GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University Mavericks will get the indoor track & field season underway this weekend, sending a small number of sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers to the Mines Alumni Classic in Golden.  The Mavericks are sending ten total athletes (six women, four men), who will cover seven total (4 women's, 3 men's) events.
 
Meet Schedule
 
The 2-day meet in the Colorado School of Mines' Steinhauer Fieldhouse will begin Friday afternoon with action in the long jump and pole vault at 4:30 p.m. and the shot put an hour later.  The bulk of the meet will be contested on Saturday with the weight throw getting underway at 9:30 a.m. followed by the triple jump at 11 a.m.  A partial slate of running events will get underway at 1 p.m. while the high jump beginning at 1:30 p.m.
 
The Mavs will only be represented in the long and high jumps as well as the 60-meter dash for both the men and the women.  They also have four entrants in the women's 60-meter hurdles.
 
To view the complete and final schedule on Mines' website, please click here.
 
Live results can be found on the Mines website at https://minesathletics.com/tracklive.
 
There will not be any live streaming coverage of this weekend's meet
 
Who's Competing
 
Here is a complete list of the Maverick entries by event, along with the scheduled start times of each event.
 
Friday
4:30 p.m.- Women's Long Jump (5)- Jordan Brockman, Venesa Handzhiyska, Katie Thomson, Sophie Lindauer, Hope Matteson.
Men's Long Jump (Following women's) (4)- Zace Buckhold, Miller Jones, Eddie Kurjak, Justin Thompson.
 
Saturday
1 p.m.- Women's 60m Hurdle Prelims (4)- Brockman, Lindauer, Matteson, Thomson
1:30 p.m.- Women's High Jump (3)- Josie Coffey, Lindauer, Thomson
1:40 p.m.- Women's 60m Dash Prelims (1)- Handzhiyska
1:55 p.m.- Men's 60m Dash Prelims (1)- Thompson
Men's High Jump (Following women's) (2)- Buckhold, Kurjak
3 p.m.- Women's 60m Hurdle Final
3:10 p.m.- Women's 60m Dash Final
3:15 p.m.- Men's 60m Dash Final  
 
Jump Central
 
Mines' Steinhauer Fieldhouse is typically been a good venue for strong jumping performances for the Mavs and competition alike.
 
Justin Thompson set his CMU record long jump mark of 7.59 meters (24-11) in that facility in February and three of CMU's top four men's indoor performers have set their personal-best marks there.  CMU's indoor high jump record of 2.15 meters (7 feet, ½ inch) was also set there by Ethan Harris in the 2018 edition of the Mines Alumni Classic.  Eddie Kurjak also set his indoor PR of 2.05 meters (6-8.75) there as a freshman in the 2021-22 indoor season.
 
Three of the Mavs' top ten women's performers in program history have also set their mark there, including Whitney Rowe's now nearly 9-year old school-record of 6.25 meters (20-6.25).
 
Sophie Lindauer also set her PR of 1.66 meters (5-5.25) in the high jump in February, 2022, one of three top-10 ranking marks on the Mavs' all-time performers' charts.
 
Returning All-Americans
 
Three of the Mavericks' ten athletes entered in this weekend's meet are returning all-Americans.  Justin Thompson will enter his final season as a Maverick with five career all-America honors, one of which he earned with a sixth place finish in the long jump at last year's NCAA Division II Indoor Championships and will attempt to become the most decorated Maverick man in program history this year, a mark he currently shares with former pole vault great Nolan Ellis, who also earned five career all-America honors, including a 2018 indoor national title.
 
Meanwhile, Coffey will enter her redshirt junior indoor season with three career all-America honors in the high jump, the last of which was a second team outdoor plaudit in May.
 
Sophie Lindauer, also returns for her redshirt junior indoor season after earning her first career all-America honor as a member of CMU's 4x400-meter relay team that finished tenth at last year's national championships.
 
2-event (400 & 4x400m Relay) Maverick all-American Jordan Burnett also returns for her redshirt sophomore indoor campaign after winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles in both the 200 and 400 while distance star Kira MacGill is also on the Maverick roster once again after winning the RMAC Indoor title in the 5K while earning all-America honors in that discipline during both the indoor and outdoor seasons.  Neither Burnett nor MacGill are racing this week.
 
3-time all-Americans Dawson Heide, a multi-event standout, and Elijah Williams, a sprinter, are also back for their final collegiate indoor season, but will not compete this week.
 
Breakout Stars
 
Five of the other Maverick veterans expected to compete this weekend had breakout 2023 seasons, highlighted by strong performances at the 2023 RMAC Championships.
 
Jordan Brockman earned five of her eight career all-RMAC honors last year, including first team honors in the indoor pentathlon and outdoor long jump and scored 28 team points at the two championships, racking up 17 during the outdoor meet.
 
Hope Matteson also earned a Second Team All-RMAC honor and joined Brockman as a NCAA provisional qualifier in the pentathlon.  Thomson also earned Second Team All-RMAC honors in the multi events during both seasons a year ago. 

Those three women are using this week's meet to tune-up for a pentathlon at next week's Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Invite & Multi at UCCS in Colorado Springs.
 
Meanwhile, men's jumpers Zack Buckhold and Eddie Kurjak also had impressive 2023 campaigns.  Buckhold earned five of his six career All-RMAC honors last year, including a pair of first team honors in the outdoor high jump and long jump.  He scored 18 ½ team points at the outdoor championships, finishing second in the triple jump, third (tie) in the high jump, and fourth in the long jump.
 
Kurjak also set a NCAA Championship provisional qualifying mark in his final outdoor meet clearing over two meters in the high jump in six of his last eight meets.  He also earned Second Team All-RMAC honors during the outdoor season.
 
Newcomers
 
Two of the Mavs' entrants this week are highly-touted freshman recruits.
 
Miller Jones, a local standout from Grand Junction, won both the 4A state title in both the long and triple jump at the 2023 state championships and set the 4A State championship record of 50 feet, 5 inches in the triple jump after placing second as a junior and fourth as a sophomore in 2021.
 
Meanwhile, Venesa Handzhiyska hails all the way from Bulgaria, where she set personal-best of 8.07 (60m), 25.30 (200m), 58.63 (400m), the latter two of which would put her amongst the Mavs' all-time top 10.  She won the Bulgarian U20 title in the 200 during both the 2023 indoor and outdoor seasons.
 
Jones will compete in the long jump this week while Handzhiyska is entered in both the long jump and 60 meters this week.
 
In the Polls
 
Both Maverick squads were picked fourth in the RMAC Preseason Polls, that were released on Monday.  The Maverick women claimed a first place vote as well.
 
To see the complete polls, please click here.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will send larger contingents to two different meets next week as they wrap-up the pre-holiday portion of the season before returning to action in late January (Jan. 26-27) with meets at Mines and New Mexico. 
 
Next week, the Mavs will go to both the aforementioned UCCS meet next Friday and Saturday (Dec. 8-9) and the Western Colorado Mountaineer Open, which is only next Saturday (Dec. 9).