NEW ORLEANS— Ten Colorado Mesa University track & field athletes earned 12 all-region honors while four were named as the regional top performer by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association while recently announced its all-region honors following the conclusion of the regular season.

The top-5 individuals in each event from each of the nation's eight NCAA Division II regions, according to the season-long performance lists, earn the awards as does each member of the region's top-3 relay teams.  The Mavs are part of the South Central Region along with the rest of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and Lone Star Conference.

Jumpers Zace Buckhold and Miller Jones led the Maverick contingent as both were 2-event selections as seven different Maverick men earned nine total honors.

Jones was the top performer in the triple jump and will enter this week's NCAA Division II National Championships as the No. 2 overall seed in that event with his school-record setting jump of 15.84 meters (51 feet, 11 ¾ inches) that enabled him to win the RMAC title.  He also earned all-region honors in the long jump.

Buckhold earned the all-region honors in both the high and triple jumps and will contest the triple jump in what will be his national championship debut this week in Emporia, Kansas.

Meanwhile, Eddie Kurjak (high jump) and Kelsey Montague (400 meter hurdles) were also named as the Regional Top Performers in their respective events that they will contest at the national meet.  Kurjak, the RMAC champion, is seeded tenth nationally with his season-best mark of 2.15 meters (7-0.5) after earning two USTFCCA First Team All-America honors and the USTFCCCA Men's Field Athlete of the Year honor during the indoor season.  Montague will be making his national championship debut after winning the RMAC title in a school-record time of 51.91 seconds (52.02-converted).  He is a first time all-region selection.

The Mavs' other all-region honorees on the men's side are Justin Blanton (400 meters), Dawson Heide (decathlon) and Justin Thompson (long jump).  Heide and Thompson will wrap up their illustrious careers in those events at the national championships after having won ten combined all-America honors as two of the most decorated Maverick track & field athletes in program history.  Blanton is a first time all-region selection and won the RMAC title with a school-record time of 47.08 seconds (47.19-converted). 

The Maverick women had three different all-region honorees, a group led by Josie Coffey, who has now earned the honor in all eight seasons of her CMU career.  She was also named as the Regional Top Performer for the fourth time and will enter the national championships as the co-No. 1 seed with her season-best jump of 1.80 meters (5-10.75).  She also won the RMAC title for the fifth time last month.

Sophomore Augustine Hancock and freshman Kylee Kielian also earned all-region honors.  Hancock was selected in the hammer throw and set the school-record with a throw 55.88 meters (183-4) in order to qualify for her first national championship meet.

Kielian, is a first-time all-region pick, and was the silver medalist in the triple jump at the RMAC Championships with her career-best and NCAA Championship provisional qualifying mark of 12.14 meters (39-10).