GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University redshirt sophomore sprinter
Elijah Williams set three new school-records and won three events while setting the same number of NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying marks to lead the Maverick track and field teams on Saturday at the Maverick Invite.
Sierra Arceneaux also claimed the women's 100/200 sprinting double and broke her own record in the longer event while sophomore
Josie Coffey won the high jump with an NCAA Championship qualifying mark to lead the Mavs in the field.
Williams began his day by anchoring the Mavs' 4x100-meter relay team to a winning and school-record setting time of 40.86 seconds, well under the former Maverick record of 41.41, set in 2019.
Jeremiah Wilson,
Kade Christensen and
Beau Thornton had run the earlier legs on the relay.
Williams then came back with a 100-meter win in 10.52 seconds, smashing the official Maverick record of 10.70, set nearly nine years ago by Jordan Riggins. Williams led a 1-2-3-4 Maverick finish in the event.
He then blazed to a time of 20.88 seconds in the 200, going well under his own school-record of 21.21 moving to as high as third on the national performance list with the altitude-adjusted time of 20.95. Williams had finished third at the 2022 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in the 200.
Meanwhile, Arceneaux finished the 100 in 12.03 seconds before running to a time of 23.87 in the 200, going under her former school-record of 23.96, set at the 2021 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships. She is now tied for third nationally with an altitude-adjusted time of 23.94.
In the high jump, Coffey cleared 1.72 meters after making it over her first five bars without a miss before not being able to clear 1.75 meters. The 2-time RMAC indoor champion now ranks seventh nationally.
Hayden Riley also bettered his own shot put school record with a fourth-place heave of 16.34 meters (53.7.25) while moving up a spot to sixth in program history with a hammer throw effort of 48.42 meters (158-10).
Jameson Moore also moved into the top 10 of CMU history in the hammer advancing to the finals with a best of 47.17 meters (154-9).
The Mavericks also combined for 21 total top-3 finishes during the day along with a multitude of other new marks on the program's all-time top 10 lists.
In the men's 100, Christensen,
Jeremiah Reed, Thornton and Wilson all went below 11 seconds. Christensen was second in 10.82 and now ranks sixth in program history. Reed was third in 10.86 and ranks seventh. Thornton, who as a PR of 10.73, finished fourth in 10.87, while Wilson took sixth with a time of 10.99 to rank tenth.
Christensen also finished fourth in the 200 with a time of 21.63 to rank third in program history. Reed was just behind in in 21.71 seconds and ranks fourth while Thornton (21.83) now ranks fifth after placing seventh.
Zayden Davis (21.93),
Dayne Ortega (22.07) and
AJ Smallwood (22.10) also moved into the Mavericks' all-time top 10 with their times.
Davis also finished third in the 110-meter hurdles (15.33) while
Casey McDaniel lowered his PR to 55.39 to take third in the 400-meter hurdles. McDaniel ranks second in CMU history while
Carl Heide moved up a spot to sixth with his time of 56.44 on Saturday.
Indoor school-record holder
Kelsey Montague finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.13 seconds to move into the No 3 spot in program's outdoor history.
In the 5,000 meters,
Mark Testa posted a time of 15:26.12 to take over the No. 6 spot in CMU history.
The Maverick men's 4x400-meter team of Ortega, Montague,
Casey Amori and
Jake Valdez then closed out the meet with a time of 3:21.31, eighth fastest in CMU history.
In the high jump,
Zace Buckhold and
Eddie Kurjak both cleared 1.95 meters (6 feet, 4 ¾ inches) to move into a now 5-way tie for third on the Mavericks' all-time list.
Trey Briggs also cracked into the top ten after getting over the bar at 1.90 meters (6-2.75).
Justin Thompson also moved up a spot to third in CMU history for the triple jump after taking third with a leap of 14.50 meters (47-7). Kurjak finished fourth with a wind-aided mark of 13.90 meters (45-7.25) and turned in a wind-legal second best of 13.76 meters to move into the No. 7 spot in Maverick lore. Buckhold did even better turning in a mark of 13.82 meters (45-4.25) to take the No. 6 spot while Montague claimed the No. 10 spot at 13.39 meters (43-11.25).
On the women's side, freshman
Serenity Burnett-Perry took third in the 100 meters with a time of 12.46 seconds while finishing second behind Arceneaux in the 200 at 24.86 to debut fourth in CMU history.
Victoria Eversley also moved into a tie for ninth in program history with a time of 25.34 seconds.
In the 400,
Sophie Lindauer moved up two spots to fourth in CMU history with a time of 57.26 seconds while
Jordan Burnett finished in 57.68 to slide into Lindauer's former sixth place position in the Maverick all-time top 10.
Brooke Miller also made her outdoor debut and took over the No. 3 spot in in the 800 meters at 2:17.78.
Kira MacGill also fared well in the 1,500 meters, running to a time of 4:44.64 to take the No. 5 spot on the Mavs' all-time performers' list for that event.
The Mavs also had three of the four top finishers in the 100-meter hurdles, run into a head wind, as
Averie Griffith finished second in 15.02 seconds while
Jordan Brockman took third in 15.18 to tie
Mica Jenrette for tenth in CMU history. Jenrette finished fourth in 15.19 seconds on Saturday. Griffith also finished third in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:05.60.
Rachel Meeks finished the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:57.16 as the fourth Maverick to ever contest that discipline.
Another freshman in
Daisy Rinehart also cleared 3.35 meters (10-11.75) to move into a tie for second in program history.
The Mavs had two of the top three finishers in the triple jump as
Kiana Jackson placed second with a final round mark of 11.59 meters (38-0.25) while
Chian DeLoach finished third with an effort of 11.00 meters (36-1.25).
In the shot put, Meleaah Holmes-McKown finished fifth with a throw of 11.87 meters (38-11.25) while freshman
Heather Yackey placed eighth with a mark of 11.07 meters (36-4) to move into the No. 9 spot of program history.
Earlier Holmes-McKown had set a PR of 44.98 meters (147-7) to take third in the hammer throw.
Finally, the Mavs' 4x400-meter relay quartet of Burnett,
Jordyn Pittman, MacGill and Eversley finished in 3:56.70, the eighth fastest time in program history.
The Mavericks will continue their outdoor season next Friday and Saturday at the Colorado Invitational in Boulder before hosting another meet on Apr. 15-16.
