GOLDEN, Colo. – MSU Denver's men's distance medley relay posted an excellent time, and Grace Solarin topped her own program record in the shot put, highlighting the Roadrunners' opening day of the Mines Winter Classic.
 
The Roadrunner relay of JJ Ramey, Ethan Loper, Nick Nowlen and Noel Lopez covered the 4,000 meters of the DMR in 10 minutes, 31.83 seconds, good for third place and also good close to a provisional qualifying time for nationals with the conversion for altitude and track size to 1:07.53, which ranks 17th in Division II this season. The provisional qualifying time is 10:05.20.
 
Meanwhile, Solarin finished fifth in the shot put with a heave of 12.10 meters (40 feet), surpassing the 11.78 (38-7 ¾) she had in the season's opening meet.
 
Another big effort came from true freshman Taylor Weber long jump, after she sailed 5.04 meters (16 feet, 6 ½ inches) to go from ninth to sixth among MSU Denver's all-time competitors in the event.
 
In the men's long jump, true freshman Giovanni Vecchiarelli became MSU Denver's eighth-best individual in that event after his 11^th-place effort of 6.45 meters (21-2).
 
In the 3,000 meters, Audrey Orstead for the women and Shota Yabuuchi for the men each ran personal bests – Orstead was eighth in 11:15.56, while Yabuuchi was ninth in 9:34.21.
 
And, in the pentathlon, true freshman Jade Marvel was just short of her previous mark in her second try at the event, with a 12^th-place score of 2,908 that included a 2:35.40 clocking in the 800 meters that was seventh among the 22 competitors.
 
Also in the pentathlon, Jocelyn Korbe became the program's third shot putter to surpass 10 meters, improving upon her previous best by just a shade under two feet with a heave of 10.23 meters (33-6 ¾). Korbe was third among all pentathletes in the shot and finished 16^th overall with 2,582 points.
 
The meet concludes Saturday with a full day of activity, with field events starting at 9 a.m. and track events at noon.