Gunnison, Colo. – The Adams State squad competed hard on the second and final day of conference championship competition. The Grizzly distance runners picked up three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles and rewrote the national rankings in several events. Both the men's and women's teams earned 5th place in the team standings.
Harrison Boyd ran a spectacular race for 2nd in the mile. His time of 4:12.75 will see him seated 4th in the DII rankings after the conversion for altitude and track size. This secures his spot in the national championship meet in two weeks time. Gabe Onelio ran a strong race for 7th in 4:20.17.
The men kept it rolling in the 3000m, with Felix Perrier becoming the conference champion in the event in a time of 8:21.44. This moves him up to 5th on the DII rankings and secures his spot on the starting line at nationals. The long green line came streaming in right behind him. Juan Rosales (8:22.10), Thibault Tauziede (8:29.01), Nathan Scherbarth (8:32.72), and Julian Campos (8:34.22) made it a 1-5 sweep for the Grizzlies. Their times will see them ranked 6th, 13th, 19th, and 23rd on the national list.
The 4x400m relay team closed out the competition for the Adams State men. The team of El-Mir Reale, Ryan Chacon, Evan Tapia, and Gavin Heyneman placed 6th in a time of 3:22.91.
Maggie McCleskey got things started for the women. She claimed her 2nd RMAC title in the indoor mile, running a fantastic time of 4:54.63. This will move her up to 3rd in the national rankings. Ava O'Connor came in just behind for 2nd place in 4:55.22. Also scoring for the Grizzlies was Clara Keddy in 5th in 5:06.99 and Haley Harkrider in 7th in 5:07.82.
Lieke Hoogsteen lit up the track in the 800m. Her blistering time of 2:07.74 saw her take the win by over four seconds and broke the Western Colorado fieldhouse record. Closing out the day for the Grizzlies, Tanya Bouet gave a valiant effort in the 3000m and placed 4th in a time of 10:26.20.
The Grizzlies look forward to capping off a fantastic season at the NCAA DII Indoor Track & Field Championship in Virginia Beach, Va. on March 13th and 14th.
