PUEBLO, Colo.  Western Colorado's men's and women's track & field teams made their second outing of the outdoor season a good one, amassing several top-five finishes at Friday's Chuck Haering Invitational at Colorado State University Pueblo's ThunderBowl.

The day was topped by first-place finishes by Mountaineers in the women's high jump and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Western's first competitor on the track was the first across the finish line in the steeplechase as Kyle Partin won the event in a time of 9 minutes, 30.36 seconds. He was joined in the top five by teammate John Houdeshell (10:19.24) who placed third.

Late in the morning Sammie Bretz took to the apron in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.62 meters (5 feet-3.75 inches) to claim the event title. This was Bretz' first competition since competing at the 2025 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in mid-March where she finished 14th in the women's high jump.

The Mountaineers picked up multiple runner-up finishes in other field events at the Invite.

The women's hammer throw, pole vault and men's pole vault included second place performances by Mountaineers.

Aaleiah Porter-Gyll cleared a height of 3.15m (10-4) to trail only the event winner in the women's pole vault event, and Robert Letsche (4.50m / 14-9) led a 2-3-4-5 finish by the Western men. Max Kittsteiner (4.20m / 13-9.25) was third, followed by Jake Gash (4.05m / 13-3.25) and Ben Ford (4.05m / 13-3.25).

Scoring a second place in the women's hammer throw was Rylee Blanton, whose fourth toss of the session landed at 51.56m (169-1.75). Logan Butterfield claimed fifth place in the men's event, registering a best throw of 53.11m (174-2.75) on his fifth attempt from the circle.

Torrin Franklin (1.82m / 5-11.5) and Tarryn Moore (1.82m / 5-11.5) earned third- and fourth-place finishes in the men's high jump, and Western's top finisher in the women's javelin was fourth place Lindsey Osterfelt, who landed a throw at the 34.43m mark (112-11.5).

The long jump provided a pair of third-place leaps by Mountaineers. Gabi Huggins landed in the pit with a jump of 5.65m (18-6.25) in the women's event, and Moore added a third place in the men's event with a best leap of 6.85m (25-5.5). And earning a fifth place in the men's long jump was Cullen McReynolds with a mark of 6.67m (21-10.5).

On the oval, and early in the event schedule, Haley Wood and Jayda Nix scored second and fourth places, respectively, in the women's steeplechase, Wood posting a runner-up time of 11:30.54 and Nix crossing the finish in 11:57.99.

Earning second place in the men's 110m high hurdles was James Duncan, who, with a time of 14.74 seconds, was just 2/10ths of a second behind the event winner.

Contributing two more third place finishes from the women's side of the ledger were Peyton Weiss and Nellie Wartanian. Weiss was third in the 1,500m run with a time of 4:44.71, and Wartanian sprinted to a time of 25.56 to take third place in the 200m dash.

Western's men's 4x400m relay added in the last top-five finish in the final event on the track. The team of Giovonni Borjas, Stone, Ethan Cline and Duncan combined for a time of 3:27.17 to take fifth place.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will head to Grand Junction, Colo., for the April 3-4 Maverick Invite #2, hosted by Colorado Mesa University at its CMU Track & Field Complex.