GUNNISON, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University's Gunner Rigsby set the program record with what is the best triple jump mark in Division II this season as one of the Maverick indoor track and field team's eight event winners and nine NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifiers on Saturday here at the Western Colorado Open, CMU's final meet of the 2021 calendar year.
 
Rigsby recorded a Mountaineer Fieldhouse record-setting mark of 15.27 meters (50 feet, 1 ¼ inch) to take over the national lead.  Rigsby, the Mavs' outdoor school-record holder (15.70m/51-6.25) and outdoor all-American, broke the Maverick indoor record, which had been held be teammate Justin Thompson, who had set CMU's indoor long jump record last week before turning in another strong effort of 7.23 meters (23-8.75) to finish second in that event on Saturday.
 
Rigsby also took fourth in the long jump with a leap of 6.92 meters (22-8.5) to move into the No. 5 spot of program history in that discipline.  He was joined in the winner's circle by freshman Sterling Brassfield in the men's 60 meters, reigning Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Track Athlete of the Week Elijah Williams in the 200 meters, pentathlon all-American Mica Jenrette and women's sprinters Sierra Arceneaux and Sophie Lindauer, who led 1-2-3 Maverick sweeps in the women's 60 and 400-meter dashes, respectively. 
 
Kiana Jackson, who won the women's triple jump with NCAA provisional qualifying leap of 12.09 meters (39-8), and Averie Griffith, who took the 60-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 9.12 seconds, were also victorious for the Maverick women.
 
Brassfield won the 60 meters in 6.82 seconds after setting an even quicker and improved NCAA championship provisional qualifying time of 6.80 seconds in the preliminaries.    The Mavs had five of the nine finalists in the event as Beau Thornton took third in 6.90 seconds and now ranks third in program history, one spot behind Brassfield.
 
Kade Christensen also ran fast, posting a time of 6.95 seconds to move into a tie for eighth on the Mavs' all-time performers list.
 
Meanwhile, Williams won the 200 for the second straight week, turning in a time of 21.70 seconds on the flat 200-meter track at altitude, which converts to 21.44 seconds and slightly better than his 300-meter, sea-level school-record time of 21.48 seconds last Saturday in Maryville, Missouri.
 
On the women's side, Jenrette fared best in three of the five individual disciplines of the pentathlon, scoring a RMAC-leading 3,349 points to easily eclipse the national provisional qualifying standard of 3,258.  The redshirt sophomore won last year's RMAC title and went on to finish sixth at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
 
Freshman teammate Hope Matteson made her collegiate debut and finished a clear second with 2,770 points to move into the eighth spot on the Mavs' all-time top performers' chart.
 
In the women's 60-meter dash, Arceneaux claimed victory in 7.69 seconds ahead of teammates Shaya Chenoweth (7.73) and Rachel Crutcher (7.74) in the top-3 CMU sweep.  Arceneaux then came back to finish third in the 200 meters with a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 25.05 seconds.  Jade Wimmer also posted a time of 25.87 seconds in that event to move into sixth on CMU's all-time chart.
 
Meanwhile, Chenoweth had run an even quicker and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.63 seconds in the preliminary heats to lead five Mavericks into the finals.  In the process, she also moved up a spot to fifth in program history.
 
Chenoweth also lead the Mavericks in the long jump with a strong second place jump of 5.61 meters (18-5) as the Mavs took five of the top seven places in that event.
 
The Mavericks also had each of the first three finishers in the 400 meters as Sophie Lindauer won in 59.26 seconds to become the eighth-fastest indoor quarter-miler in program history.  Jade Wimmer was second in 59.79 while Jordyn Pittman finished third in 59.90 to become only the tenth Maverick to ever go sub-60.
 
Other Maverick highlights included:

• Kelsey Montague recorded a NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 13.66 meters (44-9.75) to finish fourth in the triple jump.  He was making his collegiate jumping debut in that event and moved into the No. 7 spot in CMU history.
• Nate Hanson (8.27) and Zayden Davis (8.28) took second and third in the men's 60-meter hurdles.  Davis had also run 8.26 seconds in the preliminaries to rank fourth in Maverick history.
• Zace Buckhold cleared 1.94 meters (6-4.25) to finish second in a hotly-contested high jump competition that saw each of the top four finishers go out at the next height.  He now ranks seventh in CMU lore.
• Kierra Arceneaux posted a time of 7.88 seconds to move into tenth on CMU's all-time charts for the 60-meter dash.
• Dayne Ortega took third in the 400 meters (51.24).
• Freshmen pole vaulters Garrett Searls and Becker Ell both cleared 4.50 meters (14-9).  Searls now ranks seventh in program history.
• Throwers Jameson Moore (15.25m/50-0.5) and Hayden Riley (14.86m/48-9) both placed fifth in the weight throw and shot put, respectively.
• School-record holder Meleeah Holmes-McKown took third in the weight throw with a heave of 14.95 meters (49-0.75)
• Daisy Rinehart and Lydia Dawson both cleared 2.94 meters (9-7.75) to tie for fifth in the pole vault.  Rinehart was making her collegiate debut and now ranks fifth in program history.  Dawson is tied for third.

The Mavericks will now take several weeks off for finals and the winter break before resuming their season on Jan. 29, 2022 at Western's Mountaineer Open.