PUEBLO, Colo.— School-records in the men's 4x100-meter relay and the 400-meter hurdles, double-winning efforts from sprinters Gaby Horton and Elijah Williams, as well as stellar and winning jumping efforts from Justin Thompson and Eddie Kurjak highlighted a very positive day of action for the Colorado Mesa University track and field programs on Saturday at the CSU Pueblo Spank Blasing Invitational.
 
The Mavericks had set two school-records and won two events in Friday's smaller portion of the meet and then claimed six more event wins and eight NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying marks throughout Saturday's action at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.
 
Williams anchored the Mavs' relay team to a school-record and NCAA time of 40.33 seconds after Beau Thornton, Kade Christensen and Marik Cummings had run the earlier legs on the second place team. 
 
Williams then came back to run CMU's fastest 100-meter time in all conditions, winning the event in a wind-aided, but NCAA championship legal time of 10.37 seconds, significantly faster than his official school record of 10.48 seconds from two years ago.  He currently ranks sixth on the national performance list with his altitude-adjusted time of 10.40.
 
Williams also moved into the Division II's top 10 this season with a third place time of 20.99 (21.06-converted) in the 200 meters to cap a brilliant day.
 
Meanwhile, Horton was just as good on the women's side, winning both the 100 and 200 with NCAA provisional qualifying times.  She won the 100 in a wind-aided 11.68 seconds before taking the 200 in 23.97 seconds to move into second on the Mavs' all-time top 10 performers list behind only 2-time RMAC Track Athlete of the Year Sierra Arceneaux, who graduated following the 2023 season.
 
Horton is currently amongst the nation's top 10 in both even with the altitude-adjustment penalties that raised her times slightly to 11.71 and 24.04.
 
In between, Kelsey Montague set a school-record and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 53.16 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles, zooming past former record holder Marc Garcia.  Montague finished sixth in the event as the second fastest Division II runner in Saturday's field.
 
In the jumping events, Justin Thompson won the long jump with a wind-aided mark of 7.57 meters (24-10), matching his career-best while matching the Mavs' all-time all conditions best.
 
Kurjak, hot off winning two first team all-America honors during the indoor season, continued his fine high jumping form, clearing 2.15 meters (7-0.5) to move to second place on the Mavs' outdoor top performers list behind only 2019 national champion Ethan Harris.
 
Kurjak is now second on the national performance list while Thompson sits third.
 
The Mavs also had numerous other notable performances throughout the day.
 
Christensen took seventh in the 100 with a wind-aided time of 10.56 seconds, the fastest of his career while Cummings moved into third place on the Mavs' official top 10 list with a heat-winning time of 10.63 seconds to place ninth overall in the field of 59.

Meanwhile, Cummings (21.57) and Christensen (21.59) moved to second and third in the Mavs' program history behind Williams in the 200 while Jeremiah Reed posted an even faster, yet wind-aided time of 21.53 seconds.
 
In the 800 meters, freshmen Kyle Towne (1:54.41) and Dylan Campbell (1:55.86) posted impressive times in their outdoor debuts.  They are now ranked sixth and ninth, respectively on the Mavs' all-time performers list.
 
Kevin DeGree and Jacob Dalrymple did the same in the 5,000 meters as DeGree finished in 15:09.65 while Dalrymple crossed the line in 15:14.68.  They now rank sixth and seventh in CMU outdoor history.
 
Logan Hafey also posted a solid wind-aided time of 15.31 seconds and would have moved into the No.  spot of program history if not for the +2.3 wind reading in his heat.  Hafey also had a respectable time of 58.18 in the 400 meter hurdles.
 
In the field, Zace Buckhold cleared 2.00 meters (6-6.75) to take fourth in the high jump while Garrett Searls placed fourth as well in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.37 meters (14-4), just off his outdoor career best of 4.40 meters (14-5.25).
 
Buckhold also had an outdoor career best of 7.29 meters (23-11) to place seventh in the long jump while Miller Jones was right behind with a wind-aided mark of 7.28 meters (23-10.75).  He also had a wind-legal mark of 7.07 meters to move into seventh place on the Mavs' all-time list.
 
Kurjak also ranks fifth on that list after registering a ninth place leap of 7.14 meters (23-5.25) on his only recorded mark.
 
Nathan Jones also took over the No. 9 spot in CMU history for the shot put with a throw of 13.72 meters (142-3) while finishing tenth in the discus with a mark of 43.35 meters (142-3).
 
In the women's sprints, Sylvia Johansen finished sixth in the 100 wind a wind-aided time of 12.04 seconds while Serenity Burnett-Perry finished tenth in the 200 at 25.12 seconds.
 
Emma Dikken also placed seven in the 400 at 1:00.35 as the only Maverick representative in that event while Brooke Miller finished sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:14.90, shooting up two spots to second on the Mavs' all-time performers chart and just off of Alexia Champman's 2015 record of 2:14.74.
 
Lauren Hodges also moved to the No. 8 spot in CMU lore with a 1,500-meter time of 4:57.26.
 
Kirstin Williams also finished a strong second in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:39.69, which puts her fourth in CMU outdoor history.  Teammate Kate Linstedt is just outside the top 10 after running to a time of 18:55.52 on Saturday.
 
Jordan Brockman led four Maverick women in the 100-meter hurdles with a sixth place time of 14.89 seconds while freshman Emily Fowler made her debut with a time of 1:09.07 in the 400 hurdles.
 
Meanwhile, Rachel Meeks was eighth in the 3K steeplechase at 12:33.06.
 
Kaelea Gibson matched her outdoor career best of 1.60 meters (5-3) to finish in fifth in the high jump while Brockman cleared the same height to take seventh.
 
Hope Matteson led a group of eight Mavericks in the long jump, placing tenth overall with a leap of 5.35 meters (17-6.75) while school-record holder Virginia Tomon took ninth in the shot put at 12.22 meters (40-1.25).  Teammate Christina Palmer was 11^th at 11.95 meters (39-2.5) and debuts in the No. 5 spot program history.
 
Palmer also moved to second in CMU history in the discus with a debut effort of 43.89 meters (144-0) to place third.  School-record holder Heather Yackey was fifth at 42.19 meters (138-5) while Kaiya Graves finished eighth with a throw of 39.69 meters (130-2) to take over the No. 7 spot in Maverick history for that discipline, just one day after setting the Mavs' javelin throw record.