GUNNISON, Colo. – Mountaineer Fieldhouse was packed and The Quad delivered on expectations. Western track & field finished second in the four team meet with a combined score of 83.5 points. The Mountaineers won seven events, had 10 NCAA DII Provisional Qualifying marks, and five athletes improved their positions on the Western all-time top ten lists.
 
The Quad set an attendance record at Mountaineer Fieldhouse as 367 people packed the stands to offer a standing room only crowd. As expected, the crowd was raucous for the women's mile.
 
In the race, Olympians Aisha Praught-Leer and Emma Coburn turned up the excitement. Moving to the front at the gun, both women challenged the Colorado State Record in the mile for 800 meters before Coburn began to ratchet down the pace. On a negative-split push, Coburn reset the Colorado State Record to 4:38.08 in the rarefied air of Mountaineer Fieldhouse.
 
While Coburn and Praught-Leer brought down the house, the Mountaineers began to heat up the track in 2018.
 
Western's seven event wins were highlighted by a short-sprint sweep from Elijah Gilbert. Gilbert took the 60-meter title, running personal best 6.82 twice on the day. Following his victory in the 60 meter, Gilbert rolled through the curve in dominating the 200 meter with a 21.87 performance. For his efforts, Gilbert currently sits 6^th in NCAA DII in the 200 meter and 16^th in the 60 meter.
 
Western also swept the pole vault competitions as Colin Borner set a new personal best of 4.90 (16' 0.75) which ties him for 13^th in the nation and third all-time at Western. Nocona Swindell also took the women's vault with a leap of 3.47 meters (11' 4.5).
 
The Mountaineers also stole the show in the weight throw, taking both the men's and women's titles. Josie Harris set a new personal best of 17.59 meters (57'8.5), good enough for 18^th in DII ranks and second all-time at Western. Colby Stinson also set a personal best of 17.00 meters (55'9.25) moving himself to fifth all-time at Western.
 
Alicja Konieczek posted Provisional Qualifying marks in both the Mile and 3,000 meters while her sister Aneta Konieczek joined her in the Mile. Sophie Seward also posted a Provisional Qualifying performance in the 3,000 meter. Alicja and Sophie's times currently sit 11^th and 12^th nationally as of this writing.
 
Ross Husch was the lone male distance runner to register a Provisional mark with a gutsy run to finish second in the 3,000 meter with a time of 8:52.23. Husch's efforts landed him an 11^th place ranking in DII.
 
Additionally, the Mountaineers posted numerous other personal bests and near Provisional Qualifying marks.
Of note were Bailey Sharon in the 800 meters and Kyree Gerstle-Goodman and Xavier Bishop-Falu in the 60 meter hurdles. Bishop-Falu's 8.26 effort launched him into a tie for fourth all-time at Western. Freshman Chelsey Murphy also set two personal bests in the 60 meters and 60 hurdles, both of which were all-time top ten performances.
 
Western returns to action next week, splitting the squad between the Air Force Invitational and the Mines D2 Invite.