The Maverick Indoor Track & Field teams are having one of their best seasons in recent memory. The men’s team is currently ranked at 16th nationwide, while multiple athletes from the women’s team have already set NCAA Championship qualifying marks.
The Indoor Track & Field season starts in early December and concludes during the second week of March with the NCAA Division II National Championships. Most athletes also compete in the outdoor season which beginsalmost immediately after.
Colorado Mesa University (CMU) started out strong at the Mountaineer Open & Multi Indoor Track & Field meet on December 9 and 10.
Redshirt junior Mica Jenrette won the women’s pentathlon – which consists of 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and a 800-meter run. Jenrette’s score of 3,449 points qualified her for the National Championships.
Sophomore Hope Matteson finished second behind Jenrette during the pentathlon and set a qualifying mark for herself on the high jump portion of the event, with a clearance of 1.69 meters.
Meanwhile, redshirt senior Dawson Heide recorded the third-best long jump in CMU history at 7.12 meters, a whole meter more than any of the other competitors. Heide then went on to also win the shot put event with a personal record of 12.70 meters.
More records were broken on the second day. Defending Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Champion Gunner Rigsby broke his own school record for the triple jump. The redshirt senior and Grand Junction native recorded a mark of 16.17 meters.
Heide then broke the CMU school record for the 60-meter hurdles with an NCAA-qualifying time of 8.05 seconds. Overall, Heide won the other six disciplines of the heptathlon, posted five personal records and set three qualifying times.
The women won four events and set four more qualifying times on the second day as well. Redshirt junior McKenna Molder won the 400 meter event at 56.82 seconds, the second-best in CMU history. Redshirt sophomore Virginia Tomon broke a five year CMU shot put record of 12.63 meters, which placed her second overall.
The Mavericks then enjoyed a month-long break before again heading to Gunnison, Colorado for the Western Open on January 21.
Redshirt sophomore Zayden Davis outdid teammate Heide’s 60-meter hurdle record with an astounding 8.02-second time. Sophomore Zayne Ortega also broke a school record during the 400-meter event at 49.37 seconds. Overall, CMU took eight wins for the men’s during the open.
On the women’s side, redshirt sophomore Kira MacGill won the mile event and also soared to third on the national list at 4:54.31. Redshirt freshman Jordan Burnett won the 200 meters in 24.96 seconds to move into fourth place in Maverick history, as well as the RMAC lead, with a converted time of 24.72 seconds.
A week later, CMU competed at the Wes Lavong Open in Alamosa, Colo. The men’s team claimed four wins and two NCAA marks, while the women’s team also secured four event wins and a school record.
Sophomore Teo Casados won the 60-meter hurdle and the 200-meter event. Casados’ 200-meter time of 21.68 seconds is third all-time for CMU and his first ever qualifying mark. Redshirt senior Mark Testa won the 5,000 meter event by a dominant 14-second margin.
Redshirt senior Sierra Arcenaux won both the 60-meter and 200-meter events with season-best times of 7.71 and 25.33 seconds. Tomon then broke her own 7-week old school record in the shot put with a mark of 13.03 meters.
The Mavericks will next compete at the Mines Winter Classic and the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Feb. 3 and 4. and then the Minnesota State Massive Meet on Feb. 10 and 11.
