GUNNISON, Colo. – Western Colorado University track and field stands out at both the Colorado Invitational and the Don Kirby Tailwind Open. The Mountaineers had strong performances at both meets, with the distance team competing in Boulder, Colorado and the rest of the squad taking to the track in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
 
At the Colorado Invitational, Alicja Konieczek had the top performance for the Mountaineers after finishing fourth in the women's 1,500 meter. Konieczek ran a time of 4:28.40, fast enough to give her a NCAA National provisional qualifying mark.
 
Finishing nine seconds back was Western's Bailey Sharon in a time of 4:37.91. Sharon finished eleventh overall, but was the fourth finisher in division two.
 
On the men's side, Taylor Stack and Ross Husch finished ninth and tenth in the 1,500 meter. Stack came across the line in a time of 3:53.19 for a personal best, with Husch finishing just behind in a personal best of 3:53.45.   
 
At the Don Kirby Tailwind Open Western finished with five first place finishes, coming from Rhys Ryba, Tianna Terrell, Chelsey Murphy, and the women's 4x100 meter team.
 
Rhys Ryba won both the shot put and the discus. Ryba threw a huge personal best in the shot put with a heave of 16.40 meters (53' 9.75"). Placing him third on the Western top ten list.
 
Following Ryba, there were Mountaineers who finished second, third, and fourth. Colby Stinson came in second after throwing the shot put 15.95 meters (52' 4"). Following Stinson was teammates Carson Stephens (11.90 meters) and Kevin Chavez (11.01 meters).
 
In the discus, Ryba won by 3.55 meters over teammate Carson Stephens. Ryba through for a distance of 40.50 meters (131' 5"), with Stephens throwing for 36.50 meters (119' 9").
 
Coming in third in the men's discus was Kevin Chavez with a personal best throw of 30.65 meters (100' 7").
 
In the women's 100 meter hurdles Western finished first, second, and fourth with Chelsey Murphy leading the way in a blazing time of 14.55 seconds.
 
Just five one hundredths of a second back was teammate Kacee Lyn Hahn in a time of 14.60 seconds.
 
Finishing fourth, just behind Colorado Mesa's first girl was Mountaineer Jenai Vickers, coming across the line in 14.89 seconds.
 
Western also finished first, second, and fourth in the 400 meter hurdles with RMAC Champion, Tianna Terrell, taking the lead and winning in a time of 1:03.62.
 
Hahn followed closely behind finishing just nine hundredths of a second back in 1:03.73.
 
Coming across the line in fourth for the Mountaineers was Western's Chelsey Murphy in a time of 1:09.97.
 
Murphy was also part of the winning women's 4x100 meter, along with Mackenzie Burt, Khayla Doublin, and Shynesti Johnson. The team won the event in a time of 49.17.
 
Burt was also the top finisher in the women's open 100 meter dash finishing sixth overall in a time of 12.61 seconds.
 
In the women's 200 meter dash, Western placed four in the top eight with Fanta Toure leading the charge. Toure finished third in the event in a time of 26.26 seconds.
 
Closely behind Toure was Mountaineer Mackenzie Burt who finished fourth overall, coming across the line just seven hundredths of a second back in 26.33 seconds.
 
Berlin VanNess and Sophie Purse finished sixth and seventh. VanNess came across in 26.82 seconds followed by Purse in 26.84 seconds.
 
In the men's 100 meter, Rayvon Gray was the only Mountaineer to finish in the top eight after he crossed the line in 10.93 seconds, finishing sixth in the event.
 
Gray went on to finish ninth in the open 200 meter in a time of 22.96 seconds. Finishing in front of Gray for Western was Adrian Iribe and Juman Randall. Iribe finished eighth after crossing the line in 22.55 seconds with Randall three places ahead, finishing in 22.33 seconds.
 
Randall and Iribe also raced the open 400 meter where they finished fifth and sixth in the event. Randall crossed the line in 49.08 seconds with Iribe just behind in 49.18 seconds.
 
Fanta Toure led the Mountaineers in the women's 400 meter after finishing second and being one of two people to go under the 60 second mark. Toure ran a time of 59.15 seconds in the 400 meter.
 
Also placing in the 400 meter for the Mountaineers was Berlin VanNess as she came across the line in fifth place in a time of 1:01.11.
 
The Western women dominated the shot put and discus as they went second, third, fourth and fifth in the shot put and second, third, fifth, and sixth in discus. Tessa Anderson led Western in the shot put with a throw of 13.00 meters (42' 8"). Followed by Emily Ortiz 11.80 meters (38' 8.75"), Amber Gustason 10.70 meters (35' 1.25"), and Breann Hawman 10.50 meters (34' 5.50").
 
In the discus, Amber Gustason led the Mountaineers with a throw of 37.35 meters (122' 6"). Followed by Tessa Anderson 35.70 meters (117' 1"), Breann Hawman 32.60 meter (106' 11"), and Emily Ortiz 29.75 meters (97' 7").
 
The men's pole vault team went two, four and five in the event with Collin Scheuring leading the Mountaineers after clearing 4.45 meters (14' 7.25").
 
Both Joseph Saling and Cole Jaquette finished in the top eight for the Mountaineers as Saling came across the line in 15.06 seconds, finishing second in the event. Jaquette ran a time of 15.66 seconds to finish sixth overall.
 
Jaquette also ran a time of 58.55 in the 400 meter hurdles, placing fourth overall as the top Mountaineer.
 
Caleb Chastain finished just behind Jaquette in the 400 hurdles to place fifth in a time of 59.98 seconds.
 
In the long jump for the Mountaineers Jenai Vickers finished fifth with a jump of 5.30 meters (17' 4.75"). Kahlil James jumped 6.56 meters (21' 6.25") to place seventh in the event.
 
The Mountaineers return to action next weekend as they head to the Kit Mayer Invite in Golden, Colorado. Go to GoMountaineers.com to keep up to date with all the action.