GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.  A group of Western Colorado track and field athletes will travel to Colorado Mesa University on Friday and Saturday to participate in the Western Slope Conversion Classic in the hunt for improved or new NCAA Division II provisional marks.

The NCAA DII outdoor track and field championships on May 21-23 will invite the top 22 individuals in their respective events to the meet in Emporia, Kansas.

Hitting the oval first at the CMU Track & Field Complex will be Lauren Willson and Annaka Rudolph in the women's 5,000-meter run. The duo will take the starting gun Friday at 9 a.m. with Willson looking to improve upon her provisional time of 16 minutes, 37.68 seconds, and Rudolph (17:25.94) racing to surpass the provisional time standard (16:53.98).

In the men's 5,000 that follows the women's event, Esteban Reyes (14:06.75) is racing to climb higher in the national rankings with his current provisional mark, while John Houdeshell (14:33.62) will be chasing the provisional time of 14:12.85.

All four Mountaineers will receive conversions for the altitude at the CMU oval, their times Friday adjusted positively for the altitude in Grand Junction.

The only other Mountaineer on the oval at the meet will be Will Stone, who will compete Saturday afternoon in the 400m hurdles. Stone enters the Classic with a best time of 54.41 seconds while the provisional time stands at 53.06.

The remainder of the Western Colorado participants will be competing in Saturday's field events, beginning with Gaby Huggins in the women's long jump.

Sitting with a provisional mark that ranks 24th on the DII national performance list in the event, Huggins will hit the runway with a season-best leap of 5.97 meters (19 feet-7.0 inches). Heading into the weekend, which will include several 'last chance' meets across the country, the 22nd jump on the DII list measures at 5.99m (19-8.0).

Also on the horizontal strip and in the final field event of the Conversion Classic will be Western's Shawn Carter in the men's triple jump.

His best leap in the outdoor season, 14.79m (48-6.25), is ahead of the provisional standard (14.73m/48-4.0) and ranks 35th on the DII outdoor performance list. However, Carter popped a career-best leap of 14.99m (49-2.25) at the conference indoor championship meet, a jump that if he could replicate outdoors would put him right on the cusp of qualifying for the outdoor NCAA meet at No. 23.

In between the women's long jump and the men's triple jump on Saturday will be the high jump and pole vault events.

The high jump will see four Mountaineers on the apron, two in the women's event and two in the men's.

Kyla Wolitzky is currently 32nd on the DII women's performance list with a best height of 1.68m (5-6.0), while teammate Nykole Meshew's season best of 1.57m (5-1.75) is trailing the provisional height of 1.68m. Meshew, though, cleared a career-best height of 1.73m (5-8.0) at the 2025 outdoor conference championship meet and placed 16th at the 2025 DII outdoor championship.

In the men's event, both Brandon Kolb and Aiden Ellebracht will be competing to surpass the provisional height of 2.05m (6-8.85).

Kolb has a best outdoor height of 2.02m (6-7.5) this spring but has a career-best height of 2.10m (6-10.75) from the indoor season. Ellebracht posted his career-best jump of 2.01m (6-7.0) earlier this outdoor season.

Brayden Jones sits 38th on the outdoor DII performance list in the men's pole vault, with a career-best height of 4.95m (16-2.75). The current height of the 22nd-best vault in DII is at 5.12m (16-9.50).

The official qualifiers for the NCAA DII outdoor championships will be released on May 13.