Final Results

PUEBLO, Colo. - Luke Julian's national title in the 1,500m and the women's program's best-ever team finish highlighted the final day of the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships at CSU Pueblo's ThunderBowl.

Julian's performance was one of numerous highlights on the day as Hannah Miller was the national runner-up in the pole vault, Aryelle Wright and Mackenzie Duck snared podium places in the 800m, and Steven Goldy and Duncan Fuehne ended the meet with all-America 5K finishes.

The Mines women earned their best-ever team finish tying for 11th with 23 points, bettering their 19th-place standing from 2004. The men ended up 12th in the team standings with 26 points, their third straight top-12 finish and fourth in the last five championships. The two teams' 49 combined points also marks the most in Mines history at the outdoor championship. 

Julian, who was the indoor mile silver medalist, finished his career as an individual national champion for the first time outkicking the entire field to the line in 3:53.98. Julian ran a tactical race from the back on the first lap with teammate Alberto Campa, who closed 10th in 3:56.03 to be second-team All-America, ultimately moving up in the third quarter and then bursting to the front on the final turn, holding off RMAC rival Miguel Coca of Adams State for the win as the seven places finished less than a second apart. Julian is Mines' second 1,500m national champion joining Mack McLain (2010), and the program's 12th overall; he finishes his career an 11-time all-American, and in 2022-23 was a first-team all-American in all three seasons while also winning a national team title with cross country.

Miller started the day by completing an incredible season of her own, capturing national runner-up status in the pole vault to add to her indoor NCAA title in March. Miller cruised through the bar progression with no misses, clearing four heights from 3.85m to 4.15m (the same height that won her the indoor gold) before going out attempting what would've tied her personal-best and program-record 4.20m. Meanwhile Pitt State's Kyla Davis cleared 4.20m on her first attempt to eventually win, and Central Missouri's Madi Wulfekotter missed once at 4.20m, then passed up and missed twice at 4.25m to ensure Miller the silver.

Coming into the 2023 indoor season, Mines had never had a woman stand on the podium in the 800m. As they exit the 2023 outdoor season, they've now had three. Wright and  Duck finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the final as Wright reprised her indoor performance to close in 2:09.84 and Duck ran 2:10.52 to add to her indoor DMR trophy. 

Zoe Baker made history with a ninth-place finish in the women's 5,000m, running 16:51.46 to be a second-team all-American after also earning all-America in the 10K earlier in the meet. The award is the 13th of Baker's career, which is now the most by any Mines athlete in any sport in a career as she surpasses fellow tracksters Mack McLain and Dylan Ko. Jenna Ramsey, who was also a 10K all-American, attempted the double with Baker and was 18th in 17:35.28.

The men's 5K ended the meet for Mines and resulted in chaos due to a lap-counting error that resulted in a protest of the results. Ultimately, both Goldy and Fuehne ended up on the podium at the end of the night with Goldy claiming his second trophy of the weekend in a strong 14:24.93 for fourth and Fuehne running 14:36.11 for eighth. Loic Scomparin, who was the 10K bronze medalist, finished ninth in 14:39 flat for a second-team all-America finish, and John O'Malley was 13th in 14:54.06.

Earlier in the day, Avery Herbold suffered an early exit in the pole vault, putting three good attempts at 3.70m but recording no height, and Grant Redmond also recorded no height in the high jump opening at a windy 2.04m.