The men’s track and field team won the RMAC Indoor Championship for the fifth time in the last six seasons on March 1. The Mountain Lions racked up 191 points, 31 points ahead of second-place Colorado School of Mines. 

Women’s track and field, who last won the RMAC Indoor Championship in 2018, finished second with 131.5 points behind Colorado School of Mines. 

Together the two teams earned 9 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 10 bronze medals, totaling 28 podium finishes. 

On March 4, the NCAA announced that 14 athletes from UCCS’ men’s and women’s track and field teams qualified for the 2025 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championship. 

Event Winners 

Junior KJ McKinnis was named the Dr. Randy Rhine Men’s Athlete of the Meet for scoring the most points by any student athlete. McKinnis earned his 23 points via a gold medal in the men’s high jump, a silver in triple jump and a fourth-place finish in long jump.  

Senior Anna Fauske won gold medals in the women’s 3000m and 5000m and broke the Mountain Lion Fieldhouse facility record in the 3000m with a time of 9:18.96. “It felt good. Bittersweet moment knowing it’s my last indoor RMAC, but good, and good competition,” Fauske said. 

Redshirt junior Jagger Zlotoff took the gold medal in the men’s mile with a converted time of 4 minutes 2.95 seconds. “First ever RMAC win, so I’m really happy how it all went down,” Zlotoff said.  

Zlotoff was part of the gold-medal winning men’s distance medley relay with sophomore Brett Davis, redshirt junior Joseph Hamilton and freshman Peyton Nelson. The quartet finished the relay in 10:03.50. 

Senior Luke Hard won the men’s weight throw with a mark of 19.91m. “I entered the event in second and knew it was going to be a dogfight, but you know, everything just lined up and I was able to get into first,” Hard said.  

Redshirt Senior Caiden Macktinger soared to first place in the men’s pole vault with a mark of 5.32m. 

In the men’s long jump, redshirt senior Richard Safoh leaped 7.46m to win a gold medal. 

Sophomore Paige Cordero took the gold medal in the women’s long jump with a mark of 5.79m. She and Fauske were the only two gold medal winners on the women’s team. 

National Qualifiers 

The 14 qualifying Mountain Lions will travel to Indianapolis for the 2025 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championship from March 13 to 15. Many of the selected athletes are making a repeat appearance in the national championship. 

For the eighth straight season, the Mountain Lions have qualified for the indoor championship in the women’s distance medley relay event. As the fourth seed, redshirt senior Kate Hedlund, sophomore Krissie Sanders, redshirt senior Rachel Goodrich and redshirt senior Rachel Richtman will compete, bringing along sophomore Emma Montoya as an alternate. 

Hedlund will make her fourth straight appearance in in the women’s mile. Her time of 4:40.53 puts her third in the nation and is less than seven-tenths of a second from the fastest qualifier. 

The men’s distance medley relay team has qualified for the indoor championship for the first time since the 2022-2023 season. Davis, Jean, Hamilton and Zlotoff made the field with the twelfth fastest time 9:42.37. Redshirt sophomore Joseph Impellitteri will be brought for the event as an alternate. 

Zlotoff will compete in the men’s mile for the third consecutive year after running the eighth-fastest seed time of 4:00.62 

Safoh qualified for the indoor championship for the second straight season. His long jump mark of 7.58m is third in the nation. 

Redshirt senior Thorben Hast will be competing in the heptathlon. His score of 5,287 across the seven events puts him eighth in the nation. 

Sophomore Ashton Whisler will compete in the men’s 400m dash after qualifying with a time of 47.34.  

Macktinger will compete in the men’s pole vault after setting a mark of 5.32m. The national championship scene is not new to Macktinger. He qualified twice for the NCAA Division I nationals in pole vault and is a three-time runner-up in the Mountain West region in pole vault for his former school the United States Air Force Academy. 

Hard will make his first nationals appearance in the weight throw for his mark of 20.01m. 

Fauske will compete in both the women’s 3000m and 5000m, owing to her qualifying times of 9:18.96 and 16:15.34 respectively. 

Editor’s note: Joseph Impellitteri is the Scribe’s co-editor in chief.