Mines hosts the Kit Mayer Classic
Friday and Saturday [Schedule] [Live Results/Entries] [RMAC Network]

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OREDIGGERS HOST FIRST OF TWO OUTDOOR MEETS
Colorado School of Mines hosts its first outdoor track & field meet of the season this weekend, welcoming some of the region's best competitors to Stermole Track for the Kit Mayer Classic on Friday and Saturday. Friday's schedule begins at 3 p.m. with the long jump, javelin, and shot put being contested; Saturday's slate starts with the hammer and discus at 10 a.m., pole vault and high jump at noon, the track program at 1:30 p.m., and the triple jump at 3 p.m. Expect large and competitive fields as the Orediggers welcome in RMAC rivals Colorado Mesa, Western Colorado, MSU Denver, and UCCS, as well as Division I programs Colorado and Wyoming plus D-III's Colorado College. 

FAN INFO
The meet will stream live and for free on the RMAC Network at minesathletics.com/tv, and live results, entries, and start lists are available at minesathletics.com/tracklive. For fans attending the meet, entry is free but fans are reminded that they must pay for on-campus parking on Friday (Saturday is free). Recommended parking is in Lot K, Lot Q, or the McNeil Parking Garage (see campus parking map).

WEATHER FORECAST
It should be an absolutely perfect weekend in Golden with highs in the lower 60s and mostly sunny conditions on both Friday and Saturday. Winds should also not be a factor as they have been the past few weekends. 

WHAT TO WATCH
In a word: plenty. The Kit Mayer Classic will be jam-packed with Orediggers looking for top performances on their home track. On the men's side, indoor mile national silver medalist Luke Julian is set to make his season debut in the 1500m while a host of Oredigger men - including cross country all-Americans Duncan Fuehne, Steven Goldy, and Paul Knight - will debut in the 5K. The men's 800m will also have a strong Mines look with the trio of Tim Thompson, Jonah Fallon, and Andy Gebhardt looking for quick times. Everett Delate has become a must-watch racer for Mines as he doubles up in the hurdles again, with fellow hurdler Coulton Chan running his career bests in the 110 and 400 the last two weekends. A number of field athletes are coming off season-best performances last weekend and will be in action at home including Grant Redmond in the high jump, Hunter Potrykus and Noah Kelly in the pole vault, and Arvid Veidmark IV in the discus. There is also an unattached entry of note in the pole vault as Mines alumnus and former national champion Jake Pinkston makes his return to Stermole Track to compete.

The women's track program is highlighted by Saturday night's 10K as the group of Molly Maksin, Clare Peters, Holly Moser, Alayna Szuch, and Ashleigh Loe go for NCAA times in what should be ideal conditions. Another pack of Orediggers - Aryelle Wright, Brin Strouse, Gabriela Kenly, and Lexi Herr - race the 1500m, while the 800m will be led out by Mackenzie Duck with Miranda Manfre and Randi Higashi. The women will also field 4x100 and 4x400 relays. In the field, Lexye Wood's double entry in the high jump and long jump highlights Mines' entries, as Wood returns to the former holding the program record, and hopes to go even further in the long jump after setting the #2 all-time Mines performance last week. One of the most dominant event groups in the nation, the Mines women's pole vaulters will be five strong led by indoor national champion Hannah Miller, and although there's no full multi this weekend, keep an eye on the Orediggers' heptathletes Avery Wright and Sidney Walshaw as they compete in multiple events this weekend. 

LAST WEEKEND
Mines had a record-breaking performance split between the Stanford Invitational and CSU Pueblo Open last weekend. On Friday at Stanford, Clare Peters and Dillon Powell each broke Mines 5K records while Molly Maksin (5K) and Alex Raichart (3K steeplechase) also ran national top-10 times. Saturday's meet in Pueblo saw Mines win six events overall led by strong NCAA-provisional performances from the women's 4x400 relay, Mackenzie Duck and Aryelle Wright in the 800m, Lexye Wood in the long jump, Grant Redmond in the high jump, and Everett Delate in the 400m hurdles. 

MINES WOMEN EARN HIGHEST-EVER NATIONAL RANKING
The Mines men and women debuted in the USTFCCCA national ratings index this week, which included the women's highest-ever outdoor ranking at #10. The Orediggers added 10 NCAA provisional performances last weekend and six of them rank in the top 10 nationally, including Clare Peters and Molly Maksin in the 5,000m (#4 and #8), Mackenzie Duck and Aryelle Wright in the 800m (#5 and #7), and Hannah Miller and Avery Herbold in the pole vault (#3 and #8). Alex Raichart is #12 in the steeplechase as is Lexye Wood in the long jump, while the women's 4x400 ranks #15 with Amena Nelson #22 in the 400m. The men are #17 in the USTFCCCA ratings behind seven NCAA provisional marks, including Powell's #1 5K. Grant Redmond ranks #4 in the high jump, Hunter Potrykus #6 and Noah Kelly #12 in the pole vault, and Arvid Veidmark IV #22 in the discus; Everett Delate is the #11-ranked 110m hurdler and #31-ranked 400m hurdler.

POWELL EARNS RMAC AWARD
For the seventh time in his career, Dillon Powell was named the RMAC Athlete of the Week on Wednesday after his record-shattering 5,000m run at Stanford. Powell broke Mines' record with his 13:30.93 time, running the #4 all-time performance in NCAA Division II and the fastest this season by more than 20 seconds. The 2023 NCAA indoor champion in the event, Powell lowered the Mines record by 14 seconds and he now owns all three major Mines long-distance records with the indoor 5K and outdoor 5K and 10K marks. 

BERESFORD ELECTED TO RMAC HALL OF FAME
Last week, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference announced that former Oredigger distance standout Heather Beresford would be a member of its 2023 Hall of Fame class. A nine-time all-American at Mines, Beresford was the program's first-ever women's cross country all-American and earned three NCAA medals on the track; she still owns the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500m records nearly 20 years later. Beresford was also a 2019 inductee to the Mines Athletics Hall of Fame. 

IN THE RMAC POLL
The Mines women were picked first and the men second in the RMAC's outdoor track & field polls announced in late March. The women, coming off their first-ever indoor conference championship and an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, earned eight first-place votes and 163 overall points to top the poll ahead of UCCS (155, 3 first) and Adams State (147, 3 first). The men, ready to push for conference and national championships after finishing 14th at NCAA Indoors, earned 127 points and three first-place nods to trail UCCS (138, 7 first) and lead Adams State (122, 2 first). 

SPARKS NAMED REGIONAL ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR
In late March, Mines assistant coach Jocelyn Sparks picked up a big honor, being named the USTFCCCA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year for guiding the Orediggers' pole vaulters to a historic indoor season. Sparks coached three all-Americans and a national champion at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships led by women's winner Hannah Miller, plus men's eighth-place finisher Hunter Potrykus and women's 11th-place finisher Avery Herbold. The Orediggers had incredible success all season long, including taking five of six available medals at the RMAC Championships with a podium sweep of the women's pole vault thanks to Miller, Herbold, and Dale Thompson, plus the men's RMAC champion in Potrykus and bronze medalist in Noah Kelly. Mines ranked #1 in the USTFCCCA Event Squad Rankings in the pole vault with a deep group that produced seven new or improved all-time top-10 performances in the Mines record book, and vaulters scored 11 national and 32 RMAC championship team points.

LOOKING AHEAD
Mines will split up next weekend to compete at both the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific on April 13-15, and at Colorado Mesa's Maverick Invite #2 on April 14-15. Mines returns home in two weeks to host the Mines Pre-Conference on April 21-22.