Friday Results
Photo courtesy Jordan Menard/UIndy

ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Colorado School of Mines Men's and Women's Track & Field teams continued their historic run at the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday with three more USTFCCCA First-Team All-Americans and a pair of second-team all-Americans.
 
Top-eight finishes for Grant Redmond, Jake Mitchem and Connor McLean helped Mines tie the program record for the most combined podium appearances between the men and women at a single outdoor championship. Second-team honors for Hayden Sather and Aryelle Wright brought the overall total to nine Oredigger all-Americans. Friday's surge provided Mines' men 14 more points and fueled the Orediggers' rise to second in the team standings. Mines' women ended their day sitting 14th on the merits of 6.5 points with three events left to score on the day.
 
Friday's first scorer was Redmond in the high jump. He cleared 2.05 meters (6-8.75) to take sixth in the nation and rack up three points. The redshirt freshman needed just one attempt at his top height which broke a tie for sixth and afforded Mines all three points. Redmond became the first Oredigger, man or woman, to earn all-America status in the outdoor high jump. Mines' only other high jump all-American besides Redmond was Gina Nichols at the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Mitchem struck next in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He entered the race seeded 10th in the country and finished third in the nation at a personal-best pace of 8:55.19. Mitchem's national bronze medal provided the Oredigger men with six more team points and marked the highest steeplechase finish for Mines since Tyler Curtis won back-to-back silver medals in 2013 and 2014. Mitchem also cemented his spot at #2 in program history in the steeplechase. He's second only to Curtis who ran 8:49.22 in 2014 at the NCAA Championships.
 
After two grueling days in the decathlon, McLean and Sather delivered a thrilling finish in the 1,500-meter run; the final race of the event. McLean hit his final kick over the last 200 meters to overtake Sather and cross the finish line in 4:37.32. It marked a seven-second personal best for the Highlands Ranch, Colo., native and brought his final point total to 7,136 which moved McLean from fifth to fourth in the nation. Sather's own personal record in the 1,500 meters of 4:37.20 pushed him from 10th to ninth in the nation thanks to 6,718 points and gave the senior his first-ever all-America award. McLean's fourth-place finish marked the highest finish of any Oredigger decathlete ever, and just the second podium appearance in the decathlon in Mines' history. Austin Smith was the last Oredigger decathlete on the podium in 2017. Additionally, Thursday and Friday made up only the second decathlon of McLean's career.
 
Wright rounded out a somewhat lighter day for the Orediggers and she made Mines history yet again. The redshirt freshman and defending RMAC Freshman of the Year ran the 800 meters in 2:12.28 to take 10th in the nation. Wright's finish made her the first-ever outdoor 800-meter all-American for Mines' women. In fact, the Cortez, Colo., native is the only Oredigger woman with 800-meter all-American status in indoor or outdoor track & field.
 
Mines closes the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday starting with the men's pole vault at 9:30 a.m. (CT). The men's shot put, men's 5K and women's shot put are also on the docket for the Orediggers. Live results, live video and the full schedule can be found at www.minesathletics.com.
 
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.