Mountain Lions Sweep RMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships
CHADRON, Neb. – After three days of hard-fought competition, University of Colorado Colorado Springs closed out the 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a sweep of the men’s and women’s team titles. The UCCS men topped the standings with 180 points, while the Mountain Lions’ women bested the field with 130.50 points for the third consecutive year at the Chadron State Track & Field in Chadron, Neb.
For the first time there was a four-way tie for Men’s Athlete of the Meet as Colorado School of Mines’ Everett Delate, Colorado State University Pueblo’s Reece Sharman-Newell, UCCS’ Justice Mendoza and Western Colorado’s Ismael Dembele. Delate placed first in the Men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.12 and in the 400m hurdles with a time of 52.83, which are both NCAA Division II provisional times.
Sharman-Newell earned a trio of first-place finishes for the ThunderWolves in the 800m, 1,500 and the 4x400-meter relay. In the 800m, the sophomore crossed the finish line at 1:48.67, besting the second-place finisher by 1.12 seconds. He followed that up with an impressive performance in the 1500m run with a time of 3:50.88. He finished his weekend apart of the Pack’s 4x400m relay that dominated the field with an NCAA DII provisional time of 3:12.47.
Ismael Dembele jumped to victory for the Mountaineers in the long jump and the triple jump. In the long jump, the freshman registered an NCAA DII provisional mark of 7.35m. The mark came on his fourth attempt and was .03m further than the second-place competitor. He then placed first in the triple jump with a leap of 14.96, which came on his fifth attempt.
UCCS’ Justice Mendoza was lightning fast claiming victories in the 100m dash, 200m dash and the 4x100m relay. The sophomore clocked a 10.51 in the 100m dash barely edging out his teammate, Brain Mosley Jr. In the 200m dash, Mendoza finished with an NCAA DII provisional time of 21.12 edging out the second-place finisher by .10 seconds. In the 4x100m relay, Mendoza ran the first leg of the race for the Mountain Lions leading his squad to a 40.48 finish.
UCCS’ Audrey Bloomquist earned the Women’s Athlete of the Meet honor after racking up 38 points for over four events. Bloomquist claimed first place in the long jump (5.77), triple jump (12.50), 4x100m relay (46.16) and a second-place finish in the 200m (11.90).
While UCCS and Colorado Mesa earned first and second place, respectively, in the men’s standings, CSU Pueblo claimed third place with 111.50 points. Mines finished in fourth place with 111 points, followed by Western Colorado in fifth place with 106.50 points. In sixth place was Adams State with 55 points, just ahead of Chadron State with 49.50 points. South Dakota Mines took eighth place with 23 points, followed by MSU Denver (22 points), Black Hills State ( 18 points), Colorado Christian (10 points), Fort Lewis ( 3 points) and Westminster (1).
The Mountain Lions’ women’s team claimed the title for the third consecutive year and they were followed in the standings by Western Colorado (123 points) and Mines (109.50 points) in second and third, respectively. Colorado Mesa claimed 102 points for fourth place, followed by fifth-place CSU Pueblo (74 points) and sixth-place Westminster (51 points). New Mexico Highlands registered 49 points for seventh place, while MSU Denver finished in eighth place with 40 points. Chadron State closed out the competition in ninth place with 37 points, just ahead of Adams State (28 points). Black Hills State (27 points), South Dakota Mines (21 points), Fort Lewis (15 points) and Colorado Christian (10 points) rounded out the standings.
Throughout the event, three RMAC meet records were broken. The first four finishers in the Women’s 800m run broke the RMAC Meet record but, CSU Pueblo’s Helen Braybrook set the new record with a time of 2:06.34. The top three runners in the women’s 5,000m also broke an RMAC Meet record as Western Colorado’s Katie Doucette set a new record of 16:28.45. The Orediggers 4x400m relay squad of Amena Nelson, Grace Galvin, Mackenzie Duck and Aryelle Wright set a new record with a time of 3:44.62.
Up next for the RMAC track and field institutions is a trip to the 2023 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships. This year’s national event will be hosted by CSU Pueblo at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colo. The championship will be a three-day event beginning on Thursday, May 25, and conclude Saturday, May 27.
