David Hemery Valentine Invitational
at Boston University, Friday 10 a.m. ET/Saturday 9 a.m. ET [FloTrack] [Live Results] [Schedule]

Gorilla Classic
at Pitt State, Friday, 2 p.m. CT/Saturday, 12 p.m. CT [MIAA Network] [Live Results] [Schedule]

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OREDIGGERS SPLIT UP FOR ELITE COMPETITION THIS WEEK
In their final weekend of regular-season competition, Colorado School of Mines is seeking out two of the nation's best meets to lay down more national marks as they head to Boston University's David Hemery Valentine Invitational and Pitt State's Gorilla Classic. BU will see one of the best distance fields assembled anywhere in the nation this winter, while Pitt State represents arguably the top overall D-II meet in the regular season. Both meets will have pay-per-view streaming (BU on FloTrack and Pitt State on the MIAA Network) and live results at the links above.

OREDIGGERS SHINE IN HOME MEET
Steinhauer Fieldhouse was friendly to the Orediggers last weekend as they came away with multiple elite performances at the Mines Winter Classic & Multi. Friday saw new program records by Hannah Miller in the pole vault and Lexye Wood in the long jump (more on them in a minute), plus top-10 NCAA times in the 3,000m by Zoe Baker and Molly Maksin and both the men's and women's distance medley relays. Avery Wright and Sidney Walshaw made their pentathlon debuts and each notched top-five performances all-time at Mines. On Saturday Mines had six event wins including Tim Thompson and Aryelle Wright in the 800m, Alberto Campa in the mile, Allison Comer in the 400m, Everett Delate in the 60m hurdles, and Grant Redmond in the high jump. 

BAKER, MILLER EARN WEEKLY HONORS
Tuesday was full of awards for Mines women's track & field team as Hannah Miller was named both the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week and RMAC Field Athlete of the Field, and Zoe Baker was tabbed the RMAC Track Athlete of the Week. Miller - the first Oredigger woman to ever win the national award - broke the RMAC and Mines records in the pole vault last Friday with the new #1 season performance in NCAA Division II, 4.16m, which ranks tied #10 all-time in D-II. Baker won the 3,000m run, recording the NCAA #6 performance of the season in 9:52.65, which converts to 9:28.54 at sea level. It is the second straight weekend that Baker ran an NCAA top-10 time after doing so in the mile at Colorado on Jan. 27.

IN THE RANKINGS
Mines' big weekend have both women and men trending up in the USTFCCCA rating index, with the women moving up two spots to #8 and the men three spots to #9 this week. It marks the first time both teams have been simultaneously in the top 10 since the 2021 season, and only the fourth week ever that has happened. 

A RECORD-SETTING WEEKEND
Hannah Miller wasn't the only one showing out at the Mines Winter Classic. A few feet to the left of the pole vault runway, Lexye Wood set another program record, this time in the long jump as she became the first Mines woman to eclipse six meters with her best attempt of 6.02m (19-9). Wood already co-holds the indoor high jump record at Mines, and now added the NCAA #5 performance of the season in the long jump to likely ensure her trip to nationals.

WHAT TO WATCH - BOSTON
On one of the world's fastest indoor tracks at Boston University, it'll be a who's-who of distance stars trying to secure their spots and seeding for nationals.

The 5,000m will be the main event, as no Oredigger has run the distance yet this winter. On the men's side, NCAA 10K and cross country national champion Dillon Powell returns to the track where he set the NCAA Division II record in the 5K last year (13:33.68) with eyes on going even lower. Among the top-seeded Mines men joining him are cross country bronze medalist Duncan Fuehne, John O'Malley, and cross country all-American Paul Knight. Two Mines men's recordholders will run their specialty distances for the first time this winter as Luke Julian will compete in the mile and Loic Scomparin the 3K; Julian will also attempt the 3K, where he already holds the NCAA #9 time set at Colorado.

The women's 5K will be led out by the two fastest women in the event in Mines history, Zoe Baker and Molly Maksin, as they seek to secure their NCAA spots at that distance; both women hold top-10 national times in the 3K. Clare Peters and Alex Raichart will run the mile, with the two coming off impressive performances in that event at the Colorado Invitational on Jan. 27 (Peters 4:58.44 and Raichart 5:01.89); Peters currently sits just outside the qualifying zone for nationals with the #18 time this season. 

WHAT TO WATCH - PITT STATE
Pitt State's Gorilla Classic represents a chance for Mines' sprinters, middle distance, and field athletes to compete against a meet full of national-caliber performers, with nearly the entire Oredigger non-distance contingent entered. 

Among many events to keep an eye on will be the women's 4x400, where the Orediggers will try to improve on their program-record time of 3:49.57 set in Boston earlier this season having since been pushed to the qualifying bubble at #14 in the nation. Another Oredigger looking to be pushed by a fast field is Everett Delate, Mines' 60m hurdles recordholder. He'll be in the elite prelims in a field that includes five of the top 10 fastest men in the event this year, including Delate who ranks 10th nationally. The men's and women's 800m runs will also be key events for Mines, with Tim Thompson battling for national qualification on the men's side in a race that includes four top-16 performers in D-II, and Aryelle Wright and Mackenzie Duck trying to lock down times in another elite field making up the women's race.

Mines' field athletes are having a tremendous season and all of the Orediggers' top performers will be back in action this weekend, including Invitational Pole Vault entries for the women's quartet of Hannah Miller, Avery Herbold, Dale Thompson, and Ava Kowalski plus men's leader Hunter Potrykus and Invitational High Jump appearances for Lexye Wood and Grant Redmond. Mines will also have entrants in the open versions of the weight throw, shot put, triple jump, long jump, and high jump.

ON THE LIST
Of 23 total NCAA provisional performances this season, Mines set or improved 14 of them at the Winter Classic. The women currently hold 15 NCAA provisional qualifying marks including nine inside the national top 16 led by Hannah Miller's new #1 performance in the pole vault and Avery Herbold's #4 mark in the same event. Mines added or improved 11 of those marks over the weekend including Lexye Wood's #5 national long jump performance, Zoe Baker's #6 3K time, and the distance medley relay's #4 time. The men hold eight provisional performances with six in the national top 10 including the new #7 DMR time of the season and Hunter Potrykus' #5 pole vault bar set over the weekend. Mines' distance crew will look to add to the list this weekend in Boston as Dillon Powell and Loic Scomparin already own the #2 and #4 marks, respectively, in the mile and Luke Julian the #9 3K time.

NEW HEIGHTS
Mines has its deepest-ever class of women's pole vaulters on the roster this year, and they had a very impressive Friday at the Winter Classic. Mines' top five vaulters each set new collegiate-best heights at the meet, and set the top four and five of the top six performances all-time at Mines - in addition to Miller's program and RMAC record, Avery Herbold joined her as the only other woman to clear four meters with a 4.06m personal best, Ava Kowalski and Dale Thompson each made it over 3.81m, and Gabbi Varela hit a new best of 3.66m. 

LOOKING AHEAD
The postseason begins in two weeks as Mines heads to the RMAC Indoor Championships at Adams State on Feb. 24-25. The NCAA Division II Championships are set for March 10-11 in Virginia Beach.