Sw Colorado News

DURANGO, Colo. – The Fort Lewis College men's and women's track teams are opening the outdoor season this week at the Dr. Dan Caprioglio Early Bird meet, a two day even hosted by CSU Pueblo.

Looking Back

The 2022 outdoor season came to a close at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships, also hosted by CSU Pueblo last May. The men's team closed out the season with a 13th place finish at the championships while the women came in 14th. UCCS swept the titles for the men's and women's teams.

The men highlighted day two of competition, including the 3000m Steeplechase which saw Ethan Bartlett leading the Skyhawks with a 14th place finish after clocking a time of 9:53.54. Henry Barth following with a time of 10:03.09, good for 17th place, while Braedon Sittman (19th, 10:09.33) and Max Robinson (21st, 10:16.78) rounded out the pack.

Brady Burrough led the team in the 800m run with a 1:57.75 mark which placed him 12th. Aaron Busche followed with a 16th place finish and a time of 1:59.52. Travis Kearney and Javier Victorino were the final two finishers for the team, coming in 21st and 23rd.

Katie Fankhouser competed in the 800m final on day three, coming in ninth place with a time of 2:25.50. Angel Curley was in action in the 5000m run, picking up an 11th place finish at 19:20.29. Madeline Shoemaker followed with a time of 20:44.03 which was good for 14th place. The final competitors of the day were the 4x400m relay racers, with the team comprising of Krista Benze, Fankhouser, Mena, and Sargent. The group finished in 10th place with a time of 4:07.56.

Throughout the outdoor season, there were a handful of program records that were established and continued to be bettered week by week. One such record breaker was Carmella Wright whose 3000m Steeplechase effort to end the regular season came with a first-place finish for a time of 11:55.56, besting the 12:33.01 mark set by Rose Chemeli on April 15,2019 at the CSM Kit Mayer Invite.

Another athlete who shined week to week was Krista Benze who consistently competed in the 400m hurdles. Benze established a program record not once, not twice, but FOUR times throughout the season. Her season-best came on April 15 at the Maverick Open in Grand Junction where she ran for a time of 1:05.89.

At the conclusion of the regular-season, the Skyhawks had 17 student-athletes named to the RMAC All-Academic Team. To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must carry a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (GPA) and must have been an active student at the institution for at least two consecutive semesters or three consecutive quarters. First Team All-Academic members were voted on by the conference's sports information directors for meeting those criteria as well as demonstrating outstanding performance on the field.

Men's Outdoor Track and Field Honor Roll

• Ethan Bartlett, Junior, 3.39 GPA, Environmental Studies
• Wacey Begay, Senior, 3.72 GPA, Public Health
• Asa Demmert, Sophomore, 3.47 GPA, Exercise Physiology
• Steven Nez, 5th Year, 3.36 GPA, Public Health
• Max Robinson, Junior, 3.94 GPA, Business Administration
• Chris Rohlf, Senior, 4.0 GPA, Psychology
• Braedon Sittman, Sophomore, 3.86 GPA, Adventure Education
• Cody Speece, 5th Year, 3.88 GPA, Public Health

Women's Outdoor Track and Field Honor Roll

• Krista Benze, Senior, 3.53 GPA, Psychology
• Angel Curley, Senior, 3.63 GPA, Exercise Physiology
• Katie Fankhouser, Sophomore, 3.82 GPA, Business Administration
• Katherine Gaughn, Sophomore, 3.90 GPA, Environmental Studies
• Nijilanaa Hunter, Senior, 3.79 GPA, Exercise Physiology
• Jaden Knight, Sophomore, 3.95 GPA, Public Health
• Saylor Sargent, 5th Year, 3.84 GPA, Music Education
• Madeline Shoemaker, Sophomore, 3.85 GPA, Biochemistry
• Carmella Wright, Sophomore, 3.71 GPA, Art K-12 Education

Indoor Track and Field Added for 2023-24

In late January, the Fort Lewis College Department of Athletics announced the addition of Indoor Track and Field for the 2023-24 season. Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field will bring the department's total to 16 programs offered at the NCAA Division II level.

Tabbed to pilot the programs is current women's cross country and track head coach Shawn Jakubowski. Jakubowski, a member of the Skyhawks staff since serving as a volunteer coach in 2021, was elevated to the head cross country and track and field coach.

"I am both honored and excited to be presented with this opportunity. I would like to thank Fort Lewis College and Director of Athletics Travis Whipple for this opportunity and all the support that has been given to our programs," said head coach Shawn Jakubowski. "I would also like to thank you the Skyhawks coaching staff for being so helpful and supportive. We are ready to get to work and start expanding the programs. I truly believe that we are sitting on a hidden gem here, and by adding indoor and expanding our outdoor program it shows that we are taking all the necessary steps to take the programs to the next level."

The addition of indoor will allow the Skyhawks to expand their current event offerings to include sprints and other shorter-distance races, opening the recruiting pool to current and future student-athletes to grow the program. Fort Lewis will join 13 additional Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference institutions that compete in indoor track and field. The season typically runs from early December through early March at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships.

"All the other schools in our conference that have outdoor track also sponsor indoor so adding indoor track and field will close the recruiting gap a bit between us and our competition.  It will also give our student-athletes more opportunities to compete and qualify for indoor conference and national championships," said Jakubowski. "The teams are very excited about next year. Coming back from winter break and not competing until mid-March can be very difficult, and usually, we have to use the first few outdoor meets as rust busters.  This will allow us to hit indoor meets in December as well as have a full indoor season and get that competitive racing edge early." 

Original source can be found here.