PUEBLO, Colo. – Even though there were just eight Grizzlies represented at the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl on Friday, the Grizzlies did not disappoint as both teams sit in the top two of their respective divisions after two days of action.
 
The first Grizzly to leap into action was senior Papay Glaywulu, who set the NCAA Division II indoor triple jump record inside the High-Altitude Training Center earlier this academic year. He captured the national title in the triple jump with 16.15 meters (53-0) on his first jump of the competition. That mark held up for the rest of the event.
 
Junior Jonah Vigil, who already advanced to Saturday's finals in the 400-meter dash, finished in 14 th place with a time of 20.888 in the 200-meter dash prelims.
 
In the women's 800-meter prelims, freshman Lieke Hoogsteen finished in 20 th place with a time of 2:19.10 while sophomore Jessica Simon just missed out on the finals by .2 of a second with a tenth place finish in 2:12.50.
 
The final races of the day were the 3,000-meter steeplechase with sophomore Ava O'Connor finishing sixth for three points with a time of 10:36.77, sophomore Emily Schoellkopf earned six points with her third place finish of 10:28.87 and junior Morgan Hykes added four points in the race. She finished in fifth place with a time of 10:36.72.
 
Senior Clement Duigou wrapped up the action in the steeplechase with a time of  9:15.90.
 
On Friday, four national champions were crowned on the women's side as along with Williamson winning national titles in both the high jump and heptathlon, West Texas A&M senior Eleonora Curtabbi winning her second consecutive national title in the 3,000-Meter Steeplechase with a time of 10:22.76 and Millersvlle junior Hannah Woelfling took home the national title in the women's discus with a mark of 50.91 meters (167-0).
 
Meanwhile, on the men's side, Adams State leads the team competition with 26 points, while Missouri Southern is second with 25 points and Grand Valley State is third with 23 points through seven events.
 
The men's national champions on Friday were Angelo State junior Elvis Kryukov in the decathlon with 7,678 points. Missouri Southern junior Peyton Barton earned the national title in the discus with a mark of 58.16 meters (190-10) and Northwest Missouri State junior Reece Smith captured the national title in the 3,000-Meter Steeplechase with a time of 9:07.03.
 
 
The Grizzlies will close out the three-day fest of the 2023 NCAA Division II Championships on Saturday. The first event will be at 5:05 p.m. (MT) when Samuel Dirkes hits the throwing ring for the shot put.