ThunderWolf freshmen shine at RMAC Championships

Results: RMAC Outdoor Championships

ALAMOSA, Colo. - The freshman-rich CSU-Pueblo women's track and field team opened some eyes at the RMAC Outdoor Championships in Alamosa Tuesday, recording a second place finish in the 4x100-meter relay and a pair of top five finishes.

The Pack's freshman-only 4x100, featuring Blair Gilkes (Fr., Aurora, Colo.), Danita Wyatt (Fr., Aurora, Colo.), Maya Richards (Fr., Denver, Colo.) and DeVen Hamlet (Fr., Denver, Colo.), finished just 0.54 seconds behind the event's champion, Adams State, with a time of 47.94, a best for the quartet.

Gilkes also finished a strong fifth place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.26, a personal best for her in the event.  The Pack eeked out the second place finish by just 0.02 seconds, ahead of Colorado Mines' relay team.

The second-place finish will net Gilkes, Wyatt, Richards and Hamlet all-RMAC second-team honors.

Wyatt, the team's top jumper, turned in personal bests in the long jump and triple jump, finishing seventh and fifth, respectively.  Wyatt's leap 36-feet, 7 inches in the triple jump was 15-1/2 inches off the pace set by event champion, New Mexico Highlands' Angella Graham.

Overall, CSU-Pueblo scored 19.5 team points, which was last place in the championships, but the Pack roster of exclusively freshmen in their first season of competition opened a lot of eyes.

"To do as well as we did at this meet with just freshman is a pretty big accomplishment," CSU-Pueblo women's track field coach Chad Perry said.  "These girls are only going to get better, and this event has helped get them a lot of experience going into next season."