GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— More than 50 Colorado Mesa University track and field athletes will compete in this weekend's Kit Mayer Invite at the Colorado School of Mines' Stermole Track & Field Complex in Golden as the Mavericks continue their young outdoor season.
 
The Mavericks have entered 54 athletes (28 men, 26 women) into the meet, which will get underway on Friday afternoon with competition in three field events.  A bulk of the meet will be contested throughout the day and into the evening on Saturday.
 
A complete meet schedule can be accessed here.
 
Live results and a free live stream on the RMAC Network will also be available.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks got their outdoor season underway last weekend at the CSU Pueblo Open at the ThunderBowl, which will play host to the NCAA Division II Championships at the end of the season.
 
2022 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year Sierra Arceneaux got her 2023 season off to a fine start, smashing her own school-record to win the 200 meters while posting another NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying time as the runner-up and top collegiate finisher in the 100 en-route to RMAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week honors.
 
Kira MacGill and the Mavericks' men's 4x100-meter relay teams also posted provisional national champion qualifying times while the relay squad of Beau Thornton, Teo Casados, Kade Christensen and  Elijah Williams also broke a school-record.
 
Elsewhere, Justin Blanton won the 400 meters while Cameron Kalaf took the javelin throw with a personal-best for the CMU men while Averie Griffith was victorious for the CMU women in the 400-meter hurdles, some of the numerous highlights for the Mavs in their season-opening meet.
 
In the 200, Arceneaux blazed to a time of 23.47 seconds, well under her former record of 23.87.  Even with the altitude-adjustment penalty, she still ranks second in Division II this season at 23.54.  The redshirt senior from Aurora, Colorado also posted a time of 11.49 seconds in the 100 and ranks seventh nationally with the altitude-adjusted mark of 11.52.  Her actual time was just off her own school-record of 11.45 that she used to win the RMAC title here last spring.
 
Meanwhile, the relay team ran to a runner-up time of 40.35 seconds to smash the former Maverick standard of 40.69 while moving into the No. 12 spot on the national qualification list with an altitude-adjusted time of 40.47.
 
MacGill also ranks 13tth on the national list in the women's 5,000 meters after finishing second in 17:22.93, which converts to 16:56.32 at sea level.
 
Blanton took the 400 in 48.36 seconds and now ranks second in program history and on the RMAC season performance list with a converted time of 48.47.
 
Kalaf also ranks second in the RMAC and on the Mavs' all-time top-10 list with his javelin mark of 57.10 meters (187-4), a nearly 2-meter PR over his former best of 55.27 meters (181-4) from last season.
 
Top Ten Updates
 
Including the new school-records by Arceneaux and the men's 4x100-meter relay team, the Mavericks combined to set 25 new or improved marks on the program's all-time top 10 performers' lists.
 
The new marks can be seen below.
 
Men
100m- 2. Teo Casados (10.57), 7. Joey Zook (10.76)
200m- 5. Sterling Brassfield (21.8), 10. Joey Zook (22.04)
400m- 2. Justin Blanton (48.36)
110m Hurdles- 5. Dawson Heide (14.89)
400m Hurdles- 4. Kelsey Montague (55.00)
4x100m Relay- 1. Beau Thornton, Teo Casados, Kade Christensen Elijah Williams (40.69)
4x400m Relay- 7. Kelsey Montague, Justin Blanton, Dawson Heide, Logan Hafey (3:18.62)
High Jump- T3. Eddie Kurjak (2.03m/6-7.75)
Pole Vault- 4. Becker Ell (4.55m/14-11)
Long Jump- 4. Zace Buckhold (7.07m/23-2.5), 6. Dawson Heide (6.90m/22-7.75)
Hammer Throw- 5. Jameson Moore (51.35m/168-6)
Javelin Throw- 2. Cameron Kalaf (57.10m/187-4)
 
Women
200m- 1. Sierra Arceneaux (23.47), 6. Gaby Horton (25.20), 10. Avry Kennison (25.31)
5K- 2. Kira MacGill (16:43.13)
400m Hurdles- 9. Lexie Williams (1:07.13)
Long Jump- 7. Jordan Brockman (5.62m/18-5.25)
Shot Put- 2. Virginia Tomon (12.54/41-1.75), 8. Heather Yackey (11.45m/37-6.75)
Discus Throw- 5. Augustine Hancock (39.50m/129-7)
Hammer Throw- 10. Heather Yackey (39.93m/131-0)

NCAA Qualifiers
 
The NCAA made a change to qualification procedures for last year's national meets that has carried forward into the 2023 season.  There are no longer any automatic qualifying standard, only the provisional qualifying standards determined by a 5-year average of the 40^th place performer on the national (performance list)- LINK
 
Thus, coaches and athletes will be regularly checking on their position on the national qualification lists, especially as the season moves into the later weeks.
 
