GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University will host the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the first time, playing host to the 3-day meet from Friday through Sunday at the Bergman Sports Complex.

Events begin at 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

A complete meet schedule and the links to purchase tickets can be found on the championship webpage.

Single-day general admission tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students, seniors and children.  Complete meet passes are $33 for adults or $23 for students, seniors and children.

The meet will also be streamed on multiple channels RMAC Network, although a subscription is required for the pay per view event.  The daily pass price is $9.95 while an all-weekend access pass can be purchased for $25.

Live results can also be accessed at the link above.

In the Rankings

The Maverick men are ranked 17^th in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's NCAA Division II National Track & Field Ratings Index.  They are the third of four RMAC squads inside the top 25 with No. 11 Colorado School of Mines, No. 16 Western Colorado and No. 22 Adams State also making up the group.

The women's field is even deeper with five nationally-ranked squads, a group led by No. 1 and 2024 NCAA Division II Indoor Champion Adams State.  The Mines and Western women are ranked seventh and 13^th, respectively, while New Mexico Highlands and UCCS are also in the top 25 at No. 21 and No. 23.

CMU's women are 35^th in the national index, which is designed to be a predictor for national championship, but based only on marks from this season.

That national index does not always translate well to a conference championship predictor.

However, the USTFCCCA also produces a conference ratings index.  The UCCS men, who are not in the top 25 of the national index, lead that with 1,127.67 points ahead of the Mavericks (975.72), Mines (903.42) and the rest of the 13-team men's field.

UCCS also leads the women's index with 927.64 points, slightly ahead of Adams State (916.31).  Mines is third with 839.84 while the Mavs sit fourth with 825.05.

Meet History

UCCS has dominated the conference meets in recent memory winning each of the last four women's RMAC outdoor titles and the last three men's titles.  Adams State's men have won a league-high 15 crowns but last won the title in 2016.  Adams State's women have won 18 titles, the last of which came in 2017.

The Mavericks have never won the title but are hoping that being at home will change that.  The Maverick women took fourth last year after scoring a program-record 102 team points.  They finished a program-best third with 81 points in 2022 and were also third at this year's RMAC Indoor Championships.
 
The CMU claimed a second place finish, their highest ever, at the 2023 RMAC Championships with a program-record 125 ½ team points.  They then finished third at this year's RMAC Indoor Championships, again with program-record team score.

In & Out

Three Maverick men and two Maverick women won RMAC indoor titles in February and will be hoping to make it a 2024 RMAC title sweep this weekend.  Freshman Miller Jones claimed the triple jump and was later named as Co-Freshman of the Year during the indoor season while Eddie Kurjak won high jump.  Justin Thompson was also victorious in the long jump and claimed his second career overall RMAC title.

On the women's side, Josie Coffey won her fourth career RMAC title in the high jump over the winter while Katie Thomson claimed the pentathlon.

Top Seeds

The Mavericks have the No. 1 seed in seven different events heading into this week's championships, according to the conference's season-long performance lists.

Fifth-year senior Elijah Williams leads the RMAC season-long performance list in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes with seed times of 10.40 and 20.76 seconds, respectively.

Meanwhile, senior Kelsey Montague leads the 400-meter hurdled field with a time of 52.36 seconds.

The Mavs also lead the performance list in both the men's and women's high jumps with Eddie Kurjak (2.15 meters) and Josie Coffey (1.80 meters).

Miller Jones tops the men's triple jump field at 15.61 meters while new team member Izaak Seifken leads the RMAC in the javelin throw of 58.97 meters set at the Maverick Invite #2 just two weeks earlier.

Dawson Heide also leads the decathlon performance list at 7,125 points but will not contest the that grueling event.  Instead, he will try to score valuable team points in five different disciplines.

Who's Competing

The Mavericks will be represented in 38 (19 men's, 19 women's) of the 42 total events throughout the meet.  Sixty-Nine different Mavs (33 men, 36 women) will be competing after qualifying as one of the top 24 declared student-athletes in their respective event(s).

