COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Nick Nowlen and Maya Ries posted provisional qualifying times for NCAA Division II Indoor Nationals, and five school records were broken a total of six times as MSU Denver turned in another outstanding meet, this time at Saturday's Mountain Lion Open.
 
Nowlen, a two-time qualifier for Indoor Nationals in the men's 800 meters, put himself in contention to do it again this season by unleashing a first-place performance of 1 minute, 53.74 seconds. With the conversion for altitude and track size to 1:51.12, Nowlen now ranks seventh in Division II in the event this season.
 
Meanwhile, Ries continues to push the envelope in the women's 60 hurdles, breaking her own school record – again – in both the preliminaries (8.86) and the final, where she was second in 8.77. With the conversion for altitude, Ries' provisional qualifying time of 8.81 ranks 34^th in Division II this season. (The top 18, and possibly another couple more, at season's end earn invitations to nationals.) Ries, who has run the 15 fastest times in program history in the event, is currently 0.12 seconds from the top 18.
 
Not to be overlooked are school-record performances by Claire Hummel (60) and Allyssa Romero (200).
 
Jaivion Lattimore, who broke her own school mark in the 60 last week by running 7.71, is no longer the record holder after spending more than two years atop the list, as Hummel zipped to a third-place time of 7.68.
 
Prior to last week, only Lattimore had posted a sub-7.80 time for MSU Denver, and that was a 7.77. Hummel's previous best was the 7.78 she ran last week (she also ran 7.79 in prelims), and then she clocked 7.77 in prelims on Saturday. Her record 7.68 in the final converts to 7.72, which is 68^th in Division II this season.
 
Lattimore was fourth Saturday in a quality time of 7.80.
 
Hummel was also second in the 200 in 26.35, but Romero stole the show there with her winning effort of 25.37, which topped the 25.42 school-record time she'd run two weeks ago. Combined with the 25.59 she ran last week, Romero now has the three fastest 200 times in program history after breaking the nine-year-old program of Belle Kiper. Romero's conversion to 25.13 ranks 58^th in Division II this season.
 
MSU Denver's fledgling throws program led by Brandon Simpson and Grace Solarin continues to excel as they also broke school records.
 
Solarin, the Roadrunners' first-ever women's competitor in the weight throw, surpassed her previous best once again while finishing third with a 14.02-meter (46 feet) effort. She was also seventh in the shot put with her third-best distance of 11.43 meters (37-6).
 
Simpson, the Roadrunners' first-ever men's indoor thrower, broke his mark in the shot put with a ninth-place heave of 13.66 (44-9 ¾) and had his second-best weight throw at 13.69 (44-11) to place 13^th.
 
But it wasn't just the record-setting athletes with quality efforts Saturday.
 
In the men's 5,000, Noel Lopez was second in 15:14.55 and JJ Ramey was third in 15:26.45. Lopez just missed a provisional qualifying time after the conversion to 14:29.85, which is 35^th nationally, 0.19 off a provisional time, and is the best non-provisional time in the event this season.
 
In the women's 5,000, Abi Read was fifth in 18:43.69, which converts to 17:52.01 and ranks 48^th in the country.
 
Anthony Martinez won the men's 60 hurdles in 8.24, Zander Irish was second in the men's 400 in 51.92, and Tanis Chavez was fifth in the women's 800 in 2:26.16.
 
Both of MSU Denver's 4 x 400 meter relay teams won against small fields – Irish, Elijah Garcia, Nowlen and Ethan Loper ran 3:34.31 for the men, while Romero, Naleia Sowell, Jade Marvel and Teagan Garand clocked a 4:15.03 in the women's race.
 
Marvel also finished ninth in the women's long jump in a personal best 4.88 meters (16- ¼) – she now stands alone as the eighth-best individual in that event in program history after being tied for eighth with teammate Taylor Weber at 4.85.
 
Also of note, Jessica Hobson continues to impress as a freshman in the 60 after finishing sixth in 8.07 and Audrey Orstead had quality finishes in both the mile (ninth, 5:42.11) and 3000 meters (11:29.52).
 
"We are beyond proud of the way the team competed and supported one another today," MSU Denver coach Janis Christopher said. "We are excited to see them reaping the rewards of their hard work, and excited to see what the rest of the season will hold."