In their first outdoor meet, the Mavericks combined for four NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
 
A total of 754 athletes (377 men & 377 women) will be selected for the national meet with desired minimum field sizes of 20 for individual events, 16 for combined events and 14 for relays with maximum field sizes of 24 for individual events, 18 for relays and 16 for combined events.
 
Here's a look at the current Maverick NCAA Championship provisional qualifiers by event (rank as of Friday morning and mark (altitude-adjusted if applicable in parenthesis).
 
Men
4x100m Relay
12. Beau Thornton, Teo Casados, Kade Christensen, Elijah Williams (40.47)
 
Women
100m
7. Sierra Arceneaux (11.52)
200m
2. Arceneaux (23.54)
5K
13. Kira MacGill (16:56.32)
 
RMAC Leaders
 
The Mavs also have the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference leaders in three events after their first meet as Sierra Arceneaux leads in both the women's 100 and 200 meters while Averie Griffith places the conference in the women's 400-meter hurdles with an altitude-adjusted time of 1:05.05.
 
The Maverick women also have six other marks that rank inside the conference's top five while the CMU men have 13 such marks, including three that are ranked second best in the RMAC thus far.  Those are from the men's 4x100-meter relay listed above, Eddie Kurjak in the high jump (2.03m/6-7.75) and Cameron Kalaf (57.10m/187-4).
 
CMU's entries
 
As mentioned above, the Mavericks are sending 54 athletes to this week's meet.  The Mavs have made more than 100 total entries and are expected to have representation in 27 total events (13 men's, 14 women's) but are skipping the middle and distance events this week.
 
Here is the complete list of CMU's entries by event.
 
Men (28 Athletes, 51 Entries)
100m (9)- Justin Blanton, Kash Bradley, Sterling Brassfield, Rese McClinton-El, Jeremiah Reed, AJ Smallwood, Beau Thornton, Elijah Williams, Jeremiah Wilson
200m (10)- Blanton, Brassfield, Kade Christensen, Kelsey Montague, Reed, Smallwood, Thornton, Williams, Wilson, Joey Zook
400m (2)- Dawson Heide, Montague
110m Hurdles (2)- Logan Hafey, Nate Hanson
400m Hurdles (1)- Hafey
High Jump (4)- Trey Briggs, Zace Buckhold, Eddie Kurjak, Justin Thompson
Pole Vault (3)- Becker Ell, Kellen McConnell, Garrett Searls
Long Jump (3)- Bradley, McClinton-El, Thompson
Triple Jump (2)- Buckhold, Spencer Purnell
Shot Put (4)- Hafey, Heide, Hayden Riley, Jason Soderlin
Discus Throw (3)- Heide, Jameson Moore, Riley
Hammer Throw (4)- Cameron Kalaf, Moore, Riley, Soderlin
Javelin Throw (4)- Hafey, Heide, Kalaf, Gavin Korkeakoski
 
Women (26 Athletes, 50 Entries)
100m (6)- Elaina Arcand, Kierra Arceneaux, Emma Dikken, Victoria Eversley, Gaby Horton, Avry Kennison
200m (7)- Arcand, Arceneaux, Jordan Brockman, Serenity Burnett-Perry, Dikken, Eversley, Reilly Hall, Katie Thomson
400m (2)- Sierra Arceneaux, Hall
100m Hurdles (4)- Brockman, Averie Griffith, Mica Jenrette, Thomson
400m Hurdles (3)- Griffith, Jenrette, Lexie Williams
4x100m Relay- 1 Team
High Jump (3)- Josie Coffey, Kaelea Gibson, Megan King
Pole Vault (2)- Paige Doran, Daisy Rinehart,
Long Jump (3)- Kierra Arceneaux, Lily Nieslanik, Taeryn Trumper
Triple Jump (4)- King, Kiana Jackson, Nieslanik, Natalie Smythe
Shot Put (6)- Brockman, Jenrette, Augustine Hancock, Thomson, Virginia Tomon, Heather Yackey
Discus Throw (3)- Hancock, Tomon, Yackey
Hammer Throw (3)- Hancock, Tomon, Yackey
Javelin Throw (3)- Brockman, Jenrette, Thomson
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will host next week, holding the Maverick Multi next Thursday and Friday (Apr. 13-14) and the Maverick Invite on Friday and Saturday (Apr. 14-15).  Meet information and tentative schedules for those competitions are now available.