GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University track and field teams will host their second and largest home meet of the year on Thursday and Friday while sending a handful of the program's elite athletes to Austin, Texas for this week's 98^th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
 
The bulk of the Mavericks squad will compete in the High Desert Dental Maverick Invitational, which will feature more than 350 athletes from eight teams around the state.
 
Home Meet Schedule
 
The final schedule (Updated Wednesday Night) for the home meet can be found here.
 
The men's hammer throw will be the first event of the meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning.  The Javelin throw and long jump events will also be contested in the field that day while distance running events will take center stage in the evening hours beginning at 5:15 p.m.
 
The bulk of the meet will be held on Friday with the women's 10,000 meters being added to the schedule at 9 a.m. with field event action in five different disciplines, starting at 10:30 a.m.
 
Most of the running events will then begin at 1 p.m. following a Senior Recognition ceremony at 12:30 p.m.
 
At 4:30 p.m. on Friday, the Mavs will host a community mile race with chances to win cash, courtesy of meet sponsor High Desert Dental.  More information about that can be found below.
 
Who's Competing
 
Seventy Maverick athletes (36 men, 34 women) are slated to compete throughout the meet.

They will be going against five other Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams in Adams State, Colorado Christian, CSU Pueblo, Fort Lewis and Western Colorado as well as smaller groups from Colorado Northwestern Community College and Trinidad State College.
 
A host of other athletes, including several on the CMU roster, will also compete unattached.
 
A full list of the Mavericks entries in 33 of the meet's 39 total events, can be found later in this preview.
 
Fans can follow the results through this live results link.
 
A daily recap will also be posted on www.cmumavericks.com.
 
Texas Group
 
Meanwhile, a group of elite Maverick athletes will be in Austin, Texas for this week's Texas Relays. 
 
That meet begins on Wednesday with the first day of the collegiate decathlon and heptathlons although the Mavericks' group will not compete until Thursday.
 
Here is a list of those Mavericks along with the events and currently scheduled start times (Mountain Time Zone) for their events.
 
The Texas Relays website with more complete information can be found here.
 
Live results from that meet can be seen here.
 
Thursday
12 p.m.- Women's Javelin Throw (University/College) – Kaiya Graves
3:30 p.m.- Women's 400 Hurdles (University/College Prelims & Timed Finals)  – Kammi Merritt
 
Friday
8:55 a.m.- Men's 4x100m Relay University/College Clyde Littlefield Prelims – CMU "A"
9 a.m.- Men's Long Jump University/College Section B – Antone Higgs
10:05 a.m.- Women's 100m University/College Prelims & Timed Final – Kammi Merritt & Hannah Schissler
10:05 a.m.- Men's 100m University/College Prelims & Timed Final – Teo Casados & Marik Cummings
2 p.m. – Men's Triple Jump University/College Section B – Antone Higgs
4 p.m.- Men's Javelin Throw  - Izaak Siefken
4:35 p.m.- Women's 400m Hurdles University/College Women Finals – Kammi Merritt*
 
Saturday
9 a.m.- Women's Discus Throw University/College Section B – Kaiya Graves
12:30 p.m. – Men's 100m University/College Finals*
1:54 p.m.- Women's 100 University/College Finals- Kammi Merritt & Hannah Schissler*
2:14 p.m.- Men's 100m University/College Finals- Teo Casados & Marik Cummings*
2:35 p.m.- Men's 200m Invitational – Teo Casados & Joseph Randolph
 
*-Pending Qualification
 
Community Mile
 
As part of their meet sponsorship, High Desert Dental and the Mavs are hosting a community mile race at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.  The race is open to the public and is a great chance for community members to test their fitness while aiming for prize money.
 
The men's and women's winners will receive $300.  Second place finishers will receive $150 while third place finishers will earn $50.
 
Anyone that wants to race can enter at https://engage.supportingcmu.org/event/high-desert-dental-community-mile/e776103.  Entries are $10 per person and will be accepted until 4 p.m. on Friday.
 
Last Time Out
 
The Mavericks had a successful meet on the road in Pueblo last Friday and Saturday at the Chuck Haering Invitational.
 
