COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University sophomore
Salem Brunk claimed the gold medal with a career-best and NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying triple jump effort of 15.00 meters (49 feet, 2 ½ inches) to lead the Maverick men to a sixth place team finish at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, which wrapped up on Saturday here at the UCCS Mountain Lion Fieldhouse.
His third-round effort was more than two feet better than his former career-best of 14.28 meters (46-10.25), set two weeks ago, and proved to be good enough for the gold as UCCS' KJ McInnis put down a mark of 14.90 meters (48-10.75) in the sixth and final round while Brunk passed on his final three attempts.
Brunk now ranks 22nd on the season-long NCAA Division II Championship performance list but will likely fall just short of selection to the Mar. 11-13 national meet as only the top 18 declared athletes will be picked for a trip to Indianapolis.
He also moved to fifth in CMU indoor history with the winning mark, displacing teammate
Antone Higgs, who finished fourth on Saturday with a mark of 14.26 meters (46-9.5)
Brunk now ranks 22nd on the season-long NCAA Division II Championship performance list but will likely fall just short of selection to the Mar. 11-13 national meet as only the top 18 declared athletes will be picked for a trip to Indianapolis.
As of Saturday night, Higgs stands 14
th on the national list in the long jump and is looking likely for selection.
Elsewhere, the Mavericks scored six team points in the 60 meters as
Marik Cummings ran to a time of 6.82 seconds for the second straight day to place fifth.
Amaris Mora also finished seventh in 6.88.
The Mavs also got a fifth place finish from freshman
Aidan Brownell in the 60-meter hurdles and from their 4x400-meter relay team at the end of the day. Brownell turned in a time of 8.37 seconds while the relay quartet of
Kelsey Montague, Mora,
Quentin Hartel and
Dylan Campbell finished in 3:21.70, the eighth fastest time in program history and just six one hundredths of a second off the same quartet's season-best set on Feb. 1.
Montague, a fifth-year senior who was running in his final collegiate meet, also scored in the 400 meters, placing seventh in 49.84 seconds.
Campbell also scored a time point, placing eighth in the 800 meters with a time of 1:56.77.
Kyle Towne also represented the Mavs in the 800, placing 18
th.
The Mavs were also able to pick up an eighth place finish from freshman
Kaiden Major in the shot put. Major was seeded ninth coming into the meet and put down a mark of 14.68 meters (48-2) in the third round.
The Maverick women also received a gold-medal winning effort from Jordan Burnett in the 400 meters and a pair of runner-up finishes from Gaby Horton, who broke her own 60-meter record to finish third in the team standings for the third straight year.
