GUNNISON, Colo.— Kammi Merritt,
Hannah Schissler and
Megan Hodges all found their way on to the podium as the Colorado Mesa University women's track and field team had a solid day of performances on the second and final day of the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Championships here at Western Colorado University's Mountaineer Field House.
Merrit claimed the silver medal in the 400 meters with a NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying and career-best time of 55.69 seconds while Hodges also ran to a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 10:23.20 to claim the bronze medal in the 3,000 meters.
Meanwhile, Schissler took third in the 200 meters with a time of 24.96 seconds after placing fifth in the 60 with a time of 7.71.
The Mavs also picked up a fourth place finish from
Brooke Miller in the 800 meters, another from
Augustine Hancock in the weight throw and capped the day with a fourth place 4x400-meter relay effort from
Elaina Arcand,
Waycee Harvey,
Jessie Schaffer and
Cami Costello while finishing in a tie for sixth place out of 15 squads in the overall team standings with 58 points.
Sophomore triple jumper
Kendra Ritzmann also contributed to the total with a fifth place jump of 11.47 meters (37 feet, 7 ¾ inches).
Merritt's 400-meter time moved her up two spots to second in program history and with the altitude and track-size conversion that lowered her time to 55.17, puts her in a tie for 24
th on the season-long NCAA Division II performance list.
Hodges ranks 39
th with her converted mark of 9:47.02.
Miller, the school-record holder, led three Mavericks in the 800 with a time of 2:16.80 while
Maya Kobylanski jumped in to the No. 8 spot of program history with a time of 2:20.93, good for ninth place on the day.
Jordan Staniszewski also placed 13
th in 2:22.99.
In the mile,
Autumn McQuitty finished 17
th with a time of 5:29.88.
The 4x400-meter relay team broke the 4-minute mark, finishing in 3:59.90.
In the field, Hancock tallied a mark of 16.68 meters (54-8.75) while
Aaliyah Bos also reached the finals, taking ninth with a career-best heave of 15.57 meters (51-1). Freshman
Brilee Jensen also competed taking 18
th with a second round throw of 12.63 meters (41-5.25), sandwiched between a pair of fouls.
Meanwhile, Ritzmann led four Mavericks in the triple jump as
Addison Hayes took tenth with a career-best of 11.12 meters (36-5.75) to take over the No. 10 spot of program history.
Natalie Smythe finished 15
th at 10.67 meters (35-0.25) while Harvey fouled on all three of her attempts.
In the high jump,
Kaelea Gibson,
Misha Edwards and Hayes all cleared 1.58 meters (5-2.25) on their first attempts. Gibson finished ninth on total misses while Edwards and Hayes set season-bests to tie for 11th.
UCCS won the team title in a landslide with 157 ½ points to win by 81 over New Mexico Highlands (76.5). The Colorado School of Miens and Western Colorado tied for third with 70 while Adams State took fifth with 70, just two more than the Mavs and CSU Pueblo, who tied for sixth.