The Maverick women set a pair of school records while CMU athletes combined to set four new NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying marks.
 
Kaiya Graves broke a school record for the second straight meet and won the discus throw while Hannah Schissler, Elaina Arcand, Waycee Harvey and Kammi Merritt set a new Maverick standard in the 4x400-meter relay.
 
The Mavs also racked up nine second place finishes and two third place marks during the meet.
 
For a full recap of Saturday's action, please click here.
 
Freshman Addison Hayes also won the women's triple jump during Friday's portion of the meet, which included competition in three different field event disciplines.
 
National Ranking
 
The Maverick men are 14^th in the first set of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association's NCAA Division II TFRI (Track & Field Ratings Index), which was published on Tuesday.
 
The Mavericks have 122.60 points in the computerized rankings and are one of three RMAC teams inside the top 25 with Colorado School of Mines sitting fifth at Checkpoint #1, two spots ahead of CSU Pueblo.
 
The outdoor top 25 ranking is CMU's first since the 2024 campaign, when the Mavs were ranked as high as 11^th in the Week No. 2 rankings.
 
Two meets, two records
 
Maverick junior thrower Kaiya Graves has set two school records in two different events over the past two meets.  The Laurel, Montana native recorded a discus throw mark of 47.30 meters (155-2) on Saturday in Pueblo to break the nearly 2-year old CMU record of 46.77meters (153-5) that Heather Yackey had set at the 2024 RMAC Championships.
 
Graves' throw also took over the RMAC performance list lead and puts her 13^th on the national list.
 
At the previous meet, Graves had broke her own javelin record with a mark of 43.56 meters (142-11).  That mark has slid down to 23^rd on the national performance list as of Wednesday but still ranks her second in the RMAC.
 
Fast Relays
 
The Mavericks also turned in some fast relay times on Saturday in Pueblo.
 
The women's 4x400-meter quartet of Hannah Schissler, Elaina Arcand, Waycee Harvey and Kammi Merritt posted a time of 3:47.52 to take down a 5-year old school record by 1.37 seconds.
Earlier in the day, Merritt, Sylvia Johansen, Genesis Nehmer and Schissler had posted a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 46.08 seconds in the 4x100-meter relay.  That effort, which converts to 46.20 with the altitude adjustment, leads the RMAC by over a half-second and puts the Mavs ninth on the national list.

The time was also the 11^th fastest in program history.
 
Both relay squads finished second in their respective races.
 
The maverick men also finished second in the 4x400-meter relay to close out Saturday's meet.  The quartet of Aidan Brownell, Blake Anderson, Jordan Fraser and Joseph Randolph ran to a time of 3:18.94, tenth fastest in program history.  They also finished second.
 
The relay marks came after the Maverick men smashed the CMU record in the 4x100-meter relay at the previous home meet on Mar. 20.  Their time of 39.62 (39.74-converted) continues to lead the country and was the third fastest in RMAC history.
 
Indoor Honors
 
Nine Maverick women and seven Maverick men earned All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors for the recently completed 2025-26 indoor season.  Those honors were officially announced by the conference in conjunction with the major awards, which were determined by a vote of the conference's head coaches.
 
The All-RMAC honors were strictly based on the finishes at the Feb. 27-28 RMAC Championships in Gunnison, where the Mavs men took third while the women finished in a tie for sixth.
 
The seven Maverick men combined for four first team and nine overall honors.  CMU's women garnered three first team and ten overall honors.
 
First team plaudits go to the top three finishers in each individual event as well as to members of the winning relay teams.  Second team certificates go to the fourth through sixth place individual finishers and to the members of the runner-up relay teams.
NCAA Rankings
 
Early this season, the Mavericks have already posted nine NCAA Championship provisional qualifying marks, including three that put the Mavs in the top ten of the country.
 
Here's a look at all of the Mavs' early season national rankings, which they hope will hold up for national selection.  The top 22 declared athletes in each individual event will earn NCAA selection for the May 21-23 meet in Emporia, Kansas.  The top 16 relay teams in each event will also be selected as will the top 16 declared men's decathletes and women's heptathletes.
 
