GOLDEN, Colo. – The Colorado School of Mines Men's and Women's Track & Field teams closed the Front Range #4 meet on Saturday afternoon and walked away with numerous NCAA qualifying times.
 
Front Range #4 produced a total of 23 entries on the 2020-21 NCAA Division II Indoor Qualifying list curated by TFRRS. Twelve of those listings came on the final day as Mines, Colorado Christian, CSU Pueblo and MSU Denver competed exclusively in running events. The first action of the day was the 3,000-meter run in which Zoe Baker ran 9:55.80 for the #4 time in all of DII this season. Heather Keniry also ran 10:17.65 in the same event to rank #26 in the nation. Both performances hit NCAA provisional standards.
 
For Mines, the action continued in the 60-meter hurdles where true freshman Everett Delate raced to the finish line in 8.14 seconds. Delate's performance provisionally qualified him for the NCAA championships, ranking #17 in the nation and also improves is all-time ranking in Mines history where he currently sits #3. Teammate Joe Whitney wrote his name in the program record book as well with his 60-meter hurdle time of 8.59, tying him for #8 in Mines' history. That sprint success rolled into the 400-meter dash where Joey Maguire won the men's event with his time of 51.67, and Amena Nelson upped her #10 all-time mark in program history to 1:00.04.
 
As the races got longer, the excitement grew more intense. In the 800-meter run, true freshman Troy Kneese produced a personal record of 1:56.64 as he and Ben Abueg finished #1 and #2 in the event. However, fellow Oredigger Aryelle Wright stole the 800-meter show on the women's side as she ran 2:14.04. Wright's time improved her previous provisional mark and shot her up to #3 in the nation and #4 in Mines' indoor record book. Wright was also part of the distance medley relay on Friday that posted the #4-ranked time in NCAA Division II this season.
 
The final event of the day arguable proved the most exhilarating. Orediggers appeared in both the men's and women's 5,000-meter runs. Molly Maksin had a huge race for the women, finishing in 17:39.67 which moved her from #12 to #6 in the nation. She also took over #10 in the program record book. Maksin was paced by teammate and roommate Zoe Baker who ended up finishing the entire race and would've had the nation's #7 time if she didn't already rank #2 in the event. Baker finished the weekend with appearances in the DMR, 3,000-meter run and 5,000-meter run with national top-10 times in all three events. She ran the last half of the 5K in lane two of the track. Additionally, Maddie Geesen finished the 5K in 18:17.37.
 
On the men's side in the 5K, Mines added two more automatic qualifiers to the national list. Loic Scomparin ran 14:34.46 and now ranks #5 in all of DII. He also would've broke the Steinhauer Fieldhouse track record from a year ago if it hadn't already been shattered earlier this season. John O'Malley also punched his ticket to the national meet by running 14:37.41. He now ranks #8 in the nation. Duncan Fuehne also ran a NCAA time of 14:13.99 to rank #23 in the nation. Fellow Oredigger Max Sevcik finished in 15:05.08.
 
Overall, Mines closed its indoor regular season with 36 entries on the 2020-21 NCAA Division II Indoor Qualifying list. With conference championships slated for next weekend, the Orediggers' final contingency for the 2020-21 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships is yet to be determined.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines track & field on Twitter and Instagram at @csmtrack. You can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.