PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's and women's track and field teams hosted the Spank Blasing Invitational here at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl where the ThunderWolves set three school records and recorded five NCAA Division II provisional marks.

This weekend's meet was the second of three consecutive home outdoor meets this season for the Pack as they will host the CSU Pueblo Invitational next weekend.

At the event, CSU Pueblo won a total of seven events (one of the women and six for the men) and they recorded an overall total of 18 Top 5 finishes at the two-day event.

On the men's side, the Pack broke two school records, had six first place finishes, three second places, one third place and four fifth place showings in the 15 events they competed in.

The school records broken for the men were in the field events as senior Justin Jenks (Helena, Mont./Helena Capital) set a new outdoor school record in the hammer throw with an NCAA provisional  mark of 57.92 meters (190'0") as he finished second in the event, while freshman Zakk Thomas (Kirtland, N.M./Kirtland Central) set a new school record in the javelin for the second straight week as he posted a school record mark of 50.92 meters (167'1") to finish fifth overall.

Jenks bettered his old outdoor hammer record of 54.66 meters set at the Maverick Invitational in 2022, while Thomas bettered his old javelin mark of 50.58 meters that was set at last weekend's Dr. Dan Caprioglio Early Bird Invitational.

In addition to Jenks' second-place finish in the hammer throw, senior Nate Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo./Widefield) was third in hammer throw with a season-best mark of 57.06 meters (187'2").

Miller and Jenks finished first and second respectively in the shot put as both of them recorded NCAA provisional marks. Miller took home first place with a mark of 18.28 meters (59'11.75"), while Jenks was just behind with a mark of 18.27 meters (59'11.25"). Miller's mark is tops thus far in NCAA Division II outdoor track and field.

Freshman Cedrick Kassi (Plano, Texas/Plano West) turned a season best performance in the triple jump as he finished fifth with a mark of 14.15 meters (46'5.25"), while senior Carl Schmidt (Wiesbaden, Germany/Elly-Heuss School) finished eighth in the long jump with a season best mark of 6.73 meters (22'1").

In the track events, the Pack turned in four first place finishes as the 4-x-400 relay team won for the second straight week as they posted a first place time of 3:17.45. The members of the first-place relay team were Schmidt, junior Kaleb Tipton (Lawton, Okla./Lawton), sophomore Reece Sharman-Newell (Hampshire, England) and junior Tyrell Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge).

Sharman-Newell, who was an indoor All-American this season in both the 800 meters and distance medley relay, took home first place in the 1,500 meter run on Saturday with a season best time of 3:54.04, while Tipton took home first place in the 800 meters with a season best and NCAA provisional time of 1:51.15.

Schmidt took home first place honors in the 400-meter hurdles as he just missed breaking his own school record by one-hundredths of a second as he recorded an NCAA provisional time 52.91. The school record is 52.90, which was set by Schmidt at the Spank Blasing Invitational in 2021.

CSU Pueblo's other event win came in the men's and women's 3,000 meter run as junior Ritchie Roberds (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge) crossed the finish line first with a time of 9:12.55.

Smith turned in a second place time in the 200 meter dash with a season best time of 21.39 and also had a season-best time in the 100 meter dash of 10.85.

The other season best performances were the men came in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase and the 5,000 meter run. In the steeplechase, sophomore Kaleb Beloy (Anchorage, Alaska/South Anchorage) was fifth with a season best time of 10:04.71 and the Pack went fifth, seventh and ninth in 5,000 meter run with junior Daniel Beam (Rio Rancho, N.M./Western New Mexico) posting a season best time of 15:19.86 to finish in fifth place overall. Junior Lucas Westbrook (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) was seventh with a time of 15:24.63 and junior Matthew Roberds (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge) was ninth with a time of 15:28.80.

Meanwhile, on the women's side, the Pack had just one first place finish, one second place and two third places, along with setting a new school record in the javelin.

Freshman Indoor All-American Febe Wessels (Pretoria, South Africa) shattered one of the oldest school records still standing on the women's side as she recorded a season best mark of 39.38 meters (129'2") to finish second in the javelin. Wessels' mark bettered the old school mark of 37.06 set by Annie Christensen in 1988.

In addition to her second place finish in the javelin, Wessels was third in the shot put with a mark of 13.62 meters (44'8.25").

Sophomore Mikayla Jones (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) turned in two season best marks as she was eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 11.31 meters (37'1.25') and was 15th in the long jump with a season best mark of 5.26 meters (17'3.25'). Additionally, Jones finished third in the high jump with a mark of 1.60 meters (5'3").

In the track events, the top performance for the Pack came from sophomore Helen Braybrook (Frieston, United Kingdom/Oakham School). Braybrook turned in a season best time in the 800 meters to finish in first place in the event. Her time of 2:10.47 was an NCAA provisional mark and is currently the third fastest time in Division II outdoor track.

Along with Braybrook, the 4-x-400 meter relay team posted a fifth place finish as they posted a time of 4:03.30 on Saturday. The members of the relay team were freshman Mary Scroggins (Rangely, Colo./Rangely), sophomore Taylor Holland (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo County), sophomore Ella Harris (Star, Idaho/Eagle) and Braybrook.

The 4-x-400 meter relay 'B' team turned in an eighth place finish with a time of 4:16.78. The members of that team were freshman Gabrielle Dunich (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo Central), senior Erin Case (Parker, Colo./Loveland), freshman Jadyn Herron-Jonap (Queen Creek, Ariz./Casteel) and Jones.

Other season best times were turned in by sophomore Margot Thomas-Gatel (Chapet, Ile-de-France, France/Notre Dame Les Oiseaux) in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase as she was eighth with a time of 11:49.44, while redshirt freshman Sarah Renberg (Fresno, Calif./Edison) was 10th in the 5,000-meter run (18:50.49) and senior Ashley Miller (Monroe, Iowa/Minot State) posted a season best time in the 100 meter dash (12.98).

The Pack will return to the track next weekend (March 31-April 1) as they host their third consecutive home meet – CSU Pueblo Invitational at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.

Here are the complete results from the Spank Blasing Invitational