January 30, 2018
Track and Field
On Jan. 20, the men’s track and field team saw a victory at the Western State Quad Meet, defeating West Texas A&M, Adams State and Western State Colorado University. They scored 45.5 points, edging Adams State by just a half a point.
Senior sprinter LaChristopher Smith earned an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying in the 60m with a time of 6.83 second, taking second in the finals. Smith also placed second in the 200m event. In the pole vault, freshman Cameron Wright earned a provisional mark of 4.80m, placing him second overall.
Freshman Caleb Simons took first place in the 400m and the 4x400m relay that included sophomore Ryan Vomacka, junior William Mayhew, and sophomore Tristan Hinkley.
The men’s team moved up from No. 52 to No. 24 in the U.S Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division II National Championship Rankings. The team is one of five RMAC teams in the USTFCCCA top 25.
The women’s team picked up 47.5, beating out Western State by four and a half points. Combined, UCCS earned 93 points as the hosts took second place with 83.5 points.
Freshman Kayla Zink earned a provisional time with her 7.54 seconds performance as she won the 60m finals. Junior sprinter Skylyn Webb also won her event, picking up a 400m provisional time of 56.66 seconds.
Freshman jumpers Alexis Carroll, Heidi Beier and Hannah Meek took the top three spots in the triple jump for the Mountain Lions, earning 10 of a possible 11 points in the event. The women moved up from No. 50 to No. 8 in the USTFCCCA rankings.
Both teams will compete in the Colorado Open Feb. 2-3 in Boulder, Colorado.
Men’s Basketball
As of Jan. 25, the men’s basketball team had a record of 9-11 after winning three games in a row.
The first of the three was their overtime win against Western State Colorado University during Blackout Night on Jan. 19. They then used their momentum to defeat Colorado Mesa University 90-68 on Jan. 20 and Metro State 84-72 on Jan. 23.
The team moved up in the RMAC standings to No. 10. The team will be home against South Dakota School of Mines and Technology on Feb. 2 and Black Hills State University on Feb. 3.
Women’s Basketball
As of Jan. 25, the women’s team had a record of 7-12 after defeating Metro State on Jan. 23.This was the second win in their last three games also defeating Western State 47-41 on Blackout Night before losing to Colorado Mesa 46-54 the following night.
The team moved up in the RMAC standings to No. 10 and will be home against South Dakota Mines on Feb. 2 and Black Hills State on Feb. 3.
Compiled by Bryanna Winner