Colorado Christian began their 2022 Outdoor Track and Field season in Pueblo, CO on Friday and Saturday as they competed at the Dr. Dan Caprioglio Early Bird Open hosted by CSU Pueblo. The Cougars were well represented on the track by both the men's and women's athletes as they tune up for the outdoor season.
 
Highlighting the meet on the women's side was the strong overall performance by the distance runners in the 5000M. Four CCU runners finished in the top 10 for the event. Shannon King finished in second place with a time of 17:41.43 and was followed closely by teammate Paige Tack who finished third with a time of 17:43.35. Both King and Tack shattered the previous school record in the 5000M which was previously held by Brooke Genovese who set the record back in 2017 with a time of 17:51.56. Shannon King now holds the fastest time in school history after beating the previous time by over 10 seconds, while Paige Tack holds the second fastest time. Elizabeth Mattson was seventh running a time of 18:25.48, and Ana Muehlbauer was eighth overall with a time of 18:34.33.
 
Tara Smoker ran a strong 400M as she finished in sixth overall with her time of 58.98. Smoker also set a new school record as she becomes the first CCU female to run the 400M in under 1:00. Hannah George had top 10 finishes in both the 100M and 200M races. George ran the 100M in 12.54, and the 200M in 25.45. George already holds the school record in both events, and today was her second fastest time in the 100M, and she ran a career best in the 400M to improve her time for the record books. Freshman Ashley Vil had a strong showing to make her collegiate Outdoor debut in the Triple Jump as she finished fourth place overall with a distance of 11.10m (36'5") which jumped her to the top of the record book in school history.
 
Tyler Bradley sprinted his way to a fourth-place finish in the 200M as he posted a time of 21.95. Luke Meyer took fifth in the Men's 5000M race with an impressive time of 15:12.84. Meyer was followed closely by Chase Bracher and Nico Ramirez who also competed in the 5000M. Bracher finished with a time of 15:28.63, and Ramirez ran a time of 15:41.45. Nico Ramirez is an inspiring story of triumph through adversity. For more on his impressive story, and to hear from Nico himself, tune into the latest episode of the official Colorado Christian University Athletics Podcast, The Break Down.
 
Another top performer on the men's side came from Mathew Olech. Olech competed in the 3000M Steeplechase and finished with a time of 9:58.91. 
 
Colorado Christian will be back on the same track next weekend as they compete at the Spank Blasing Open in Pueblo, CO which is once again hosted by CSU Pueblo. The meet will begin Friday March 25th and conclude on Saturday March 26th.