump (7.12m), shot put (11.12m), and 400m (48.89s) while matching his season-best in the high jump (1.70m).
  • Competing in his first collegiate decathlon, freshman Luke Masterson sits just one spot behind Cahoon in seventh place with 3,432 points. Masterson logged personal bests of 11.15s in the 100m and 1.82m in the high jump while recording marks of 6.43m in the long jump, 10.41m in the shot put, and 51.01s in the 400m.
  • Junior Spencer Shuler finished day one in 10^th place with 3,277 points as he recorded a personal best time of 11.12s in the 100m and matched his personal best in the high jump with a clearance of 1.70m in addition to notching marks of 6.31m in the long jump, 9.74m in the shot put, and 50.90s in the 400m.
  • Senior Dillon Arvayo opened Thursday on a high note as he posted personal bests in the 100m (11.11s), long jump (6.69m), and shot put (11.96m) before clearing a height of 1.55m in the high jump. Despite not finishing the 400m to end the day, he holds a score of 2,607 points.
• UCCS also had a pair of junior student-athletes competing in the first four events of the women's heptathlon during Thursday's action:
  • Junior Maylee Thompson sits in 11^th place after one day of competition with 2,694 points. Thompson posted personal best marks across the board on Thursday, posting a time of 15.69s in the 100m hurdles, a clearance of 1.48m in the high jump, a toss of 9.60m in the shot put, and a time of 25.53s in the 200m dash.
  • Junior Lilyana Delagarza sits just one spot back of Thompson with 2,632 points as she posted personal best marks in the shot put (9.49m) and 200m (25.38s) while logging marks of 17.44s in the 100m hurdles and 1.60m in the high jump.

BEYOND THE RESULTS

• UCCS recorded updates to the top five lists in the outdoor record book for four different events at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi on Thursday, including the women's 100m hurdles, men's 110m hurdles, women's hammer throw, and men's hammer throw.
  • Abigail Frey: Women's 100m Hurdles – 13.94s (2^nd all-time)
  • Colette Bibeault: Women's 100m Hurdles – 14.03s (4^th all-time)
  • Krissie Sanders: Women's 100m Hurdles – 14.09s (5^th all-time)
  • Bryce Joshlin: Men's 110m Hurdles – 14.52s (3^rd all-time)
  • Michael Roberts: Men's Hammer Throw – 63.59m (School Record)
  • Grace Solarin: Women's Hammer Throw – 53.09m (3^rd all-time)

UP NEXT

• The Mountain Lions will wrap up the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi tomorrow with the second day of the meet scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. (MT) at the WTAMU Track & Field Complex.

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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.