August 29, 2017
Bryanna Winner
The Athletic Department had quite the summer. Multiple teams and players saw success in the form of awards, honors and qualifications for large-scale events.
In case you missed some of the highlights from UCCS’ many athletic teams this summer, The Scribe compiled a recap of some noteworthy events.
Men’s Track and Field
Sophomore William Mayhew ran the fastest time in the 800m preliminaries on May 26 in Bradenton, Florida to advance to the 800m finals the next day.
In the 800m finals, he took a second-place finish, a new “best” for UCCS, with a season-best time of 1:49.94. For his second-place finish, Mayhew earned All-American first team honors and qualified for both the NCAA Division II and Outdoor Championships in the 800m event.
Mayhew, along with freshman Will Ross, freshman Brenton Emmons and freshman Kyle Rex, earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors on July 31. To earn this honor, students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and reach a provisional or qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships during the indoor or outdoor seasons.
At the Colorado Mines Invitational, Emmons earned an NCAA provisional mark in the pole vault during the Indoor Championships with a height of 4.66m. At the same meet, Lex earned a provisional mark in the heptathlon with a total of 4,660 points.
Ross posted a provisional mark in the triple jump with a provisional mark of 14.91m at the West Texas A&M Last Chance Meet during the outdoor season.
Women’s Track and Field
Sophomore Kayla Wooten wrapped up her season at the NCAA Division II Championships on May 26. Wooten came in No. 10 with a time of 4:35.32 in heat two of the 1,500m preliminaries.
Sophomore Aubrey Templeton, junior Molly Klotz, junior Makenzie Urban and freshman Andi Harrelson all earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors.
Klotz and Templeton earned their NCAA provisional times in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Urban earned her provisional time by helping the distance medley relay team earn a time of 11:45.29 during the RMAC Indoor Championships.
Harrelson earned hers by throwing a provisional mark in javelin at the RMAC Outdoor Championships with a distance of 41.60m.
Men’s Golf
The team finished their spring season by tying for No.8 out of 20 teams at the NCAA Division II West/South Central Region Championships on May 10.
Junior Colin Prater and senior Blake Young were named Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Young averaged a 76.21 over 28 rounds in 10 events during his senior season as Prater wrapped-up his junior season with a 70.65 stroke-average over 34 rounds in 12 events.
Men’s Basketball
The team earned a 3.03 collective grade point average during the year and earned recognition with the Team Academic Excellence Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The Mountain Lions were one of three RMAC teams to qualify with a team GPA greater than 3.0.
Ryan VanPelt and Justin Smith were named to the NABC Honor Court. They earned the award with a minimum 3.2 cumulative GPA through at least their junior year.
VanPelt was a member of the RMAC Academic Honor Roll last season and finished the spring semester with a 3.50 GPA in mechanical engineering. Smith graduated with his undergraduate degree in the spring with a 3.58 GPA in finance.
Volleyball
The team earned an academic award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. The AVCA honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year. Teams must maintain a 3.30 cumulative average amongst all players on a 4.0 scale.
The team had a recorded team GPA of 3.66, and eight of the 14 players were on the dean’s or president’s lists during the spring semester with a term GPA of 3.75 or higher. Six other players were on the lists during the fall semester.
The team was also awarded with the RMAC’s Brechler Award. This award is given to the volleyball team with the highest GPA among all the conference teams. They were the only team to hold a GPA higher than 3.6 and one of two teams to hold a GPA higher than a 3.5.
The women open their season on the road in Honolulu, Hawaii, in a four-game tournament from Aug. 31-Sept. 3. Their home opener will be Sept. 8 against Central Oklahoma during the Steel & Silver Classic.