GOLDEN – On its home turf for the first time Saturday, the Colorado School of Mines outdoor track and field team produced 14 top-two finishes, including five wins at the inaugural CSM Division II Front Range Invitational at the Stermole Track & Field Complex/Crouch Field Events Complex in Golden.
Sophomores Ben Timmer and Austin Roup collected the first NCAA Provisional qualifying marks of the outdoor season for the Orediggers as Timmer won the pole vault competition with a career-best height of 15-4.50 (4.69 meters) and Roup took first in the hammer throw with a personal-record of 181-07 (55.35 meters), third-longest in Mines history,
Roup was also the top Oredigger in the discus, missing second by just two inches with a throw of 148-05 (45.23 meters).
Senior Cody Walega took third in the pole vault, clearing 14-4.75 (4.39 meters) on his first attempt at the height.
Also posting a win in the field disciplines was junior Kayla Johnson in the triple jump. Johnson was nearly two feet farther than her closest competitor, jumping 38-00.75 (11.60 meters), a personal-record and the No. 2 distance in program lore.
On the track, freshman Nicholas Masching recorded his first collegiate win, taking the 200-meter dash by 0.03 seconds in 22.65 and red-shirt freshman Marty Andrie topped classmate Drew Kerschieter in the 3000 with a time of 8:51.48.
Senior Bailey Hoover collected a pair of runner-up finishes in the throws, spinning the hammer 154-11 (47.21 meters) and the discus 124-01 (37.83 meters). Junior Casie Ratzlaff took runner-up in the shot put with a toss of 36-6.75 (11.14 meters) and was third in the discus with a distance of 124-01 (37.83 meters).
Senior Erin Beach clocked a collegiate-best of 15.08 in the 100 hurdles, placing second with the third-fastest mark at Mines and Johnson was fourth in a time of 15.99.
Red-shirt freshman Chloe Gustafson garnered third place in the women's 1500 in 4:53.92.
Seniors Peter Jenkins and Russell Drummond notched top-five results in the men's 800, taking second and fifth in times of 1:55.54 and 1:56.34, respectively.
In the men's 5000, Mines went 5-6-7 as senior Tyler Curtis beat classmate Ricky Davey (15:37.15) and red-shirt freshman Joe Bourgeois (15:52.81) to the line in 15:22.59.
The Orediggers have a short turnaround as the teams head to Colorado Springs next Thursday, April 4 for the three-day Air Force Relays/Combined Events.
