April 4, 2016
Halle Thornton
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The men’s and women’s track and field teams have finished a successful indoor season and now look to continue that success in the outdoor season, which began March 11.
In indoor, the men’s team competed in the RMAC Championships on Feb. 27, finishing 11th. David Kimaiyo ran a season-best time of 8 minutes, 28 seconds in the 3,000-meter run, finishing 12th overall.
Kimaiyo, a sophomore finance major, said the indoor season went OK with the challenges they face.
“I thought the team did well overall with all of the obstacles with training and weather.”
The women’s indoor team finished ninth at the RMAC Championships. The distance medley relay team qualified for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 11, and finished 11th with a time of 11 minutes and 59 seconds.
The four-runner team was made up of Melanie Diep, Chelsea Martus, Molly Klotz, and Chantelle Fondren.
Fondren, a business graduate student, explained that in the first 1,200-meter leg of the relay, Diep was tripped, but quickly got back on pace.
“That’s how racing goes,” said Fondren, explaining runners get pushed around and tripped up frequently.
Both teams have competed in three outdoor meets so far this spring, with one in California at Occidental College and two in Colorado Springs at Colorado College.
At the Occidental Distance Classic in Los Angeles on March 11, Sam Bauer of the women’s team finished 57th of 119 runners in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:45.45, the best time in her UCCS career.
On the men’s side, Kyle McCloskey finished eighth out of 133 runners in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:55.88. Kimaiyo ran the fourth-fastest time in program history for the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:42.27.
Both teams will travel to Boulder for the Colorado invitational on April 9.