Here are the list of Maverick entries by event along with their seed time or mark in parenthesis…

Men
100m (7)- Teo Casados (10.52), Kade Christensen (10.59), Marik Cummings (10.58), Walker Mathews (10.78), Jeremiah Reed (10.68), Beau Thornton (10.78), Elijah Williams (10.40)
200m (7)- Justin Blanton (21.40), Casados (21.23), Cummings (21.64), Quentin Hartel (21.54), Amaris Mora (21.79), Reed (21.60), Williams (20.76)
400m (2)- Blanton (48.27), Dawson Heide (49.61)
800m (3)- Dylan Campbell (1:54.98), Kyle Towne (1:53.60), Jayden Thulson (1:55.87)
10K (1)- Jacob Dalrymple (31:36.43)
3K Steeplechase (1)- Kevin DeGree (9:35.68)
100m Hurdles (3)- Logan Hafey (15.35), Heide (14.68), AJ Iarusso (16.32)
400m Hurdles (3)- Casey Amori (1:00.55), Hafey (57.50), Kelsey Montague (52.36)
4x100m Relay (1 Team)- 40.45
4x400m Relay (1 Team)- 3:22.46
High Jump (3)- Zace Buckhold (2.07m), Heide (1.91m), Eddie Kurjak (2.15m)
Pole Vault (1)- Garrett Searls (4.37m)
Long Jump (6)- Salem Brunk (6.53m), Buckhold (7.31m), Heide (6.87m), Miller Jones (7.53m), Kurjak (7.14m), Justin Thompson (7.61m)
Triple Jump (5)- Brunk (14.26m), Buckhold (14.91m), Miller Jones (16.51m), Kurjak (14.00m) Thompson (14.80m)
Discus Throw (2)- Nathan Jones (44.37m), Jameson Moore (43.64m)
Hammer Throw (1)- Nathan Jones (54.66m)
Javelin Throw (3)- Heide (57.69m), Izaak Siefken (58.97m), Seth Sherwood (54.68m)
Shot Put (1)- Nathan Jones (14.10m)
Decathlon (3)- Evan Atkin (5671), Levi Hoenninger (5986), Moore (5239)
 
Women
100m (4)- Jordan Burnett (11.95), Serenity Burnett-Perry (12.16), Gaby Horton (11.71), Sylvia Johansen (12.07)
200m (3)- Burnett (24.32), Burnett-Perry (25.19), Horton (23.63)
400m (2)- Elaina Arcand (57.92), Emma Dikken (58.33)
800m (1)- Brooke Miller (2:14.18)
1500m (1)- Lauren Hodges (4:44.16)
3K Steeplechase (2)- Rachel Meeks (11:48.67), Nadine Klive (12:29.47)
10K (1)- Kirstin Williams (35:39.93)
100m Hurdles (2)- Jordan Brockman (14.93), Rimari Facey (15.66)
400m Hurdles (3)- Facey (1:07.18), Emily Fowler (1:07.43), Lexie Williams (1:08.18)
4x100m Relay (1 Team)- 45.89
4x400m Relay (1 Team)- 4:06.18
High Jump (5)- Brockman (1.60m), Josie Coffey (1.80m), Kaelea Gibson (1.60m), Hope Matteson (1.67m), Preslee Moser (1.60)
Long Jump (7)- Jordan Brockman (5.35m), Venesa Handzhiyska (5.79m), Addy Kirkpatrick (5.45m), Kylee Kielian (5.50m), Lily Nieslanik (5.39m), Alyssa Pedraza (5.71m), Matteson (5.80m)
Triple Jump (5)- Coffey (10.59m), Handzhiyska (11.79m), Kielian (11.83m), Moser (11.36m), Natalie Smythe (11.38m)
Discus Throw (7)- Aaliyah Bos (37.50m), Kaiya Graves (40.10m), Augustine Hancock (42.78m), Marlee Morris (37.78m), Christina Palmer (46.10), Virginia Tomon (37.11m), Heather Yackey (42.19m)
Hammer Throw (3)- Hancock (53.61m) Lily Lofland (41.87m), Palmer (47.15m)
Javelin Throw (1)- Graves (40.91m)
Shot Put (4)- Hancock (12.35m), Katie Thomson (12.45m), Palmer (13.72m), Tomon (12.42m)
Heptathlon (4)- Brockman (2896), Sophie Lindauer (2400), Matteson (3600), Thomson (3977)