Full Release
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A majority of teams were split between meets this past weekend, but Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams will have one more week before teams gear up for the RMAC Championships in Alamosa, Colo. on Feb. 22 & 23.
TEAM HIGHLIGHTS
- Several teams split between the University of Colorado Invite and the University of New Mexico Collegiate Classic. Team scores were not held in either meet.
- UCCS has one of best highlights from the CU Meet as they finished with one NCAA Division II record. Skylyn Webb was the winner with a time of 2:04.58. They also had one more provisional mark and one more top ten finish.
- Adams State saw the distance runners fare well as the Grizzly men went 2-3 in the mile. Meanwhile the Grizzly women saw Haleigh Hunter-Galvan win the 3,000-meter while the Grizzlies went 1-2-5-6-7.
- Chadron State saw Isaac Grimes win the 60-meter dash and the long jump while Javan Lanier finished third in both those events at the CU meet.
- Colorado Christian saw their distance contingent at the CU meet post strong marks including one top finish in the 5,000-meter.
- The Colorado Mesa University men's indoor track and field team broke two more school records and set a pair of NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying times while the Maverick women's sprinters had two top five and four top ten finishes.
- Colorado School of Mines had five top ten finishes at the CU Meet.
- CSU-Pueblo posted three provisional qualifying marks in the New Mexico Meet.
- MSU Denver saw senior Erica Ruiz win the 5,000-meter and qualify for NCAA. As a team, the Roadrunners posted several personal bests.
- Western had two event winners on the men’s side and two top three finishers. On the women’s side they had three top ten finishers.
- Westminster did have some participants at the CU meet.
- In addition to the CU meet, Colorado School of Mines went to Lubbock Texas for the Texas Tech Open. New Mexico Highlands also competed in the Texas Tech Open.
- Brandon Hinkle Hinkle led the way with a fourth-place finish and a personal-best vault of 4.88 meters (16-0.0). The mark was also a NCAA provisional qualifying mark, ranking top-20 in the nation. Hayden Sather, Triston Sisneros, Elias Limon and Thompson capped off Mines' trip to Texas in the 4x400-meter relay. The Oredigger quartet ran 3:18.04 which ranks No. 6 on Mines' all-time indoor list.
- New Mexico Highlands had one event winner in the 5,000 meter and three other top ten finishes.
- Black Hills State sent a small contingent to the 2019 Bison Open hosted by North Dakota State University.
- The Yellow Jackets came away with five school records and two improvements on the national lists.
- Black Hills State fifth place in the team scores. There were 13 women teams competing and 11 men’s teams.
- The South Dakota School of Mines men's and women's track and field competed in the Tom Nelson Indoor Invitational this past Saturday in Mankato, Minnesota.
- The Hardrockers posted one event winner, five top five finishes, seven personal-best records and two school records.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
- Josh Evans of Colorado School of Mines is this week’s RMAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week. Evans posted a time of 4:14.44 in the mile run which converted into 4:08.23 which currently ranks him No. 11 in DII.
- Allan McDonnell of Black Hills State had a NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the high jump to be named the RMAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week. McDonnell cleared 6' 9.50" and took second at the Bison Open.
- UCCS’ Skylyn Webb laced up registered a time of 2:04.68 in the women's 800m to be named the RMAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week. Her time goes down as an automatic qualifying mark, but more importantly, Webb now owns the NCAA Division II Indoor 800m record. Webb broke Cedarville University's Carsyn Koch's record time of 2:05.65 that was set back March 11th of 2017.
- Black Hills State Jordyn Huneke reset her own school record in the pole vault, clearing 13'00.25" (3.97m) to win the event at the Bison Open and be named this week’s RMAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week. Huneke's mark is now the third best in Division II this year, and the best in the RMAC, hitting a NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS
- CSU-Pueblo’s Thomas Staines ran the 600m in 1:15.31 at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic to set a new all-time British record, while the time is the fastest in the world this season. Staines just missed the world record of 1:14.79 and ranks top 10 all-time in the event. Saturday he ran the anchor leg for the 4x400m relay team that posted a time of 3:13.70 to finish runner-up and record an NCAA provisional mark.
- At the CU Invitational this past weekend, UCCS’ Deshon Elcock competed against 64 Division I and Division II runners in the 200m where he bested all of them with an altitude conversion time of 21.56.
- Colorado School of Mines’ Brandon Hinkle posted a personal record and NCAA qualifying mark of 4.88 meters (16-0.0) in the pole vault. Hinkle finished fourth in the 16-person field ahead of vaulters from Texas Tech, Angelo State, Texas A&M-Commerce and West Texas A&M. Hinkle's vault ranks #19 in the nation and #5 in the RMAC.
- Colorado School of Mines’ Chloe Cook ran a raw time of 4:57.80 in the mile which converted down to 4:50.54. Cook outran six NCAA Division I competitors in the 16-person, seeded field at the Colorado Invitational.
- CSU-Pubelo’s Nicole Bouma produced two personal best times and recorded an NCAA provisional time in the mile at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic. In the mile, she crossed the finish line in a personal best time of 5:04.69. She was sixth in the race. In the 3000m, she was eighth in the 3000m with a personal best time of 10:17.77.
- Courtney Clark of Colorado School of Mines was one of the top throwers in a pair of loaded fields at the Colorado Invitational. Clark finished fourth overall in the shot put and was the No. 1 DII thrower in the field with her mark of 13.92 meters (45-8.0). Clark was ninth overall in the weight throw and the No. 2 DII performer in that field. Clark's weight throw mark of 15.44 meters (50-8.0).
- CSU-Pubelo’s Lydia Pavlenko leaped to an NCAA provisional mark in the triple jump when she recorded a jump of 12.00m (39' 4.5"). Her season-best mark ranks 15th in NCAA Division II. Pavlenko was fifth in the event at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic. Friday she competed in the high jump where she cleared 1.56m (5' 1.25").