Day One Results

KINGSVILLE, Texas – The Colorado School of Mines Track & Field trio of Ricardo Ocampo, Ben Schneiderman and Dylan Ko highlighted the opening day of the 2019 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday as all three raced to All-America honors in the 10,000-meter run at Pepsi Field at Javelina Stadium.
 
In the last event of the day, Ocampo led the way for the Orediggers. He finished #7 in the nation in a time of 31:14.69 on a hot, humid night near the Gulf of Mexico. The finish provided First-Team All-America accolades for the Broomfield, Colo., native, marking the second such honor of his career. Schneiderman finished right behind his teammate at #8 in the nation with a time of 31:18.75, giving the redshirt senior his first-ever All-America award in first-team fashion. Ko rounded out the trio by finishing #9 and claiming second-team distinction. Also racing the 10,000-meters for Mines was Luc Hagen who placed #15 in all of NCAA Division II, crossing the finish line in 32:12.24.
 
Earlier in the day, five different Orediggers raced to the finals in their respective events. Kara Burton kicked it off in the 1,500-meter run by taking 10th place in a time of 4:34.42 to clinch a berth in Sunday's final race while also guaranteeing All-America status for the second time in her career. Luke Julian and Josh Evans carried that momentum into the men's 1,500-meter run. The duo punched its ticket for a shot at gold on Sunday with Julian posting the fifth-best time (3:55.57) and Evans running the seventh-fastest time (3:56.06) of the preliminaries. Vincent Workman also represented the Orediggers in the same race and turned in the #9-ranked time of the prelims, but just missed finals due to automatic qualifiers from a slower heat.
 
Less than one hour after the completion of the 1,500 meters, Megan Wenham clinched another finals berth for Mines. Her ticket was punched in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase as the senior charged to the ninth-best time of the preliminaries (10:59.45) and guaranteed another shot at glory in Saturday's final race at 7:15 p.m. (CT). Jake Mitchem followed suit in the men's steeplechase, using a late kick to finish #10 in a time of 9:16.41 and claim his spot in Saturday's race slated for 7:30 p.m. (CT).
 
Additional Oredigger action on opening day including Connor McLean in the men's pole vault, Triston Sisneros in the men's 400-meter hurdles and Michaela Reynolds in the women's 10,000-meter run. Highlights from that group included Sisneros racing the eighth-fastest time (52.96) in the preliminaries and putting himself in position for Second-Team All-America honors pending the outcome of Sunday's finals. Reynolds capped the day-one highlights by finishing #16 in the nation in the 10K, grinding through the heat and humidity to a final time of 39:58.06.
 
After one day of action, Mines' men are tied for #20 in the team standings with three points courtesy of Ocampo and Schneiderman. The Oredigger women did not record any points, but still have five individuals alive and able to score over the next two days.
 
Mines continues its 2019 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday starting at 1:30 p.m. with Gina Coleman in the women's discus. Live results and video of all the events will be available at www.minesathletics.com.