Men’s Team Standings
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
UCCS |
180 |
| 2. |
Colorado Mesa |
125.50 |
| 3. |
CSU Pueblo |
111.50 |
| 4. |
Colorado School of Mines |
111 |
| 5. |
Western Colorado |
106.50 |
| 6. |
Adams State |
55 |
| 7. |
Chadron State |
49.50 |
| 8. |
South Dakota Mines |
23 |
| 9. |
MSU Denver |
22 |
| 10. |
Black Hills State |
18 |
| 11. |
Colorado Christian |
10 |
| 12. |
Fort Lewis |
3 |
| 13. |
Westminster |
1 |
Women’s Team Standings
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1. |
UCCS |
130.50 |
| 2. |
Western Colorado |
123 |
| 3. |
Colorado School of Mines |
109.50 |
| 4. |
Colorado Mesa |
102 |
| 5. |
CSU Pueblo |
74 |
| 6. |
Westminster |
51 |
| 7. |
New Mexico Highlands |
49 |
| 8. |
MSU Denver |
40 |
| 9. |
Chadron State |
37 |
| 10. |
Adams State |
28 |
| 11. |
Black Hills State |
27 |
| 12. |
South Dakota Mines |
21 |
| 13. |
Fort Lewis |
15 |
| 14. |
Colorado Christian |
10 |
Day Three Individual Champions
| Event |
Name |
School |
Distance/Time/Points |
| Men’s 4x100m Relay |
J.Mendoza, K.Sterling,M.Nichols, A B. Mosley, Jr. |
UCCS |
40.48 |
| Women’s 4x100m Relay |
A.Bloomquist, M.Moreni, K.Bolton, V, Farinas |
UCCS |
46.16 |
| Men’s 1,500m |
Reece Sharman- Newell |
CSU Pueblo |
3:50.88 |
| Women’s 1,500m |
Katie Fankhouser |
Fort Lewis |
4:27.22 |
| Men’s 110m Hurdles |
Everett Delate |
Colorado School of Mines |
14.12 |
| Women’s 100m Hurdles |
Patcreece Clarke |
New Mexico Highlands |
13.58 |
| Men’s 400m |
Jonah Vigil |
Adams State |
47.09 |
| Women’s 400m |
Amena Nelson |
Colorado School of Mines |
55.59 |
| Men’s 100m |
Justice Mendoza |
UCCS |
10.52 |
| Women’s 100m |
Sierra Arceneaux |
Colorado Mesa |
11.61 |
| Men’s 800m |
Reece Sharman- Newell |
CSU Pueblo |
1:48.67 |
| Women’s 800m |
Helen Braybrook |
CSU Pueblo |
2:06.34 |
| Men’s 400m Hurdles |
Everett Delate |
Colorado School of Mines |
52.83 |
| Women’s 400m Hurdles |
Kaiya Firor |
Western Colorado |
1:01.17 |
| Men’s 200m |
Justice Mendoza |
UCCS |
21.12 |
| Women’s 200m |
Sierra Areneaux |
Colorado Mesa |
23.51 |
| Men’s 5,000m |
Afewerki Zeru |
UCCS |
14:46.70 |
| Women’s 5,000m |
Katie Doucette |
Western Colorado |
16:28.45 |
| Men’s 4x400m Relay |
C.Schmidt, R.Sharman-Newell, K.Tipton, T.Smith |
CSU Pueblo |
3:12.47 |
| Women’s 4x400m Relay |
A.Nelson, G.Galvin, M, Duck, A.Wright |
Colorado School of Mines |
3:44.62 |
| Men’s Triple Jump |
Ismael Dembele |
Western Colorado |
14.96m |
| Women’s Triple Jump |
Audrey Bloomquist |
UCCS |
12.50m |
| Men’s Shot Put |
Nate Miller |
CSU Pueblo |
18.35m |
| Women’s Shot Put |
Ali Aldrich |
Western Colorado |
14.84 |
| Men’s Javelin |
Cameron Kalaf |
Colorado Mesa |
62.10m |
| Women’s Pole Vault |
Avery Herbold |
Colorado School of Mines |
3.86m |
| Men’s High Jump |
Skye Ciccarelli |
UCCS |
2.10m |