COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— Redshirt sophomore
Justin Thompson set a high-ranking NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference-leading and career-best high jump clearance of 2.11 meters (6 feet, 11 inches) while he and freshman
Zayden Davis claimed event wins on Saturday at the Colorado Running Company UCCS Open to lead the Maverick men's track and field team to a fourth place finish out of seven squads in the final team standings.
The Mavericks'
Tony Torres also set a new school-record in the 3,000 meters, running to a time of eight minutes, 47.51 seconds to break Daniel Vavrik's nearly 4-year old standard of 8:55.09, which had been set at the 2017 RMAC Championships.
Thompson's mark in the high jump, which is equal to the third best in the country thus far in 2020-21, allowed him to win for the third time in as many tries over the last eight days and came on his second attempt at the height. It also improved his No. 2 position in Maverick history behind only former national outdoor champion
Ethan Harris.
Meanwhile, Davis who was running in his hometown, won the 60-meter hurdles in a career-best 8.37 seconds to claim his first career win as the Mavericks scored 20 of their total 79 points in the 2-day meet in that discipline alone. Teammates
Nate Hanson (8.50) and
Kevin Frye (8.92) also finished third and fifth, respectively.
Davis, a Vista Ridge High School graduate, is now tied for fifth on the Mavericks' all-time performers list with his mark, which even with the altitude-adjustment penalty, puts him third on the RMAC list at 8.41 seconds.
Other notable CMU performances include:
- Jerod Kuhn placed 12th in the 3,000 meters, but with a time of 8:57.55, now the third best in CMU history behind only Torres, who finished seventh on the day, and Vavrik.
- Freshman Kelsey Montague finished third in the 400 meters with a time of 50.95 seconds while Casey McDaniel picked up a seventh place finish in 52.07 seconds.
- In the 60-meter dash, Ty Grant finished fifth (7.09) while Kade Christensen took sixth (7.11).
- Jake Valdez finished eighth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:01.36.
- Freshman Zace Buckhold also scored with an eighth place finish in the high jump after clearing 1.87 meters (6-1.5), the best of his career.
- Former Maverick national champion Nolan Ellis, competing unattached, won the pole vault after clearing 5.22 meters (17-1.5).
Up Next
The Mavericks do not have a meet officially scheduled for next weekend but may send some athletes to a meet or meets to try to set qualifying marks for the RMAC and NCAA Division II Championships.
