Colorado Invitational
Friday/Saturday - Boulder, Colo. [Live Results] [Schedule] 

Big Red Machine Open
Saturday - Gunnison, Colo. [RMAC Network] [Live Results] [Schedule] 

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OREDIGGERS SPLIT SQUAD THIS WEEKEND
Colorado School of Mines will compete on two fronts this weekend as middle-distance competitors head to Boulder for the Colorado Invitational on Friday and Saturday, and the rest of the squad visits Western Colorado for Saturday's Big Red Machine Open. At CU, Mines will have runners in Friday night's mile starting at 7 p.m., and a handful of 400m runners early Saturday afternoon; live results are available at cubuffs.com/tracklive. The action in Gunnison starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the meet will be streamed on the RMAC Network with live results at gomountaineers.com.

LAST TIME OUT
Mines had a successful home weekend hosting the Winter Classic & Multi with multiple big performances over the two-day meet. Friday saw four program records fall (more on that in a moment) as Avery Wright won the pentathlon, Hunter Potrykus and Hannah Miller the pole vault, Lexye Wood the long jump, Brody Welch the shot put, and Loic Scomparin and Zoe Baker the 3K. The momentum carried into Saturday with strong middle-distance performances by Alberto Campa and Brock Drengenberg in the mile, Aryelle Wright and Tim Thompson in the 800m, and Aani Hardesty in the 400m, all leading to event wins. 

A RECORD-SETTING WEEKEND
The Mines Winter Classic saw four Mines program records fall, including two by Avery Wright who not only shattered the Mines pentathlon record at 3,698 points, but set the program 60m hurdles record in the process running 8.92 seconds. Hunter Potrykus captured the indoor pole vault mark at 5.30m, and Lexye Wood reset her long jump record with a 6.04m leap. Loic Scomparin also snapped the Steinhauer Fieldhouse 3,000m record in 8:19.06.

NATIONAL LIST LOOK
Mines added greatly to its NCAA provisional performances last week, and are in a strong position on the national performance list at the halfway point of the indoor season. 
Among eight marks in the D-II top 15 for the women are Aryelle Wright in the 800m (2:11.57, 6th); Zoe Baker in the 3,000m (9:34.91, 11th); Hannah Miller (4.11m, 3rd), Avery Herbold (3.92m, 11th), and Dale Thompson (3.86m, 13th) in the pole vault; Lexye Wood in the long jump (6.04m, 5th); Avery Wright in the pentathlon (3,729 points, 11th); and the distance medley relay (11:32.84, 2nd). The men hold 11 top-15 performances led by Loic Scomparin in the 5,000m (13:29.35, 2nd); Alberto Campa (4:00.21, 4th) and Brock Drengenberg (4:01.16, 7th) in the mile; Everett Delate in the 60m hurdles (7.97, 9th); Hunter Potrykus (5.30m, 2nd) and Noah Kelly (4.95m, 13th) in the pole vault; and five men in the 3K including Scomparin (7:56.00, 2nd), Duncan Fuehne (7:59.26, 7th), Paul Knight (8:02.66, 10th), John O'Malley (8:03.29, 11th), and Dawson Gunn (8:04.85, 13th). All marks are altitude and track-size converted.

SCHNEIDERMAN SET FOR US OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS
The meets in Boulder and Gunnison won't be the only things for Oredigger fans to watch Saturday as alumnus Ben Schneiderman runs in the US Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando. The race will stream live on Peacock at 8 a.m. MT and will air tape-delayed on NBC at 10 a.m. Schneiderman, an all-American in cross country and the 10K and a two-time cross country team national champion at Mines, qualified via a 2:16:22 time at the 2022 California International Marathon, and also was the winner of the 2023 Boulderthon Marathon and 2023 Bolder Boulder 10K, along with top-30 finishes in the 2022 Boston Marathon and 2021 Chicago Marathon. Schneiderman isn't the only Oredigger to hold an Olympic trials qualification; although not running this weekend, current Mines distance star Zoe Baker qualified via her win at the San Diego Rock n' Roll Half Marathon this past June.

MILLER NAMED COLORADO'S BEST
Earlier this week, Mines vaulter Hannah Miller earned the prestigious Colorado Sportswoman of the Year Award in collegiate track & field, recognizing her as the Centennial State's best in calendar-year 2023. Miller stood out for her incredible year that included the NCAA Division II indoor pole vault national championship and the outdoor national silver medal. Mines' Female Athlete of the Year, Miller earned USTFCCCA First-Team All-America honors in both seasons, was a First-Team Academic All-American, and was the RMAC Field Athlete of the Year indoors. She broke the program and RMAC indoor pole vault record at 4.16m, and had an outdoor best of 4.17m. Her national title was the first for Mines women's track & field since 2004 as she cleared five bars without a miss in Virginia Beach. 

GETTING THAT SILVER
Six current and former Mines cross country and track & field student-athletes earned degrees at the university's winter commencement on Dec. 15, earning their silver diplomas. Current team members Max Bonenberger (B.S., chemical engineering), Matt Mettler (B.S., chemical engineering), Everett Delate (B.S., economics), and Hannah Miller (B.S., quantitative biosciences & engineering) earned their undergraduate degrees, while team alumni Clare Peters (M.S., advanced energy systems) and Amena Nelson (M.S., Advanced Manufacturing) received master's degrees. In addition, Delate and Miller were selected as the Presidential Senior Scholar-Athletes as the overall most outstanding graduates from Mines Athletics; Delate is a two-time all-American hurdler, while Miller was the 2023 NCAA indoor pole vault champion and a five-time NCAA podium finisher. They were also each selected as the outstanding graduates for their respective academic departments. 

LOOKING AHEAD
The Orediggers will head across the country for two big meets next weekend, with the bulk of the team competing at Pitt State's Gorilla Classic on the same track hosting nationals, and the distance runners competing at the always-fast David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University.