GOLDEN, Colo.  The Western Colorado track & field team closed out the opening day of the Mines Winter Classic & Multi at Colorado School of Mines with several top finishes.

Pole vault was among those highlights as Brayden Jones cleared a height of 4.82 meters (15 feet-9.75 inches) to place fifth while surpassing the NCAA Division II provisional height (4.80m) and Aaleiah Porter-Gyll placed sixth in the women's event with a season best height of 3.47m (11-4.5).

In the horizontal jumps, Western's Gaby Huggins finished third in the women's long jump with a best leap of 5.71m (18-9.0), just 0.01m shy of the NCAA provisional distance.

The shot put produced strong results from the Mountaineers as Johanna Brown finished third in the women's with a best toss of 13.25m (43-5.75), and Austin John (15.05m, 49-4.5) and Kenyon Rook (14.22m, 46-8.0) placed fifth and sixth in the men's event.

In one of the opening day's few events on the oval, the quartet of Emma Kjellsen, Meghan Benkendorf, Alissa Rall and Peyton Weiss posted a winning time of 11 minutes, 58.47 seconds, which – with the altitude adjustment – surpasses the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.

The Winter Classic continues with Day 2 on Saturday.