CHADRON, Neb. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's and women's track teams turned in several strong performances on the first day of the 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships held here at the Nelson Physical Activity Center hosted by Chadron State College.
 
After the first day of the three-day championships meet, the CSU Pueblo women sit in second place out of 14 teams with 21 points after four events, while the CSU Pueblo men sit in a fourth place out of 13 teams with 14 points after three scoring events.
 
UCCS leads both the men's and women's team standings after the opening day as the UCCS men scored 34 points to lead second place Mines by 10 points as Mines has scored 24 points and Western Colorado is in third place with 22 points. On the women's side, UCCS scored 28 points to lead the Pack by seven points, while New Mexico Highlands and Western Colorado are tied for third place with 19 points.
 
On the women's side, the Pack got the scoring started in the 10,000-meter run as redshirt freshman Sarah Renberg (Fresno, Calif./Edison) earned Second-Team All-RMAC honors after finishing in sixth place with a time of 38:00.45. In addition to Renberg, freshman Halle Schmitz (Arvada, Colo./Pomona) was ninth with a time of 38:36.23.
 
The Pack next scored points in the hammer throw as sophomore Olivia Mikaelian (Albuquerque, N.M./El Dorado) was fifth with a mark of 49.72 meters (163-01) to earn Second-Team All-RMAC honors. Sophomore Katherine Higgins (Mead, Colo./Ponderosa) was 12th with a mark of 42.47 meters (139-04).
 
In the final scoring event on the first day for the women, the Pack recorded second and third place finishes in the javelin. In the event, freshman Febe Wessels (Pretoria, South Africa) finished second with a school record mark of 40.88 meters (134-01) to earn a silver medal, while freshman Bailey Graves (Laurel, Mont./Laurel) earned a bronze medal with her third-place mark of 40.29 meters (132-02). Both of those performances helped earned Wessels and Graves First-Team All-RMAC honors.
 
The Pack also competed in two qualifying events – the 1,500 meters sand 400-meter hurdles, but the Pack did not qualify for the finals of those two events on Sunday. In the 1,500-meters, sophomore Taylor Holland (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo County) was 16th with a time of 4:55.65 and sophomore Ella Harris (Star, Id./Eagle) was 14th in the 400-hurdles with a time of 1:07.78.
 
Freshman Mary Scoggins (Rangely, Colo./Rangely) competed in the heptathlon as she sits in ninth place with 2,280 points.
 
Meanwhile, on the men's side, the Pack started the day by scoring in the 10,000-meter run as junior Daniel Beam (Rio Rancho, N.M./Western New Mexico) recorded a time of 32:23.16 to finish in sixth place to earn Second-Team RMAC honors.  In addition to Beam, junior Lucas Westbrook (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) was 11th with a time of 32:48.78 and junior Matthew Roberds (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge) was 19th with a time of 33:40.34.
 
In the hammer throw, the Pack scored 11 points as senior Justin Jenks (Helena, Mont./Helena Capital) earned a silver medal with his second place finish with a mark of 55.54 meters (182-03), while senior Nate Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo./Widefield) was sixth with a mark of 53.76 meters (176-05). Jenks earned First-Team RMAC honors and Miller earned Second-Team All-RMAC honors. Sophomore Lucas Moran (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) was 12th with a mark of 49.53 meters (162-06).
 
The Pack also competed in four qualifying events – 100 meters, 400 meters, 1,500 meters and 400-meter hurdles.
 
In the 100-meters, freshman Evan Johnson (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) was 14th with a time of 10.99, while junior Tyrell Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge) qualified for Sunday's finals with a time of 47.85 and freshman Ryan King (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) was ninth with a time of 49.67.
 
The Pack qualified two into Sunday's final of the 1,500-meter run as sophomore Reece Sharman-Newell (Hampshire, England) was second in qualifying with a time of 4:00.51 and fifth-year senior Matisse Virey (Lyon, France) was seventh with a time of 3:54.21.
 
The final qualifier for Sunday's final came in the 400-meter hurdles as senior Carl Schmidt (Wiesbaden, Germany/Elly-Heuss) was third in qualifying with a time of 53.74.
 
Junior Terrel Johnson (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) sits atop the leaderboard in the decathlon as he scored 3,649 points in five events.
 
The Pack men and women will be back on the track tomorrow morning to compete in day two of the RMAC Championships, with events scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m. with the heptathlon events, followed by field events at 2 p.m. and running events at 4:30 p.m.

ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMERS
Women
Febe Wessels, First Team (Javelin)
Bailey Graves, Second Team (Javelin)
Olivia Mikaelian, Second Team (Hammer)
Sarah Renberg, Second Team (10,000 Meters)

Men
Justin Jenks, First Team (Hammer)
Nate Miller, First Team (Hammer)
Daniel Beam, Second Team (10,000 Meters)