GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— An elite portion of the Colorado Mesa University Maverick track and field squad will head to Pittsburg, Kansas this weekend in hopes of securing their return trips next month as the Mavericks will compete in the 9^th Annual Gorilla Indoor Classic at Pittsburg State University's Plaster Center, which will also be the site of the Mar. 8-9 NCAA Division II National Championships.
 
Meet Schedule
 
The final meet schedule calls for action to begin at 2 p.m. CST (1 p.m. MST) on Friday afternoon with the men's weight throw.  The long jump, high jump and pole vault events will also be contested on Friday.  That day's running events will begin at 3 p.m. CST (2 p.m. MST).
 
On Saturday, running events will begin at 11 a.m. CST (10 a.m. MST) while the men's shot put and men's triple jump will begin the field event schedule an hour later. 
 
Live results can be found here.
 
The meet will also be streamed on the MIAA Network, which requires purchased access.
 
Who's Competing
 
The Mavericks have entered 21 (10 men, 11 women) athletes in this weekend's meet, all but two of whom have already set an NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying mark in at least one event.  However, many of those entered currently sit on or outside the likely selection bubble and will hope to improve upon earlier season-bests this weekend, which will also a double as their chance to preview the championship site.
 
The Maverick contingent should be fresh as only two of the entered Mavericks competed last week at the Big Red Machine Open.
 
Here is a complete list of the Maverick entries for this weekend's meet, by event:
 
Men
60m (3): Elijah Williams, Teo Casados, Kade Christensen
200m (3): Williams, Casados, Christensen
400m (2): Justin Blanton, Kelsey Montague
60m Hurdles (1): Dawson Heide
4x400m Relay: 1 Team
Distance Medley Relay: 1 Team
High Jump (1): Eddie Kurjak
Long Jump (4): Zace Buckhold, Miller Jones, Dawson Heide, Justin Thompson
Triple Jump (3): Buckhold, Jones, Kurjak

Women
60m (1): Gaby Horton
200m (3): Jordan Brockman, Jordan Burnett, Horton
400m (1): Burnett
60m Hurdles (4): Brockman, Sophie Lindauer, Hope Matteson, Katie Thomson
4x400m Relay: 1 Team
High Jump (6): Brockman, Josie Coffey, Kaelea Gibson, Lindauer, Mateson, Thomson
Long Jump (5): Brockman, Venesa Handzhiyska, Kylee Kielian, Mateson, Thomson
Triple Jump (2): Handzhiyska, Kielian
Weight Throw (1): Augustine Hancock
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks sent a large contingent, including some less experienced and younger athletes to the Big Red Machine Open in Gunnison.
 
The Mavericks combined for five event wins and seven other runner-up finishes.  They also had eight new additions or improvements to their program top-10 performer lists while Kirstin Williams set an NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying time in the 5,000 meters thanks to the altitude and track size adjustments.
 
For a complete recap of the meet, click here.
 
Maiden trip to the winner's circle
 
As mentioned above, the Mavericks won five events at the Big Red Machine Open in Gunnison and Western Colorado University's Mountaineer Fieldhouse.  Included in the list of Maverick winners were three freshman who claimed their first collegiate event wins.
 
Freshman Mia Munoz won the long jump with a season-best mark of 5.41 meters (17 feet, 9 inches) while redshirt freshman Kate Linstedt won the 3,000 meters in 11:28.48 leading a 1-2 Maverick finish ahead of Lauren Hodges.  Freshman Salem Brunk also won the men's triple jump with a mark of 14.14 meters (46-4.75) to move into the No. 8 spot of Maverick history in that discipline.
 
Meanwhile, redshirt junior Kristin Williams won the 5,000 meters for the second time this season after also claiming that event in her Maverick track and field debut at the Colorado Running Company Pre-Holiday Open in December.  Williams is a transfer from Division I Utah Tech and led the Maverick cross country team as a NCAA Division II National Championship qualifier.
 
Redshirt senior Kade Christensen also won the 60 meters on Saturday, claiming his second win of the season after taking the 200 meters at the Mountaineer Open in December, also held in the Mountaineer Fieldhouse.
 
Top Ten Updates
 
Here's a more detailed look at the eight new or improved marks on the CMU's all-time top-10 performers lists that CMU athletes set last week at the Big Red Machine Open.
 
Here's a more detailed look of the new marks on the top-10 lists, which can be accessed in full at these links (MEN - WOMEN).
 
Men (4)
60m- 6. Marik Cummings (6.85)
Triple Jump- 8. Salem Brunk (14.14m/46-4.75)
Weight Throw- 5. Nathan Jones (16.78m/55-0.75), 10. Cameron Kalaf (15.97m/52-4.75)
 
Women (14)
60m- 8. Sylvia Johansen (7.67)
High Jump- T8. Kaelea Gibson (1.63m/5-4.25), T8. Preslee Moser (1.63m/5-4.25)
Weight Throw- 4. Christina Palmer (15.40m/50-6.25)
 
NCAA Qualifiers
 
As has been the case for the past two years, there are no longer any automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Division II Championships , rather athletes will be gunning for marks well above the provisional qualifying standards determined by a 5-year average of the 40^th place performer on the national performance list.
 
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.
 
A total of 540 athletes (270 men & 270 women) will be selected for the national meet with desired minimum field sizes of 16 for individual events, 14 for combined events and 12 for relays.
 
Eighteen different Mavericks individuals plus the men's 4x400-meter relay have combined for 30 provisional qualifying marks thus far in the season.  Ten of those marks are currently ranked inside the top desired field size range.
 
