GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University's Megan Hodges set an improved NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying time of 16 minutes, 53.44 seconds to win the 5,000 meters in the morning before Austin Schultz and Augustine Hancock won the men's and women's hammer throws in the afternoon on the first day of the Western Slope Conversion Classic.
 
Hodges' time, which will convert to around 16:29 with the altitude adjustments from the CMU Track & Field Complex, will move her up several spots on the season-long national performance list and will likely qualify her for the national meet later this month in Emporia, Kansas.
 
She had come into the day ranked 20^th at 16:37.29.
 
CMU Assistant Coach Greta Van Calcar paced Hodges for much of the race after twin sister Lauren Hodges and teammate Shirley Weaver ran alongside her in the earlier laps before dropping out.
 
Later in the day, Schultz won the hammer throw with a career-best of 49.33 meters (161-10) to move into a tie for ninth on the program's all-time top 10 list.   Van Chambers finished second with a season-best mark of 48.91 meters (160-5.5) while Cain Trimble, Jackson Bevan and Dillon Davis all had massive personal-best efforts to finish third through fifth, respectively.
 
Hancock took the women's half of the event with a mark of 49.83 meters (163-5.75).  Aaliyah Bos was second at 43.73 meters (143-5.5) while Elly Theim took fifth with a throw of 37.85 meters (124-2).
 
The bulk of the meet will be contested on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m.