GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Kaelea Gibson cleared a career-best and NCAA Division II Championship qualifying height of 1.70 meters in the women's high jump as she was one of six Colorado Mesa University event winners during a day filled with personal-bests on Friday during the High Desert Dental Maverick Invitational.
Gibson, a senior from Green River, Wyoming, set three new personal-bests during her series and ended the day atop the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference performance list while moving up four spots to second on the CMU all-time performers list behind only multiple-time all-American Josie Coffey.
Meanwhile,
Brooke Miller won the 800 meters in 2:13.12 and now ranks fifth on the RMAC list with an altitude-converted mark of 2:12.47.
Olivia Langner also won her first collegiate individual event, taking the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.74, a quarter-second improvement over her former personal best from two weeks ago.
On the men's side, the Mavericks won three events throughout the day, sweeping both hurdling disciplines while claiming victory in the discus throw.
Aidan Brownell won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.80 seconds and was on his way to victory in the 400-meter discipline before falling over the last hurdle as teammate
Logan Hafey won the race in a season-best time of 55.57 seconds.
Earlier,
Van Chambers won the discus throw with a throw of 47.32 meters (155-3).
Fellow thrower
Kaiden Major also had a good day taking fourth in the shot put with an outdoor career-best mark of 14.85 meters (48-8.75) to move up a spot to seventh on CMU's all-time outdoor performers chart.
In the pole vault, Maverick freshman
Cooper Van Maurer made his collegiate debut and cleared 4.56 meters (14-11.5) to take second place on the day while vaulting into the No. 6 spot of program history. Fellow freshman
Asa Keim also cleared 4.26 meters (13-11.75) to finish third after representing the Mavs in the high jump with a clearance of 1.80 meters (5-10.75).
On the track,
Kyle Towne finished third in the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.74 while
Jayden Thulson had a career-best of 1:54.13 to finish fourth while moving up a spot to eighth in CMU history.
Chase Brown also had a solid effort of 3:58.02 in a loaded 1,500-meter field while freshman
Colton White finished in 4:01.41 to move into the No. 8 spot of program history.
In the sprints,
Justin Blanton took fifth in the 400 meter with a time of 49.76.
Thulson,
John McGill,
Kyle Towne and
James Talbot also recorded a 4x400-meter relay time of 3:26.35 to finish second.
The Maverick women also had five second place finishes on the track as
Sylvia Johansen won the top seeded section of the 100 meters in 12.32 seconds while
Elaina Arcand took second in the 400 with a time of 57.85 seconds.
In the 100 hurdles,
Kaitlyn Pearson set a career-best time of 14.54 seconds to finish second while
Jessie Schaffer turned in an effort of 1:03.90 to take second in the 400-meter variety.
Abby Varner, Arcand, Miller and
Quin Dedrick also had a second place time of 4:02.13 in the 4x400-meter relay.
In the field,
Aaliyah Bos took third in the women's shot put with an outdoor career best of 11.97 meters (39-3.25) after
Augustine Hancock finished second in the discus throw with an effort of 42.76 meters (140-3) while
Kylie Mayer finished fourth at 42.63 meters (139-10).
The Mavericks also have a small group of athletes competing at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin.
The Mavs will continue their season next week at the Colorado School of Mines' Kit Mayer Invite in Golden.
