ThunderWolves finish sixth at RMAC Championships

GOLDEN, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - May 10, 2011) - CSU-Pueblo finished strong at the RMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Golden Tuesday, finishing sixth as a team and scoring in multiple events.

After Danita Wyatt (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) won the conference triple jump championship Monday with a school-record and national-qualifying 40-foot, 8-1/4 inch leap, becoming the first ThunderWolf to become conference champion in any event since the program was restarted in 2008, Wyatt ultimately scored 18 team points by herself, and added another eight points in the Pack's 4x100-meter relay team, which finished second.  With 26 points, she helped account for nearly half of the ThunderWolves' 59 team points scored at the meet.

The team's performance in the 4x100-meter was the biggest storyline Tuesday, as the quartet of Wyatt, Blair Gilkes (Jr., Aurora, Colo.), Shilay Willis (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) and Jazmin Evans (So., Parker, Colo.) turned in a 46.64 time, a school-record in the event and a provisionally national-qualifying mark.

Willis also contributed eight additional team points, finishing fourth in the 400-meter with a national-qualifying 56.41 mark and sixth in the 200-meter.

Also turning in an impressive day was Holli Salazar (So., Hayden, Colo.) who scored in three events, including the javelin throw, where she finished sixth in her first collegiate competition in the event.  Overall, she scored six team points with an eighth place finish in the shot put and a seventh place finish in the hammer.

Sierra Jones (Jr., Denver, Colo.) was also strong in the hurdles, finishing 5th in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the 400 hurdles.  She netted seven team points overall.

All told, the ThunderWolves leave the RMAC Championships with a total of 11 all-conference honors.  Wyatt and Willis each earned all-conference in three events.

CSU-Pueblo will get one last chance to qualify more athletes for nationals at the Colorado Mines Last Chance meet May 15 before learning their fate for entrants at the National Championships, which takes place starting May 28.

CSU-Pueblo entrants on All-RMAC team

First Team
Danita Wyatt, Triple Jump

Second Team
Shilay Willis, 400-meter
Blair Gilkes, 4x100
Shilay Willis, 4x100
Jazmin Evans, 4x100
Danita Wyatt, 4x100
Danita Wyatt, Heptathlon

Third Team
Shilay Willis, 200-meter
Sierra Jones, 100-hurdles
Sierra Jones, 400-hurdles
Holli Salazar, Javelin