Here's a look at the current Maverick NCAA Championship provisional qualifiers by event with their current national rank. (altitude-adjusted if applicable in parenthesis).
 
Men 
60 Meters
17. Elijah Williams- 6.76
26. Teo Casados- 6.79
200 Meters
11. Casados- 21.28
18. Williams- 21.46
60 Hurdles
12. Dawson Heide- 7.93
4x400m Relay
31/22*- Kelsey Montague, Williams, Justin Blanton, Casados- 3:15.27
High Jump
2. Eddie Kurjak- 2.20m (7-2.5)
20. Zace Buckhold- 2.08 (6-9.75)
Long Jump
2. Justin Thompson- 7.56m (24-9.75)
25. Kurjak- 7.33m (24-0.75)
30. Miller Jones- 7.28m (23-10.75)
37. Buckhold- 7.22m (23-8.25)
50. Heide- 7.13m (23-4.75)
Triple Jump
10. Kurjak- 15.14m (49-8.25)
13. Jones- 15.12m (49-7.25)
32. Buckhold- 14.59m (47-10.5)
Heptathlon
2. Heide- 5559
 
*-CMU is the 22^nd fastest school but the 31^st best overall time (each school permitted only one entry for NCAA Championships).
 
Women
200 Meters
21. Jordan Burnett- 24.46
35. Gaby Horton- 24.73
400 Meters
24. Burnett- 55.80
5000 Meters
39. Kirstin Williams, 17:17.30
High Jump
6. Josie Coffey- 1.74m (5-8.5)
Long Jump
28. Venesa Handzhiyska- 5.78m (18-11.75)
Triple Jump
10. Venesa Handzhiyska- 12.10m (39-8.5)
40. Kylee Kielian- 11.76m (38-7)
Weight Throw
22. Augustine Hancock- 17.63m (57-10.25)
Pentathlon
16. Katie Thomson- 3647
38. Jordan Brockman- 3365
47. Sophie Lindauer- 3287
48. Hope Matteson- 3285
 
Conference Leaders
 
Six different Mavericks have the RMAC season-long performance list leader in combined eight different events heading into the weekend.  Dawson Heide and Eddie Kurjak both lead the RMAC in two different events.
 
Here's a look at the Mavs' conference leaders with their marks (altitude-adjusted if applicable).
 
Men
200m- Teo Casados (21.28)
60m Hurdles- Dawson Heide (7.93)
High Jump- Eddie Kurjak (2.20m/7-2.5)
Long Jump- Justin Thompson (7.56m/24-9.75)
Triple Jump- Kurjak (15.14m/49-8.25)
Heptathlon- Heide (5559)
 
Women
200m- Jordan Burnett (21.46)
High Jump- Josie Coffey (1.74m/5-8.5)
 
Program-Record National Ranking
 
The Maverick men moved up two spots to a program-record seventh in the latest (Week No. 3) U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association National Indoor TFRI (Track & Field Ratings Index), released on Tuesday.  The Mavs have now been ranked amongst the top ten for three straight weeks after last claiming a top 10 ranking in the 2018-19 preseason edition after finishing the 2017-18 season ranked 11^th.
 
The Mavs now have a score of 89.03 points in the rankings, which are designed to be a mathematical predictor of NCAA Championships success purely based on season-best marks reported to AthleticNET through early Monday morning
 
CMU's women continued to sit 35^th nationally.
 
On a regional basis, the Maverick once again sit third in the South Central Regional Index, which would predict a purely hypothetical regional meet.  The Maverick women are still seventh in that ranking.
 
The Maverick men are ranked second in the RMAC index while the women are fourth.
 
To see all the rankings, please visit the USTFFFCA's weekly Index release page.
 
Jump & Multi City
 
Although all aspects of the program have contributed, the Mavericks have definitely been paced by their jumping athletes so far this season, under the direction of jumps coach John Gabriel.  Fourteen of the Mavericks' NCAA Division II qualifying marks to date have come in the three jumping (high, long and triple) disciplines while five others have come in the multi-event disciplines (men's heptathlon, women's pentathlon) that both include the long and high jumps. 
 
Head Coach Brad Gamble, a former NCAA Division II National Champion in the heptathlon during his collegiate years, largely coaches the multi-event athletes.
 
Those efforts have been recognized in the #EventSquad Rankings, that the USTFCCA also produces in conjunction with the overall index rankings.  To qualify for those #EventSquad rankings, a squad must have four different athletes set a legal mark at some point throughout the season.  The season-best marks of each of the four athletes are then added together to form the rankings.  The Maverick men sit second in both the heptathlon (18,049) triple jump rankings (58.99 meters) and also rank third in the long jump (29.39) and sixth in the high jump rankings (8.08). 
 
Notably, the Maverick men are also ranked fifth in the 200 meters and seventh in the 60 meters.
 
Meanwhile, the CMU women are ranked sixth in both the high jump (6.64) and triple jump (45.38) and eighth in the long jump (22.31).  They are also ranked also a strong second in the pentathlon with a 4-person aggregate score of 13,465 points.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks plan to send a contingent to next Friday's (Feb. 16) Western Colorado Open in Gunnison, a final tune-up for the Feb. 23-24 RMAC Championships in Spearfish, South Dakota.  Many of those athletes already assured of a spot in the RMAC Championships will likely skip the Western meet to rest in hopes of larger glory at the RMAC or NCAA Division II National Championships.
 
In order to qualify for the RMAC Championships in an individual event, an athlete must rank amongst the top 18 declared athletes on the season-long RMAC performance lists in that event.