Deep into the outdoor track and field season, the men’s and women’s teams put up a strong showing Friday and Saturday at the University of Colorado in Boulder, highlighted by several first place finishes and solid performances by both the men’s and women’s relays.
On the women’s side, fifth year senior Kristen Rhinedollar led the way, finishing seventh overall in both the 200m and 400m races. In the 200m, her time of 26.42 was the best finish by a Division II athlete at the event, and the 12th fastest time in the RMAC. Her 400m finish was the second fastest Division II time (58.50) and was eighth in the RMAC.
In the field events, just a day after competing as a decathlete at CSU-Pueblo, sophomore Kayla Johnson turned around and earned a third place finish in the triple jump and a seventh place finish in the 400m hurdles (1:09.33). With those results, Johnson currently sits in fourth in the RMAC in the triple jump and eighth overall in the RMAC in the 400m hurdles.
In the women’s 4x400m relay, Rhinedollar, Hillary Hurst, Hannah Schuster, and Brianna Suppes combined for a 3rd place finish in 4:10.12.
Other top Lady Oredigger finishes included two top eight finishes in the 1500m with Shuster placing 5th (4:45.98) and senior Marie Patton coming in 8th (4:50.91). In the 800m, Hurst earned fifth place at 2:19.28, turning in the seventh best time in the RMAC this season.
The men’s side of the action showcased three first place finishes. The Orediggers dominated the 800m run, earning 1st, 4th, and 5th place finishes. Senior Peter Jenkins earned the top spot, placing first in the 800m with a time of 1:51.46. Russell Drummond followed close behind in 4th in 1:52.75 while Mack McLain finished in 5th in 1:53.24.
For Jenkins, it was the fastest 800m time of his career and gives him the fastest 800m time in the RMAC this season. Mines now owns the top three 800m times in the RMAC.
Tyler Curtis turned in Mines second 1st place finish, beating out the competition in the 3000m steeplechase in 9:23.10. Curtis currently sits in sixth place in the RMAC standings and is just three seconds off of the provisional standard (9:20.00). Curtis’ teammate, Neal Anderson followed close behind, finishing in second place in (9:30.98).
In the field, Mines owned the top three Division II marks in the Pole Vault as Cody Walega, Nathan Neibauer and TJ Puls finished 6th, 7th, and 8th. Walega turned in Mines top performance, clearing 14-01.75 and finishing behind five Division I athletes from Air Force and Colorado State University. Neibauer finished behind Walega, tying his highest mark of the year, clearing 13-07.75 and Puls finished in 8th, clearing 13-01.75.
Other top performances included thrower Chris McFee, who currently sits at fourth in the RMAC in the hammer throw and placed 8th overall with a throw of 169-07. Phil Schneider also turned in a solid performance, finishing 3rd in the 3000m in 8:46.22. The third place finish gave Schneider the fastest collegiate time, Division I or Division II, in the race.