Men
200m- 12. Joseph Randolph (21.01*)
400m Hurdles- 11. Aidan Brownell (52.49*)
4x100m Relay- 1. Colorado Mesa (39.74*)
Triple Jump- 8. Antone Higgs (15.08m/49-5.75)
Javelin Throw- 6. Izaak Siefken (68.58m/225-0)

Women
400m Hurdles- 15. Kammi Merritt (1:01.10*)
4x100m Relay- 9. Colorado Mesa (46.20*) – 12^th overall list including schools with multiple performances
Discus Throw- 13. Kaiya Graves (47.30m/155-2)
Javelin Throw- 23. Graves (43.56m/142-11)
 
*-Altitude Adjusted Time

Home Meet Entries
 
The Mavericks have entered 70 athletes (36 men, 34 women) into the meet and are expected to compete in 33 (17 women's, 16 men's ) total events.  They have made 132 total entries.
 
All of the Mavericks' entries are listed below.
 
Men (36 Athletes, 65 Entries)
100m (1)- Walker Mathews
200m (2)- Jackson Berninger, Hayden Moreno
400m (2)- Berninger, Justin Blanton
800m (11)- Jackson Baker, Quintin Collins, Dillon Elliott, Edgar Hernandez, Peter Leary, John McGill, Jack Singleton, James Talbot, Jayden Thulson, Kyle Towne, Winter Whittle
1500m (8)- Chase Brown, Owen Frank, Kael Jex, Evan Morrison, Dominick Muller, Ryan O'Loughlin, Alex Spink, Colton White
5K (5)- Baker, Brown, Collins, Spink, White
110m Hurdles (4)- Aidan Brownell, AJ Iarusso, Keim, Trevor Kendall
400m Hurdles (2)- Brownell, Logan Hafey
3K Steeplechase (4)- Frank, Morrison, Muller, O'Loughlin
4x400m Relay- 2 Teams
High Jump (1)- Keim
Pole Vault (2)- Keim, Cooper Van Maurer
Long Jump (1)- Moreno
Hammer Throw (7)- Jackson Bevan, Van Chambers, Dillon Davis, Kannon Garrettson, Kaiden Major, Austin Schultz, Cain Trimble
Shot Put (5)- Bevan, Davis, Major, Schultz, Trimble
Discus Throw (8)- Bevan, Chambers, Davis, Garrettson, Keim, Major, Schultz, Trimble
 
Women (34 Athletes, 67 Entries)
100m (1)- Sylvia Johansen
200m (5)- Elaina Arcand, Emily Fowler, Johansen, Atahlia Mills, Abby Varner
400m (4)- Arcand, Fowler, Waycee Harvey, Varner
800m (4)- Quin Dedrick, Brooke Miller, Jordan Staniszewski, Sofia Voss
1500m (9)- Elizabeth Boice, Dedrick, Lauren Hodges, Megan Hodges, Wehazit Kelati, Nadine Klive, Daisy Lalonde, Alexandra Schipai, Shirley Weaver
5K (5)- Caitlyn Boyle, L. Hodges, M. Hodges, Kelati, Lalonde, Staniszewski
100m Hurdles (4)- Rimari Facey, Mills, Kaitlyn Pearson, Jessie Schaffer
400m Hurdles (3)- Facey, Olivia Langner, Schaffer
3K Steeplechase (3)- Klive, Schipai, Weaver
4x400m Relay- 1 Team
High Jump (3)- Kaelea Gibson, Pearson, Natalie Smythe
Long Jump (3)- Harvey, Emily Hruby, Ritzmann
Triple Jump (1)- Gibson
Hammer Throw (5)- Aliyah Bos, Augustine Hancock, Brilee Jensen, Jaylynn Morgan, Elly Thiem
Shot Put (4)- Bos, Jensen, Pearson, Thiem
Discus Throw (7)- Bos, Hancock, Jensen, Kylie Mayer, Morgan, Marlee Morris, Thiem
Javelin Throw (4)- Mayer, Morris, Pearson, Ritzmann
 
Colorado Mesa turns 100
 
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.

Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
 
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com.
 
Up Next
 
The Mavericks will continue their season next week at the Colorado School of Mines' Kit Mayer Invite in Golden next Friday and Saturday (Apr. 10-11).