PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's and women's track and field teams opened its 2023 outdoor season as the ThunderWolves' hosted the Dr. Dan Camprioglio CSU Pueblo Early Bird Invitational at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.
 
At the meet, which was the first of three consecutive outdoor home track and field meets for the Pack, CSU Pueblo won eight events (five for the women, three for the men) and recorded two NCAA Division II provisional marks in both the men's and women's shot put. Overall, the Pack had 26 Top 4 finishes for the meet.
 
On the women's side, the Pack had five first place finishes, two second places, six third places and one fourth place showing in the 14 events they competed in.
 
Sophomore Helen Braybrook (Frieston, United Kingdom/Oakham School), who earned All-American honors in the 800 meters during the indoor season after recording a national runner-up finish in the event at last weekend's Division II Indoor National Championships, took home first place in the 400 meters on Saturday with a time of 57.12.
 
CSU Pueblo's other track event that they won on Saturday came in the 4-x-400-meter relay as the Pack's foursome run a winning time of 4:02.57. The Pack's 'B' Team finished third in the event with a time of 4:09.93. The members of the winning relay team were sophomore Ella Harris (Star, Idaho/Eagle), sophomore Taylor Holland (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo County), senior Erin Case (Parker, Colo./Loveland) and freshman Mary Scroggins (Rangely, Colo./Rangely).
 
The third place 'B' team members were freshman Elodie Hebert (Sherbrooke, Quebec/Cegep de Sherbrooke), freshman Jadyn Herron-Jonap (Queen Creek, Ariz./Casteel), freshman Gabrielle Dunich (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo Central) and senior Ashley Miller (Monroe, Iowa/Minot State).
 
Scroggins recorded third placed finishes in both the 10,000-meter run (38:49.05) and 400 hurdles (1:08.16), while Harris was fourth in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:08.18.
 
The fourth-place finish came in the 1,500 meters as sophomore Margot Thomas-Gatel (Chapet, Ile-de-France, France/Notre Dame Les Oiseaux) recorded a time of time 4:42.21.
 
CSU Pueblo, though, was dominant in the field events on the women's side as they went first and second in both the shot put and discus, was third in both the hammer throw and javelin and were first and third in the high jump and long jump.
 
In the shot put, sophomore Katherine Higgins (Mead, Colo./Ponderosa), who was the national runner-up in the indoor shot put at last weekend's Division II National Championships, placed first with an NCAA Division II provisional mark of 14.73 meters (48'4"), while freshman Febe Wessels (Pretoria, South Africa), who was an indoor All-American in the shot put, was second with a mark of 13.74 meters (45'1"). Sophomore Olivia Mikaelian (Albuquerque, N.M./El Dorado) just missed a Top 4 finish as she was fifth with a mark of 11.49 meters (37'8.50").
 
Higgins and Wessel were also first and second in the discus as Higgins won the event with a mark of 41.73 meters (136'11") and Wessels had a second place mark of 41.66 meters (136'8").
 
Mikaelian was third in the hammer with a toss of 47.87 meters (157'1") and freshman Bailey Graves (Laurel, Mont./Laurel) was third in the javelin with a mark of 36.89 meters (121'0').
 
Sophomore Mikayla Jones (Aurora, Colo./Vista Peak Prep) recorded a leap of 1.61 meters (5'3.25") to win high jump and she was third in the long jump with a mark of 11.16 meters (36'7.50").
 
Meanwhile, on the men's side, the Pack had three first place finishes, two second places, three thirds and four fourth places.
 
Two of the Pack's three first place finishes came in track events on Saturday as junior Tyrell Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge), who was an indoor All-American in the distance medley relay, was first in the 400 meters with a time of 48.02, while junior Kaleb Tipton (Lawton, Okla./Lawton), who was also an indoor All-American in the distance medley relay, was second in the 400 with a time of 48.80.
 
The Pack's 4-x-400 relay team also crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 3:15.62. The members of the relay team were senior Carl Schmidt (Wiesbaden, Germany/Elly-Heuss School), Smith, Tipton and freshman Ryan King (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West).
 
Along with being on the first place 4-x-400 relay team, Schmidt was second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 53.72, while junior Terrel Johnson (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) was fourth in the event with a time of 58.11.
 
Much like the women, the men also performed well in the field events on Saturday as they finished first, third and fourth in the shot put, third in the high jump, fourth in both the discus and hammer and was third in the javelin.
 
Senior Justin Jenks, who was third in the shot put at this year's Indoor National Championships, placed first in the shot put on Saturday with an NCAA Division II provisional mark of 18.24 meters (59'10.25"). In addition to Jenks, freshman Xavier Freeman (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo East) was third in the event with a mark of 13.89 meters (45'7") and sophomore Lucas Moran (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) was fourth with a mark of 13.51 meters (44'4").
 
In the high jump, freshman Keith McInnis (Denver, Colo./Denver North) was third with a leap of 1.98 meters (6'6"), while freshman Zakk Thomas (Kirtland, N.M./Kirtland Central) was third with a school record mark of 50.58 meters (165'11").
 
Senior Nate Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo./Widefield), who a repeat indoor All-American this year in the shot put, was fourth in the discus with a mark of 44.12 meters (144'9") and Jenks was fourth in the hammer throw with a mark of 53.62 meters (1745'11").
 
The Pack will continue its outdoor track and field next weekend (March 24-25) as they host the Spank Blasing Invitational at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.
 
Here are the complete results from this weekend's Dr. Dan Caprioglio CSU Pueblo Early Bird Invitational.