GUNNISON, Colo. (February 26, 2022) – Yasmine Hernandez and Nate Miller earned first-place finishes at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Championships to lead the Colorado State University Pueblo track & field programs as the men's finished fourth place overall while the women finished sixth.
 
Carl Schmidt (So., Wiesbaden, Germany) kicked things off for the ThunderWolves with the fourth fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles preliminaries on Friday evening at 8.17 seconds and qualified for the finals. Schmidt finished second in his heat behind Adams State's Leroy Eliott who set a facility record with a time of 7.85 seconds. Schmidt followed that into the finals on Saturday where he held on to fourth-place overall with a time of 8.16 seconds and second-team all-conference.
 
In the weight throw, Olivia Mikaelian (Fr., Albuquerque, N.M.) led the way for the Pack after earning a fourth-place finish with a mark of 17.44 meters and second-team all-conference while teammate Jenna McKinley (Sr., Mosca, Colo.) finished tenth at 16.08 meters. Heather Graham (Sr., Hugo, Colo.) finished 10th overall at 15.50 meters Katherine Higgins (Fr., Castle Rock, Colo.) finished right behind Graham at 18th with a mark of 13.27 meters.
 
The distance medley relay teams capped the Friday evening events with second-place finishes as both teams earned second-team all-conference. The men's team consisted of Jack Dickson (Fr.), Nathan Hood (Sr., St. Davids, Grenada), Reece Sharman-Newell (Fr.), and Nikolaus Franzmair (Fr.) who finished second with a time of 10:07.47. The women's squad consisted of Hailey Streff (Sr., Madison, S.D.), Taylor Holland (Fr., Alamosa, Colo.), Helen Braybrook (Fr.), and Yasmine Hernandez (Gr., Johnstown, Colo.) who crossed the line in 12:14.15.
 
Nate Miller (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) started things off for the ThunderWolves and made his way back on top as the senior tabbed a first-place finish in the shot put. Millers toss of 19.06 meters is a new RMAC Indoor Championship Meet record and is tenth farthest throw in CSU Program history. Miller also finished fifth in the weight throw with a mark of 17.32 meters while teammate Justin Jenks (Jr., Helena, Mont.) finished second-place and first-team all-conference in the shot put with a mark of 18.88 meters.
 
Hernandez followed Miller and was crowned the women's 800-meter champ. Hernandez trailed Adams State's Jessica Simon throughout the first 500 meters of the race but, had a lot of gas left in the tank, started her kick and ended with a strong finish which included 33 seconds over her last 200 meters to tab Hernandez a first-place finish in the 800-meter dash after crossing the line in 2:13.80.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMANCES

• Miller tabbed first-team all-conference in the shot put and second-team all-conference in the weight throw at fifth-place.
• Hernandez earned first-team all-conference in the 800-meter dash and second-team all-conference with a second-place finish in the distance medley relay.
• McKinley finished second overall in the shot put and earned first-team all-conference.
• Jenks earned first-team all-conference with his second-place finish in the shot put.
• Sharman-Newell tabbed a third-place, first-team all-conference finish in the men's 800-meter dash with a time of 1:53.72.
• Nigel Mitchell (So., Red Bank, N.J.) finished third overall in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.79 and first-team all-conference.
• Higgins tabbed first-team all-conference with a third-place finish in the shot put.
• Schmidt finished second-team all-conference with his fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.
• Tyrell Smith (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished fourth-place in the 200-meter dash after crossing the line in 21.81 seconds.
• Claire Pauley (Jr. Arvada, Colo.) tabbed second-team all-conference with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:36.63.
• Mikaelian finished second-team all-conference with a fourth-place finish in the weight throw.
• Cole Munoz (So., Colorado Springs, Colo.) finished fifth overall in a stacked 5,000-meter race for second-team all-conference and 15:36.78.
• Terrel Johnson (So., Fountain, Colo.) finished fifth overall in the men's heptathlon for second-team all-conference.
• Mikayla Jones (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) finished sixth in the women's high jump and a second-team all-conference mark of 1.61 meters. 
• Braybrook ran a strong race in the 800-meter and earned a sixth-place second-team all-conference finish with a time of 2:17.47.
• Men's 4x400-meter relay team finished second overall and second-team all-conference (Schmidt, Dickson, Hood, Ty. Smith).
• Men's Distance Medley Relay team finished second overall and second-team all-conference.
• Women's Distance Medley Relay team finished second overall and second-team all-conference.

 
Jenks and Miller sit atop the NCAA provisional qualifying list this season in the shot put while Hood sits tenth in the 800-meter dash. On the women's side, Hernandez and Streff sit in the top five this season in the 800-meter dash while McKinley and Higgins sit in the top eight in the shot put and both the men's and women's distance medley relay teams in the top ten.
 
The ThunderWolves will conclude the 2022 Indoor season at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships on March 11th-12th in Pittsburgh, Kansas.