Spring officially began on March 20 and after one month, we are finally seeing the grass turn green and many flowers bloom.
The flowers are not the only ones blooming as spring sports at UCCS have plenty of bloomers to offer this season.
A bloomer in sports refers to an athlete experiencing a breakout season, whether that is an underclassman bursting onto the scene or an upperclassman thriving after struggling. Either way, it is always a delight to see, unless you are a fan of the opposing team.
Looking at the flourishing flower bed that is spring sports, who are the athletes who are blooming this season?
Men’s track and field
Men’s track and field has a bright future ahead of them as they sent three freshmen to the NCAA national indoor championships that took place on March 13 and 14 to compete in the 4 x 400m relay.
Freshman Hayden Fox is one member on this young relay team who graduated from Erie High School in 2025.
In his first season as a Mountain Lion, Fox earned Second Team All-RMAC honors with a sixth-place finish in the 400m event at the RMAC championship meet. Add on a first-place finish at the UCCS Pre-Holiday Invite and Colorado Classic in the 4 x 400 event and you get a freshman that is poised to be an important conference player in the future.
The second member of the 4 x 400 team is Joshua Gross, who graduated from Mullen High School in 2025.
Along with sharing those first place finishes in the Pre-Holiday Invite and Colorado Classic, Gross has racked up individual accolades with a second place finish in the 200m event at the UCCS Invite and has already made a splash this outdoor season with a first place finish in the 400m event at the Chuck Haering Classic Invitational.
The final freshman on the men’s 4 x 400 team is Revano Plummer from Grandview High School who was an alternate at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Along with that honor, Revano had a second place finish in the 400m event at the UCCS invite and took a fourth place finish at the Chuck Haering Classic Invitational in the 400m event on March 27.
For those with a keen eye, you may have noticed that all of these freshmen came from high schools in Colorado. The growing recruiting hot bed for track and field in Colorado means that there will be plenty of local talent for UCCS to recruit for years to come.
With these freshmen lighting up the track during the indoor season and already making an impact during the outdoor season, this 4 x 400 relay team will only get harder to beat.
Women’s track and field
The women’s track and field team had a freshman and a sophomore earn First Team All-RMAC honors for this year’s indoor season.
Freshman Evelyn McClellan earned third place in the high jump event at the RMAC Indoor Championships to earn her spot in the All-RMAC First team.
The graduate from Horizon High School also earned a second-place finish and a third-place finish at the UCCS Invite and Mountain Lion Open events respectively.
Sophomore Payton Rodgers earned third place at the RMAC Indoor Championships at the triple jump event which gave her a First-Team All RMAC nod.
At the UCCS Pre Holiday Invite, Rodgers earned a second-place finish and earned a first-place finish at the Mountain Lion Open in the triple jump event. Along with the triple jump event, Rodgers competes in the 60m hurdles, 100m hurdles, and long jump event, being one the team’s most versatile athletes.
Baseball
The Baseball team as a whole has bloomed, going from being a team hanging around the middle of the RMAC to cementing themselves as a contender for the conference championship.
This resurgence comes off the back of their hot bats as the Mountain Lions lead the RMAC in batting percentage, hits and runs.
Leading the charge for the team is Junior outfielder Brendan Killeen who transferred from Scottsdale Community College.
Killeen has blossomed in his first season with UCCS as he leads the team in batting average with .445 and has been a large contributor in the Mountain Lions’ new-look offense.
Despite dropping games to No.1 nationally ranked Colorado Mesa, Killeen and the team bounced back with a sweep against Colorado School of Mines and will have another tough test ahead of them in the form of No.2 team in the conference MSU Denver.
Softball
Softball is currently fourth in the RMAC standings and despite a tough series against CSU Pueblo and a series split against Black Hills State, a midseason win streak showed us what the team looks like when they find their grove as every player has the potential to play lights out.
The team has found consistent hitting from senior utility player Alyssa Gutierrez who is showing that it is never too late to find your groove.
She is the second-best hitter on the team with a .432 batting average and 54 hits. Last year, her season was cut short, with her only playing 37 games, and the season before that, her batting average was .222 after playing 49 games.
With two series remaining in the regular season, Gutierrez and the team will hope to kick it into the next gear and head into the RMAC Tournament with momentum.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse recently had a record-setting night against CSU Pueblo on April 2 where the team matched the school record for most goals scored in a game with 23, broke the record for most points in a game with 40 and most assists in a game with 17.
This was the second time the team has scored over 20 goals in a game this season with freshman attacker Ella Mills being a huge contributor.
Mills leads the team in goals with 44 and total points with 49. The contributions from the breakout freshman have helped the team capture the RMAC regular season championship and upset No.19 nationally ranked Regis on the final game of the regular season.
With Mills being ranked first in the RMAC for goals per game, all eyes will be on her in the RMAC tournament as she has quickly established herself as one of the best players in the entire conference as a freshman.
Follow the schedule of spring sports on the UCCS Athletics page and stream track meets and games on the RMAC Network through their pay-per-view or subscription options.
Photo via the Scribe archive.