Mines Last Chance
Saturday, 1 p.m./Sunday 11 a.m. [Live Results] [Schedule]

Portland Distance Carnival
Saturday, 7:05 p.m. PT [Live Results] [Schedule]

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ONE LAST CHANCE
The final few days before Sunday night's deadline to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships are here, and Colorado School of Mines will take part in a pair of last-chance meets this weekend as they host the Mines Last Chance on Saturday and Sunday, with a selection of runners headed to Oregon for the Portland Distance Carnival on Saturday evening. Both meets represent the final opportunity to either earn or solidify a spot at the NCAA Championships which take place at the end of this month in Pueblo; the top 20 individuals, top 16 multi-eventers, and top 14 relays on the final national performance list will qualify in each event.

LIVE COVERAGE
Live results are available for both meets, with the Mines Last Chance at minesathletics.com/tracklive and the Portland Distance Carnival at https://live.athletictiming.net/meets/25402.

WHO TO WATCH - PORTLAND
Mines is sending five men and three women to Saturday's Portland Distance Carnival, which will provide the Orediggers with some elite last-chance fields. All of the Orediggers' events will take place Saturday evening starting at 7:05 p.m. PT. The men's steeplechase will see three Orediggers - Alex Shaw, Max Bonenberger, and Max Sevcik - push for nationals times as all three own provisional times but are outside the qualifying bubble. Shaw is currently 24th nationally (9:06.76), Bonenberger 36th (9:11.16), and Sevcik 38th (9:11.42), with the probable cut time somewhere around 9:00. Loic Scomparin, already safely qualified in the 5,000m, will run the 10K trying to add a second event, and RMAC champion Andrew Kaye joins him in the event. Luke Julian, who owns the #3 time in D-II this season, will get some last-minute work in  what should be a very fast 1,500m field, and he will pace the 10K along with Mines assistant coach and Hall of Famer Dr. Mark Husted for Scomparin and Kaye. 

For the women, Grace Strongman will run another sea-level 5,000m looking to qualify after running a 16:56.21 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in April, with Alex Raichart and Margaux Basart competing in the steeplechase; Raichart is currently 17th nationally (10:34.84) after running her best race of the season to win silver at the RMAC Championships, while Basart has been rapidly dropping her times and stands 27th nationally (10:52.86), about 14 seconds off the projected cut.

WHO TO WATCH - GOLDEN
Meanwhile at Stermole Track, the bulk of the two-day Mines Last Chance will take place Sunday, but heptathlete Avery Wright will start her two-day multi-event quest Saturday as she and UCCS' Faith Novess compete, and the women's long jump will have Lexye Wood and Sidney Walshaw in action. Wright's school-record 4,900 point performance set earlier this season ranks 17th nationally with 16 going; the current cut line is 4,983 points. Wood will try to secure her nationals long jump spot (currently ranked 18th at 6.07m), while also competing in the high jump on Sunday; Sidney Walshaw joins her in the long jump with a season best of 5.77m. 

Sunday's program will see a mixture of events as athletes from around the region shoot for NCAA marks. Track entrants for Mines include Tim Thompson and Andy Gebhardt in the 800m; Brin Strouse in the 1,500m; Everett Delate in the 110m and 400m hurdles; the women's 4x400 relay on the track. Of note, Delate should be safely in in the 110m hurdles ranked 13th nationally, but the RMAC double-champion is only about a half-second off the cut line in the 400m hurdles as well. Likewise, the women's 4x400 relay is currently 11th on the qualifying order but will look to improve their standing with only 14 relays selected.

In the field, Grant Redmond is also likely secure in his high jump spot at 13th but will try to go higher than his 2.13m season best. Mines' pole vault squad has three already safely into nationals with Hunter Potrykus tied for third nationally (5.36m), Hannah Miller fifth (4.11m), and Avery Herbold 11th (4.01m). Ava Kowalski is currently 28th nationally at 3.83m with the women's cut line looking to be somewhere between 3.90m and 3.95m, while Noah Kelly (4.85m season best) will take one last crack with the men's line somewhere around 5.00m. Oredigger throwers entered include Kitt Rupar in the discus and hammer, Jennifer Jarnagin in the hammer, and Arvid Veidmark IV in the discus and hammer.

TAKING SILVER
Usually in track & field the color you want to earn is gold, but for Mines student-athletes, the goal is silver - their silver-plated diplomas, that is. Seventeen members of the Mines cross country and track & field programs are set to graduate this weekend ahead of Saturday and Sunday's competition. Mackenzie Duck, Alex Raichart, Steven Goldy, and Arvid Veidmark IV received master's degrees on Thursday, and Randi Higashi, Lauren Kelly, Garrett Lanker, Joey Maguire, Molly Maksin, Miranda Manfre, Holly Moser, Dillon Powell, Grant Redmond, Brin Strouse, Gabbi Varela, Lexye Wood, and Aryelle Wright will receive their bachelor's degrees on Friday.

RMAC CHAMPIONSHIPS REWIND
Mines crowned seven event champions at the RMAC Championships at Chadron State in late April as the women finished third and the men fourth in the team race. Andrew Kaye claimed the 10,000m title on the first day of the meet and Hunter Potrykus added another gold medal in the pole vault on Saturday; Sunday saw five more champions crowned as Co-Athlete of the Meet Everett Delate won both the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles, Amena Nelson won the 400m and later led off the winning 4x400 relay along with Grace Galvin, Mackenzie Duck, and Aryelle Wright, and Avery Herbold won a jump-off to capture pole vault gold for the second straight year.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Both Oredigger teams remained well-positioned in the USTFCCCA Ratings Index this week as the men fell one spot to #5, and the women fell three places to #13 as both teams were mostly idle since the RMAC Championships.