BOULDER, Colo. – Nick Nowlen hit a provisional qualifying mark in the 800 meters to lead a quality day for the MSU Denver track & field team Saturday at the CU Invitational.
 
Nowlen's outdoor personal best of 1 minute, 51.76 seconds was good for third place overall and first among Division II competitors in the event. It also put him as the third-fastest competitor ever in the event for MSU Denver, behind only national champion Anthony Luna and All-American Shawn Lindbom.
 
With the conversion for altitude, Nowlen's time of 1:51.06 ranks 17^th in Division II this season, and betters the provisional qualifying standard of 1:51.64.
 
Also Saturday, Maya Ries finished sixth in the women's 100 hurdles – and first among Division II competitors – in 14.87 seconds. That puts her second all-time at MSU Denver, behind Kim Hall's 1984 school record of 14.67. Summer Jarolmen moved into third on the program's all-time list in the event, finishing 16^th in 16.16.
 
Another top Roadrunners hurdler, Anthony Martinez, finished third in the men's 110 hurdles in 14.90.
 
Also standing out for the men was Ethan Loper, second in the 200 (22.25), and Brant Killmon, fourth in the long jump (6.82 meters, or 22 feet, 4 ½ inches).
 
Both Allyssa Romero and Kamryn Scott had an impact in their first-ever try outdoors in the women's 100, with Romero running 12.44 and Scott 12.49 while finishing 10^th and 11^th, respectively. Romero moved into fifth on MSU Denver's all-time performance list, while Scott jumped into sixth.
 
Scott and Romero also made up half of the third-best 4x400 relay unit in program history, combining with Raygen Ivins and Teagan Garand to run 3:58.55 – only last year's team (which included Scott, Romero and Garand) and the 2013 group have run faster.
 
Also of note, Brandon Bodner ran a solid 800 time of 1:54.43 for seventh. And, in the 3000 steeplechase, both Peter Speier and Audrey Orstead are eighth on their respective MSU Denver performance lists – Speier finished 16^th in the men's race 10:31.43, while Orstead improved her eighth-place standing in school history with a 12:28.01 in the women's race to place 11^th.