BOULDER – Led by underclassmen Phil Schneider and McKenzie Zeman, the Colorado School of Mines outdoor track and field team had a successful return to Boulder on Saturday, boasting 36 top-10 finishes at the Colorado Invitational at CU's Potts Field.

Schneider led a strong contingent of Orediggers in the men's 3000, taking second overall out of 38 runners in a time of 8:42.50, and was 10th in the 48-runner, 1500 field in 4:02.01.

Senior Russell Drummond and junior Frank Socha finished third and seventh in the 1500 with respective times of 3:57.72 and 4:01.37, while senior Rick Davey (8:48.36), red-shirt freshman Derek Alcorn (8:49.84), senior Adam Bodnar (8:52.61) and junior Andrew Epperson (8:53.50) placed six through nine in the 3000.

Zeman won her heat of the women's 200 in 25.88 en route to third overall out of 19 competitors and was seventh-fastest overall in the 400 with a time of 59.21. Both times are personal-records and rank No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the school record book.  

Freshman Margarita Schvachko was ninth in the 400 in 1:00.01.

In the men's 400, freshmen Ian Rozier and Nicholas Masching went 8-9 in 50.74 and 51.75.

Senior Tyler Curtis was the top Division II runner in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a NCAA Provisional and second-place time of 9:22.75, second-fastest in the RMAC this season and eighth-best nationally after conversions. He also took eighth in the 400 hurdles in 1:01.85.

Away from the track, sophomore Ben Timmer took third and tied his school-record in the pole vault from last weekend at the Air Force Relays, clearing 15-7.00 (4.75 meters); freshman Kenneth Philpott was eighth in the high jump at 6-1.25 (1.86 meters) and freshman James Lewis and red-shirt freshman Andrew Eberle posted eight- and ninth-place efforts 21-2.00 (6.45 meters) and 20-6.25 (6.25 meters) in the long jump.

In the javelin, senior Matt Schroeder and sophomore Nicolo Redfern had respective throws of 135-8.50 (41.36 meters), 128-7.25 (39.19 meters) to rank sixth and seventh on the day.

Freshman Jacob Hollister (43-5.75; 13.25 meters) and red-shirt freshman Jace Warren (43-1.75; 13.15 meters) were 9-10 in the shot put standings; sophomore Austin Roup was 10th in the discus with a mark of 149-5.50 (45.55 meters) and junior Ryan Ewen took 10th in the hammer throw with a toss of 155-2.75 (47.31 meters).

Sophomore Michelle Rigsby notched a trio of top-10 efforts, crossing in seventh in the women's 100 in 13.48 before taking sixth in the long jump with a distance of 15-11.50 (4.86 meters) and ninth in the triple jump, totaling 34-11 (10.64 meters).

Senior Hannah Schuster finished seventh in the 22-runner, 1500 field in 4:46.65, while classmate Hannah Cooling (10:38.50), red-shirt freshman Chloe Gustafson (10:38.50) and senior Jackie Henderson 10:45.97 went 7-8-10 in the 3000 distance.

Junior Casie Ratzlaff earned three top-10 finishes in the women's throws, placing sixth in the discus (115-9.25; 35.28 meters), eighth in the shot put (36-2.75; 11.04 meters) and 10th in the hammer throw (139-3.25; 42.44 meters).

Junior Kristina Gallmeyer placed eighth in the discus with a launch of 107-11.25 (32.89 meters) and senior Bailey Hoover, fresh off her program record from last Saturday, took seventh in the hammer throw behind a heave of 146-9.75 (44.74 meters).

The Orediggers will compete at two-day Western State Open next weekend in Gunnison, beginning Friday, April 19.