HILLSDALE, Mich. – Led by a quartet of seniors, the Colorado School of Mines outdoor track and field teams blazed the Ken Herrick Track inside Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium for nine NCAA Provisional qualifying times Friday at the 47th Annual Hillsdale College Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Michigan.
Senior Tyler Curtis turned in his second Provisional of the outdoor season, breaking his school record and capturing second overall in the 35-runner Bill Lundberg 3000-Meter Steeplechase in 9:02.43. The fourth-best time in the RMAC was nearly one second faster than his previous-best, set in 2010 at the Beach Invitational in California.
Senior Russell Drummond ran a Provisional and the No. 6 time in the conference in the 1500, finishing third out of 26 in 3:50.78. Junior Frank Socha placed sixth in 3:52.39 and red-shirt freshman Drew Kerschieter took ninth in 3:52.90.
In the women's 1500, senior Hannah Schuster achieved a new personal-record as well as the No. 2 mark in program history and No. 3 effort in the RMAC with a Provisional time of 4:30.95, good for 10th out of 28.
Senior Hannah Cooling provisionally qualified with a ninth-place effort of 36:43.62 in the 21-runner Gina Van Laar Lanser 10,000-Meter Championship, becoming just the second female Oredigger ever to run a sub-40:00.00 at the 10,000 distance. Her time also ranks No. 4 in the RMAC.
Red-shirt freshman Marty Andrie posted a Provisional and the conference's sixth-fastest 5000 time, taking eighth of 30 in 14:23.71.
Sophomore Phil Schneider headed a pack of four Orediggers in the 24-runner, 10,000-field, stopping the clock in third place in 29:37.99. Junior Andrew Epperson followed in ninth in 29:52.15; red-shirt freshman Derek Alcorn was 10th in 29:53.16 and junior Sean Gildea claimed 11th in 29:55.37. All four results bettered the Provisional requirement and rank fourth through eighth in the RMAC top-10, while the times of Schneider, Epperson and Alcorn were each personal-records, occupying No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 in the school record book.
The third and final day of the Relays gets underway tomorrow afternoon.
