GOLDEN, Colo.— Augustine Hancock and Autumn McQuitty scored team points while the Maverick women advanced runners to the finals in all four of the events that had Day 1 preliminary heats and have three of the top five athletes in the heptathlon standings as the Colorado Mesa University women's track & field team had a solid day of efforts despite rainy conditions at the 2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday.
 
The Colorado School of Mines is hosting the 3-day meet through Sunday here at the Stermole Track & Field Complex.
 
Hancock took seventh in the hammer throw while McQuitty finished eighth in the 10,000 meters, book-ending the day.
 
In between, freshman Atahlia Mills, put up 2,676 points in the first four events of the heptathlon to stand third while leading fellow Maverick freshman Kaitlyn Pearson by seven points.  Katie Thomson is fifth with 2,563.
 
Gaby Horton (100), Sophie Lindauer (400), Megan Hodges (1500) and Kammi Merritt (400 Hurdles) also advanced to Sunday's finals while Lily Nieslanik made the finals in the long jump, before finishing ninth.

Hancock, the defending conference champion and Maverick record holder, posted a mark of 51.19 meters (167-11) on her fourth attempt to lead a group of three Mavs in the hammer throw.  Christina Palmer, slated to compete in all four throwing events this weekend, finished 15^th at 43.69 meters (143-4) while Aaliyah Bos smashed her former personal-best with a throw of 43.34 meters (142-2) to place 16^th while moving into the No. 9 spot of program history.  Her third round throw was nearly 12 feet better than her previous career-best and RMAC Championship qualifying effort.
 
A trio of Mavs also shined in the 10K at the end of the night as McQuitty finished in 37:47.54, a 37-second improvement over her career-best from just two weeks ago here in Golden.  She moved into the No. 4 spot of program history.
 
Kendall White (38:06.82) and Kate Linstedt (38:43.48) also shaved significant time off their former career-bests and finished 11^th and 17^th, respectively.
 
In the 100 meters, Horton won her preliminary round heat in 11.71 seconds while Sylvia Johansen just missed out on the finals, placing ninth in 12.18 seconds.
 
Lindauer also fared well in the 400, running to a time of 57.29 seconds to take fifth place in the preliminary round. 
 
Meanwhile, Hodges earned a spot in the 12-woman 1,500-meter final, placing tenth in the prelims with a time of 4:51.29.
 
Merritt qualified fifth in the hurdles, running around the track in 1:02.93.  Jessie Schaffer finished tenth in 1:03.84, a new career-best that moved her up a spot to fifth in program history.  Olivia Langner also had a career-best time of 1:04.59 to take 12^th place.
 
In the field, Nieslanik recorded an opening round long jump effort of 5.34 meters (17-6.25) to hang on to ninth place.
 
The Mavs got out to a great start in the heptathlon as Pearson ran to a career-best time of 14.58 seconds to move into second on the Mavs' all-time performers list while faring the best in the 19-woman heptathlon field.  Mills was right behind in a career-best 14.62 seconds and sits third in CMU history.
 
Mills also finished second in the high jump portion of the competition, clearing 1.52 meters (4-11.75) while Pearson matched her season-best, tying for seventh at 1.43 meters (4-8.25).
 
Thomson, who will also compete in the open shot put later in the weekend, was the Mavs' top performer in that discipline, faring third best with a throw of 11.41 meters (37-5.25), just off her season-best.
 
Pearson (25.18) and Mills (25.85) then took second and third, respectively in the 200 meters.
 
With three team points through four of 21 events, the Maverick women are in a tie for eighth place in the early team standings.
 
The Maverick men scored 24 points in the first five scored events and stand third with 24 points, thanks in large part to a 1-3 finish in the javelin throw.